Windows 7 My External Hard Drive is showing no files in my folders. Help!

[DreamSE]

Hello,

If there are any geniuses out there that can help me, I would be the happiest person...
I am using a brand-new Dell Inspiron One model with a Lacie-model external hard-drive, on Windows 7. All of a sudden, when I click to view my folders, they are completely empty. When clicking on the My Computer option, my hard drive is there, showing 76 GB free out of a total of 232 GB, but everything appears to be gone. When I click on those files, I receive the error stating I am afraid to re-start or unplug my hard drive. What is my next step? Any help would be greatly appreciated!

 

[Joe S]

I assume this is a USB HD. Try unplugging HD by clicking remove hardware safely then rebooting and then plugging back in.
Joe

 

[DreamSE]

Awesome...yep, tried it and it worked.

I assume this is a USB HD. Try unplugging HD by clicking remove hardware safely then rebooting and then plugging back in.
Joe

This is what I ended up doing, and it worked! I was so scared I would lose information if I did that.
Thanks for replying to my post!

 

[Joe S]

I have a WD My Book Pro 1T and have run into this. Occasionally it will display a message about drive being corrupt and I do the same to fix it. I suspect it is some type of timeout issue during startup and shutdows and when the drive goes into it's own sleep mode.
Joe

 

[Computer Stud]

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[Joe S]

If the above didn't work look in Disk Management and see it the drive shows there. Also try a different port without a hub and If it's a desktop use a port on the back. If it's a powered drive plug in directly into outlet instead of a power strip.
Joe

 

[kaos]

back up your files!!