external harddisk not recognized

[Guest]

i have a maxtor hard drive that will not get recognized by xp pro.

i used to have it internally in an xp home machine, and i have files on it i
want to back up.

however, i cannot back it up if the computer doesnt recognize the drive!
ive tried formatting the drive to both Slave and Cable select, but neither
option works.

any suggestions?

 

[Carey Frisch [MVP]]

Is your external drive enclosure power supply connected?

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User
Microsoft Newsgroups

Get Windows XP Service Pack 2 with Advanced Security Technologies:
http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/windowsxp/choose.mspx

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:

| i have a maxtor hard drive that will not get recognized by xp pro.
|
| i used to have it internally in an xp home machine, and i have files on it i
| want to back up.
|
| however, i cannot back it up if the computer doesnt recognize the drive!
| ive tried formatting the drive to both Slave and Cable select, but neither
| option works.
|
| any suggestions?

 

[Guest]

Yes, both the power supply and ribbon are connected and working properly (i
already used the enclosure once today to back up a different drive)

 

[Anna]

Yes, both the power supply and ribbon are connected and working properly
(i
already used the enclosure once today to back up a different drive)

ike:
1. Since you've used the EHD on another machine without a problem, we can
assume both the drive & the USB enclosure are not defective, right? That's a
correct assumption, yes?

2. Or now that I re:read your last comment, maybe I've got it wrong, i.e.,
you used the USB enclosure *but* with a different hard drive enclosed. Is
that right?

3. If that's so, are you certain your Maxtor drive is not defective? Have
you reinstalled it as an internal drive on your machine to see if it's
working properly?

4. Assuming the drive & the enclosure are without problems -- have you
connected the device directly (not through a USB hub) to different USB ports
on your computer, but the results are the same?

5. Have you checked Disk Management to determine if the EHD has been
assigned a drive letter?
Anna

 

[Guest]

Anna,
1. EHD case was used with different drive ealier, so i know the case is not
defective.
2. Maxtor drive is not defective, works in a desktop as a slave drive.
3. USB does not change results.
4. Disk Management does not recognize the drive. BUT XP sees it in "safely
remove hardware"

 

[Guest]

One more thing, I can't reinstall it in my desktop now to back it up, because
the desktop is now out of comission...

 

[Guest]

Ike,

install your maxtor in the desktop that recognise it as a slave and do your
backup.

 

[jduck777]

Ike,

install your maxtor in the desktop that recognise it as a
slave and do your
backup.

I just went through this and couldn’t find the answer anywhere after
all my searching. My "external hard drive" was not recognized by XP
Pro even though it showed that a USB device was connected. I checked
in Disk Management and nothing showed there.

When I took the hard drive out and made it internal, everything worked
fine. I checked all my connections and things. Come to find out it
worked okay after I made the disk a "Basic" disk instead of a
"Dynamic" one.

That was the issue the whole time. I had to make it "Basic" and
then format the drive and it’s worked great ever since. I wanted to
post my findings so someone else could actually find the answer.