USB 2.0 drive not recognized under Windows 8.1

[MichaelChang]

<p>I have photos archived in a 750G Seagate Freeagent Pro USB/Firewire/SATA drive. </p>

<p>The drive is connected to my laptop via USB 2.0 and worked fine under Windows 8, but it's no longer recognized under Windows 8.1. It shows up in Disc Management (under Control Panel), but it doesn't show up in File Explorer (for me to access files). I have installed Seagate's SeaTools and Dashboard utilities and both indicate a healthy drive. The drive also shows up in "Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media" in the task bar. </p>

<p>I scoured the web and tried various suggestions without success and hoping for some help here. </p>

<p>Many thanks. </p>

[chuck -]

<p>It may be that the Seagate has a hard-coded drive letter assigned to it that is conflicting with a DVD drive or some such. Use Disk Management, right click the drive, and assign a drive letter well down in the alphabet - like Z:<br>

Hope that does it!</p>

[bgelfand]

<p>First, see if the problem is the drive or the computer. Try plugging it into another computer - preferably one running Windows 7 or Vista - and see if the drive can be accessed.</p>

[thirteenthumbs]

<p>Reboot with the the drive attached and running.</p>

[johnkenthill]

<p>Not only reboot but shut down, then restart. </p>

[MichaelChang]

<p>Seems assigning a drive letter fixed it. :-) </p>

<p>Thank you, gentlemen. </p>