External drive not accessible

[Guest]

I have a USB external drive which works perfectly with my laptop but not with
my desktop. Both run XP Home SP2, and the drive is formatted in NTFS but the
desktop reads it as RAW so will not read from it or write to it; when I try
to use it I get an error mesage that "path could not be found". On the
desktop Windows Explorer assigns it a drive letter, Device Manager states it
is working normally but Disc Manager does not list it. How do I make the
desktop recognise the NTFS file system? The hard drive on this machine is
NTFS, nothing is RAW which according to Windows Help was only used in
ME/2000. PLease help!

 

[Swifty]

How do I make the desktop recognise the NTFS file system?

If this were mine, I'd backup the data from the USB drive then format it
on the desktop system before restoring the data. I'd also recommend
waiting to see if you get any less desperate solutions though.

 

[Guest]

Thanks for the idea, but at present there is no data on the external drive. I
hoped to use it as a backup for both computers, and until I can both of them
to access it the drive is useless.

 

[Bill Blanton]

I have a USB external drive which works perfectly with my laptop but not with
my desktop. Both run XP Home SP2, and the drive is formatted in NTFS but the
desktop reads it as RAW so will not read from it or write to it; when I try
to use it I get an error mesage that "path could not be found". On the
desktop Windows Explorer assigns it a drive letter, Device Manager states it
is working normally but Disc Manager does not list it. How do I make the
desktop recognise the NTFS file system? The hard drive on this machine is
NTFS, nothing is RAW which according to Windows Help was only used in
ME/2000. PLease help!

I assume you mean it shows "RAW" in the volume's properties sheets.
Raw in this case means the partition is not formatted. Does "properties"
show an option to format? You might try that, though that doesn't explain
why the disk isn't being seen at all in the disk manager. Did you install
any security/encryption software for the drive on the laptop?

 

[Guest]

You're right Billy, the RAW description is in the properties sheet, there is
an option to format but when I click on it nothing happens. I haven't
installed any security/encryption on the external drive, I just let the
laptop write data to it. When it wouldn't work on the desktop I re-attached
to the laptop and formatted in NTFS and tried a cold boot on the desktop with
the drive attached and live, but to no avail.

 

[Bill Blanton]

Using the desktop, try a format from a cmd prompt and see if that
produces anything, error message or otherwise.

Start > Run... > cmd
format X: /fs:ntfs (where X: is the drive letter of the RAW volume)

Is the drive seen as "Removable" on the laptop? How is it seen
on the desktop? Device Manager > Disk drives > YourUSBdrive >
properties > Volumes > Populate
Read the "type" field. It should list "Removable" or "Basic".

 

[Guest]

I wish I had even a glimmer of understanding about what's going on here Bill.
The first time I tried a format from cmd I got an error message 'partition
unreadable' Now I have 'Drive does not exist' while at the same time the
properties in Device Manager tell me the volume is Type: Unknown, Status:
Unreadable, Partition Style: Not applicable.
The unit is a Maxtor so it should be ok, what is happening with my windows OS?

 

[Guest]

Thanks Bill, the first attempt at a format produced a message that the
partition was unreadable, now apparently the drive does not exist. At the
same time as it does not exist, Properties in Device Manager says it is
working normally but is of unknown type and of unreadable status.

 

[Bill Blanton]

That is the desktop's properties sheet? What does the laptop's sheet say?

"Partition Style: Not Applicable" applies to removables which do not have
a partition structure. Does the laptop, which apparently is still able to access
the disk, list the "Style" as "Not Applicable" or does it list "MBR"? If the latter,
then the laptop would be structuring the disk as a fixed disk. Though unusual
it can happen, and would create a problem if then read as a removable disk.

 

[Greg]

Not quite the same; but I had a similar problem. Here is a link to our
checks and the solution. Might give you a few iddeas.


Bill Blanton:

That is the desktop's properties sheet? What does the laptop's sheet say?

"Partition Style: Not Applicable" applies to removables which do not have
a partition structure. Does the laptop, which apparently is still able to access
the disk, list the "Style" as "Not Applicable" or does it list "MBR"? If the latter,
then the laptop would be structuring the disk as a fixed disk. Though unusual
it can happen, and would create a problem if then read as a removable disk.



"Derek Peters" <[email protected]> wrote in

message news:[email protected]...

 

[Guest]

The laptop properties sheet lists Type: Basic and Partition Style: MBR.
Should I try to reformat the drive with a different partition?
By the way, apologies for the double post, my browser reported 'web page
unavailabe' when I first tried so I was surprised to see two postings when I
came back.

 

[Guest]

Laptop properties show the drive as Type: Basic and Partition Style: MBR;
should I try to change the partition? How?
By the way apologies for the double post, my browser told me the web page
was unavailable on my first attempt, so I was surprised to see two postings
when I came back the next day.

 

[Bill Blanton]

So basically it boils down to the laptop seeing the disk as a fixed disk,
with a partition structure, and the desktop seeing the disk as a removable,
and expecting a boot sector where the MBR is located.

What is the make/model/size of the drive?

Did it come preformatted?

Did you install drivers on the laptop?

How does the BIOS report the drive? Any config options?


My initial reaction would be to remove the device in device manager,
but I doubt that it would be seen any differently on the reboot. If you
wipe it completely and format it as a removable on the desktop, there's
a chance that the laptop would then have the problem.