Cannot mount 2.5" drive in USB 2.0 case!!

[Guest]

Hi all, running XP Pro SP2. Have a 2.5" HDD from a Toshiba Laptop (XP Home
SP1 / FAT32) that I have in a USB case. The case plugs into the USB port of
Desktop computer and hey presto... should be able to access the drive.
However...

Cannot see the drive in Windows Explorer. Have gone into disk manager and
the drive is showing but there is no drive letter assigned and no way of
doing so. Option is greyed out on right-click over drive. I have tried
changing the drive letter of the cd/dvd drive. I have no mapped drives that
could complicate matters. Have tried re-scanning drives... no joy. Have even
tried uninstalling Enhanced USB2 Host... no joy.

Anybody have any ideas?

Much appreciated

Nell

 

[Patrick Keenan]

Hi all, running XP Pro SP2. Have a 2.5" HDD from a Toshiba Laptop (XP Home
SP1 / FAT32) that I have in a USB case. The case plugs into the USB port
of
Desktop computer and hey presto... should be able to access the drive.
However...

Cannot see the drive in Windows Explorer. Have gone into disk manager and
the drive is showing but there is no drive letter assigned and no way of
doing so. Option is greyed out on right-click over drive. I have tried
changing the drive letter of the cd/dvd drive. I have no mapped drives
that
could complicate matters. Have tried re-scanning drives... no joy. Have
even
tried uninstalling Enhanced USB2 Host... no joy.

Anybody have any ideas?

Much appreciated

Nell

If you run diskpart from a command prompt, what does it say about the drive?

Next question is why you are attaching the drive - I have run into this
problem with failing drives. FOr these I have sed RT-Tools drive recovery
software and it's been able to get USB-attached drives that didn't get drive
letters.

HTH
-pk

 

[StephenB]

Hi all, running XP Pro SP2. Have a 2.5" HDD from a Toshiba Laptop (XP Home
SP1 / FAT32) that I have in a USB case. The case plugs into the USB port of
Desktop computer and hey presto... should be able to access the drive.
However...

Cannot see the drive in Windows Explorer. Have gone into disk manager and
the drive is showing but there is no drive letter assigned and no way of
doing so. Option is greyed out on right-click over drive. I have tried
changing the drive letter of the cd/dvd drive. I have no mapped drives that
could complicate matters. Have tried re-scanning drives... no joy. Have even
tried uninstalling Enhanced USB2 Host... no joy.

Anybody have any ideas?

Much appreciated

Nell

In Administrative Tools/Disk Management, I believe you will need to create a
partition and format it before you can see it in Windows Explorer unless the
drive was previously partitioned and formatted.
Can you try that and let us know how you make out?
-steve

 

[Guest]

In Administrative Tools/Disk Management, I believe you will need to create a
partition and format it before you can see it in Windows Explorer unless the
drive was previously partitioned and formatted.
Can you try that and let us know how you make out?
-steve

Hi Stephen, thanks for the reply. The disk was perviously formatted and
partitioned. It is basically form a Toshiba laptop running XP Home (FAT32).
The only partition is the system partition. When the drive is in the laptop I
keep getting a BSOD on boot, I think on the kernal load or initialization
sequence, just before login. I can only boot into safe (have tried all
options). What i wanted to do was attach the drive to another system and
backup the whole disk. Hence the usb IDE interface case. However, XP on the
computer that I have attached the disk to is not recognising the existing
partition for some reason, just the disk.

Regards,

Nell

 

[Guest]

If you run diskpart from a command prompt, what does it say about the drive?

Next question is why you are attaching the drive - I have run into this
problem with failing drives. FOr these I have sed RT-Tools drive recovery
software and it's been able to get USB-attached drives that didn't get drive
letters.

HTH
-pk

Thanks for the reply Patrick. Have tried DISKPART. Not giving me alot of
info. Just says that the disk is online. no volume.

Nell

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the reply Patrick. Have tried DISKPART. Not giving me alot of
info. Just says that the disk is online. no volume.

Nell

Patrick, forgive.... was using DISKPART wrong. Have selected the Toshiba
disk (DISK1) and it is saying that there are no volumes on it? How can this
be if I can boot when the disk is in the actual laptop? (only in safe mode
addmittedly).

Nell

 

[StephenB]

Hi Stephen, thanks for the reply. The disk was perviously formatted and
partitioned. It is basically form a Toshiba laptop running XP Home (FAT32).
The only partition is the system partition. When the drive is in the laptop I
keep getting a BSOD on boot, I think on the kernal load or initialization
sequence, just before login. I can only boot into safe (have tried all
options). What i wanted to do was attach the drive to another system and
backup the whole disk. Hence the usb IDE interface case. However, XP on the
computer that I have attached the disk to is not recognising the existing
partition for some reason, just the disk.

Ah, okay. In the original laptop, is the drive functioning correctly or is this
where only Safe Mode works? When in the USB case, is the USB case powered
externally or from the USB port? If the latter, see if applying power via an AC
adapter helps. I have a 2.5 inch case that needs to be powered via adapter on
some PCs in order to be recognized and works fine just from USB on others.
-steve

 

[Guest]

Ah, okay. In the original laptop, is the drive functioning correctly or is this
where only Safe Mode works? When in the USB case, is the USB case powered
externally or from the USB port? If the latter, see if applying power via an AC
adapter helps. I have a 2.5 inch case that needs to be powered via adapter on
some PCs in order to be recognized and works fine just from USB on others.
-steve

drive functions fine in laptop, can only boot into safe mode though. The usb
case is powered by default from the usb port, however there is a power input
on the case that you can attach to another usb port to increase the power.
Have attached power, still no change.

Nell

 

[Anna]

Hi Stephen, thanks for the reply. The disk was perviously formatted and
partitioned. It is basically form a Toshiba laptop running XP Home
(FAT32).
The only partition is the system partition. When the drive is in the
laptop I
keep getting a BSOD on boot, I think on the kernal load or initialization
sequence, just before login. I can only boot into safe (have tried all
options). What i wanted to do was attach the drive to another system and
backup the whole disk. Hence the usb IDE interface case. However, XP on
the
computer that I have attached the disk to is not recognising the existing
partition for some reason, just the disk.

Regards,

(And he later adds...)
drive functions fine in laptop, can only boot into safe mode though. The usb
case is powered by default from the usb port, however there is a power input
on the case that you can attach to another usb port to increase the power.
Have attached power, still no change.

Nell

Nell:
If I correctly understand your query, you *were* having problems with that
Toshiba drive when it was installed as a working HD in your laptop in that
it wouldn't boot to a Desktop and you could only boot into Safe mode. So
there's a problem with that drive notwithstanding the USB issue. Its failure
to properly boot most likely explains your present problem using that drive
as a USB external HD.

I'm assuming from your query that there's no data on that Toshiba drive that
you want (or need) to access. Assuming that's so, then perhaps the simplest
approach would be to see if you could re:format the disk (using Disk
Management) while it's connected as an internal HD in your desktop computer.
Since it's a 2 1/2" drive you'll need a 2 1/2" to 3 1/2" adapter to do this.
Of course if you can accomplish the formatting while the drive is installed
in its USB enclosure, then obviously that would be the way to go.

If it's not possible to use your desktop's DM utility per the above, another
possible scenario would be to reinstall the drive back into your laptop and
format it (FAT32) with your Win9x/Me Startup floppy disk. (I'm assuming you
were previously running Win9x/Me in your laptop).

The obvious point in all this is to clear what possibly is a corrupt system
files situation that prevents the drive from being properly recognized by
your desktop's computer OS.

It (nearly) goes without saying that all this assumes that the Toshiba drive
is mechanically/electronically sound and that there's no problem involving
the USB enclosure. I don't get the impression from your posting that there
may be a hardware defect involved here, but it may be wise to run a
diagnostic on the drive.
Anna

 

[Guest]

(And he later adds...)
drive functions fine in laptop, can only boot into safe mode though. The usb
case is powered by default from the usb port, however there is a power input
on the case that you can attach to another usb port to increase the power.
Have attached power, still no change.


Nell:
If I correctly understand your query, you *were* having problems with that
Toshiba drive when it was installed as a working HD in your laptop in that
it wouldn't boot to a Desktop and you could only boot into Safe mode. So
there's a problem with that drive notwithstanding the USB issue. Its failure
to properly boot most likely explains your present problem using that drive
as a USB external HD.

I'm assuming from your query that there's no data on that Toshiba drive that
you want (or need) to access. Assuming that's so, then perhaps the simplest
approach would be to see if you could re:format the disk (using Disk
Management) while it's connected as an internal HD in your desktop computer.
Since it's a 2 1/2" drive you'll need a 2 1/2" to 3 1/2" adapter to do this.
Of course if you can accomplish the formatting while the drive is installed
in its USB enclosure, then obviously that would be the way to go.

If it's not possible to use your desktop's DM utility per the above, another
possible scenario would be to reinstall the drive back into your laptop and
format it (FAT32) with your Win9x/Me Startup floppy disk. (I'm assuming you
were previously running Win9x/Me in your laptop).

The obvious point in all this is to clear what possibly is a corrupt system
files situation that prevents the drive from being properly recognized by
your desktop's computer OS.

It (nearly) goes without saying that all this assumes that the Toshiba drive
is mechanically/electronically sound and that there's no problem involving
the USB enclosure. I don't get the impression from your posting that there
may be a hardware defect involved here, but it may be wise to run a
diagnostic on the drive.
Anna

Hi Anna, thanks for the reply. Still can only boot into safe with the
Toshiba drive. There is data on there that I desperately need, was the real
reason I was trying to access from seperate machine to backup. Have not
discounted a faulty drive completely, have run a few diagnostics and all have
come back as negative so will have to conduct further tests on that. I have
now managed to perform a repair install on the OS (curremtly running
actually). Initial attempts booting from XP Home cd gave no 'repair Install'
option. Took some figuring out. Anyway, I will see what results the repair
install gives me and go from there. Many thanks for your input.

Nell

 

[Sharon F]

Hi Stephen, thanks for the reply. The disk was perviously formatted and
partitioned. It is basically form a Toshiba laptop running XP Home (FAT32).
The only partition is the system partition. When the drive is in the laptop I
keep getting a BSOD on boot, I think on the kernal load or initialization
sequence, just before login. I can only boot into safe (have tried all
options). What i wanted to do was attach the drive to another system and
backup the whole disk. Hence the usb IDE interface case. However, XP on the
computer that I have attached the disk to is not recognising the existing
partition for some reason, just the disk.

If you aren't able to get a copy of the hard drive using this method,
perhaps booting with the "Safe Mode with Networking" option would give you
access? With two NICs and a cable you could transfer the files over this
small network.

 

[Sharon F]

If you aren't able to get a copy of the hard drive using this method,
perhaps booting with the "Safe Mode with Networking" option would give you
access? With two NICs and a cable you could transfer the files over this
small network.

Just wanted to clarify, the laptop's drive would be in the laptop. Hook the
laptop up to the other PC.

 

[Edward W. Thompson]

snip


You appear need to recover data from the drive. What I suggest is to
download and create a DOS boot disk (www.bootdisk.com) and search Google and
download 'duse'. 'Duse' will allow allow access to a USB drive from Dos but
you will need to edit 'config.sys' and 'autoexec.bat' on your DOS boot disk.
Boot the machine using the dos boot disk and you should/will be able to read
and write from the USB drive.

 

[Guest]

Hi Sharon, good idea, however laptop BSOD on safe boot with networking. Had
tried reinstalling NIC drivers etc... no joy. Have moved on a couple of
stages now though. Have manged to repair install and boot normally. Creating
image of drive as we speak. Many thanks for input!

Nell

 

[Guest]

Edward, cheers for that. Have managed to repair install etc.. So have normal
bootable partition now. However that DUSE utility sounds very interesting.
Have saved for future use!
Many thanks,

Nell

 

[Sharon F]

Hi Sharon, good idea, however laptop BSOD on safe boot with networking. Had
tried reinstalling NIC drivers etc... no joy. Have moved on a couple of
stages now though. Have manged to repair install and boot normally. Creating
image of drive as we speak. Many thanks for input!

Sorry it didn't work. It was a thought and hadn't been mentioned yet. Am
very glad to hear that you did manage to regain access to the drive though!
Your thread has reminded me that my portable PC is overdue for a disk image
- so thanks for that. ;^)

 

[Patrick Keenan]

drive functions fine in laptop, can only boot into safe mode though. The
usb
case is powered by default from the usb port, however there is a power
input
on the case that you can attach to another usb port to increase the power.
Have attached power, still no change.

Nell

I use R-Tools software to recover data from disks like this. It works
well, but can take hours to run for each pass.

http://www.r-tt.com/

Download the demo version that's appropriate, install it and run it against
the drive in question. This will show you what is on it and what can be
recovered. If you think you'll get the upgrade to the full-working
version, be sure to save the log results from the demo so that you don't
have to re-scan the drive.

This software can work extremely well but is not fast. If you think
there's a thermal component to the disk problem, it's not a bad idea to put
a tea towel over the drive case and put a cold-pack on that.

Incidentally, I have no luck at all running laptop drives from unpowered USB
cases, because they draw more power than any USB port I have. All the
ports I have, including a powered hub, top out at 500 mA. The laptop
drives I have draw 1000 mA.

Most USB cases don't come with adapters though they have power jacks "in
case". I had to find a 5v 1000mA+ adapter and an appropriate DC power jack
and assemble it, taking care to heed polarity.

If I plug an unpowered drive case in to a USB port on my desktop systems,
the disk will be recognised but nothing on it will be. I have to power
down the external powered hub, sometimes move it to another USB port, and
plug it back in again. Sometimes it's necessary to power cycle the system.

If I do this on my Thinkpad, the Thinkpad will crash and I'll have to power
off, remove the battery and the AC adapter, hold the power switch for 30
seconds or so, then power back up to recover. If I use the power adapter
for the USB case, there's no problem.

So, consider that you may simply have run into a limit of the USB port and
not have noticed that the port cannot respond properly. Try another port
you are sure works and power up the drive case *before* connecting the USB
cable. Be sure that the power light comes on on the drive case.

HTH
-pk

 

[Edward W. Thompson]

snip


You appear need to recover data from the drive. What I suggest is to
download and create a DOS boot disk (www.bootdisk.com) and search Google
and download 'duse'. 'Duse' will allow allow access to a USB drive from
Dos but you will need to edit 'config.sys' and 'autoexec.bat' on your DOS
boot disk. Boot the machine using the dos boot disk and you should/will be
able to read and write from the USB drive.

As a follow up on the above, reading the drive from DOS assumes the dive is
formatted FAT32. In my opinion, it is overall more safe to format external
drives FAT32 when used for backing up and transfer of data between machines.
It seems that whereas FAT32 may not be more secure than NTFS if problems do
occur at the level of the host, recovery is easier.

There is a utility that allows a drive formatted FAT32 can be read/write but
the utility is very expensive.