In order to get Windows 7 to recognize an external hard drive, you will need to complete the following steps:
1. Connect the external hard drive to your computer via USB cable.
2. Open up “Computer” (usually located on the Desktop or under Start Menu).
3. Look for a new device that appears in the list of drives that is labeled as “Removable Disk” (or similar). If it doesn't appear, try unplugging and plugging back in again, then refresh “Computer” window by pressing F5 key on your keyboard.
4. Right-click on this new disk and select "Format" from context menu options - choose NTFS file system type, give it a name if desired and click OK/Start button when ready (this step may take few minutes depending on size of disk).
5. Once formatting is finished successfully, open up My Computer window again and check whether newly formatted drive now appears with correct name assigned during previous step – if yes - congratulations! You have just managed to make Windows 7 recognize your external hard drive correctly!