Why can't I see my external HD?

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Level 1

58 points

Why can't I see my external HD?

I just installed Lion in my MacBook, but now I can't see my external HD (with Snow Leopard) when I plug it in. It doesn't show up on the desktop like it should, nor does it show up in my Disk Utility list. Any ideas?

Posted on Jul 30, 2011 4:00 PM

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Answer 1

Best reply

dianeoforegon

Level 5

7,287 points

Jul 30, 2011 4:26 PM in response to miniman

Finder > Preferences > General allows you to select what shows on Desktop.

Personally, I prefer to check My iMac under Devices and select not to show externals in the Sidebar. I can just click on the icon for my iMac and see all volumes conntected.

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Answer 2

Jul 30, 2011 4:36 PM in response to miniman

If it's not showing up in Disk Utility it doesn't look like your computer is recognising the disk. Does it work on other computers? Have you tried rebooting your Mac? Since you say you have Snow Leopard installed on it try rebooting your Mac with the drive plugged in and holding down Option during boot - does the drive show up as a bootable volume?

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Answer 3

miniman Author

Level 1

58 points

Jul 30, 2011 5:10 PM in response to AppleGeek1990

Yes, it shows up on our other machines. I've since erased the drive completely, and now it shows up on my MacBook again. Once I re-install Snow Leopard, I'll try the holding down the Option key while booting up, like you suggested.

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