how to mount an external 2TB USB HD on 32-bit XP

[cpliu]

I tried to mount drive but it can't see this SATA inside a external
USB case. Is there a driver I need to install in order to see it?

Thanks,

 

[Rod Speed]

I tried to mount drive but it can't see this SATA inside a external
USB case. Is there a driver I need to install in order to see it?

Nope. The case may not support drives that big.

 

[larry moe 'n curly]

I tried to mount drive but it can't see this SATA inside a external
USB case. Is there a driver I need to install in order to see it?

You may want to post the brand and part number of the SATA-USB
converter chip, either here or at USBman.com or EverythingUSB.com. Do
500-1,000GB HDs work?

 

[cpliu]

You may want to post the brand and part number of the SATA-USB

converter chip, either here or at USBman.com or EverythingUSB.com.  Do
500-1,000GB HDs work?

It's Hitachi 2TB internal drive put in IOGear case. I will test the
500GB tonight. I kind of remember it worked before.

 

[cpliu]

1TB and 500TB work fine on this PC running Windows XP SP2. It also
dual-boot to Windows 7. Both are 32-bit. Processor: AMD Athlon 64
3200+

Thanks for the help!

 

[Rod Speed]

1TB and 500TB work fine on this PC running Windows XP SP2.
It also dual-boot to Windows 7. Both are 32-bit.
Processor: AMD Athlon 64 3200+

Looks like its the bridge in the external case thats the problem.

 

[cpliu]

Looks like its the bridge in the external case thats the problem.

Does that mean it's impossible to mount that drive on this PC. The
same case with 500GB HD works fine with this system. 2TB also works on
another Vista laptop. Should I try install Windows XP 64-bit on the
system to see if it works there?

Thanks for the info,

 

[Rod Speed]

Does that mean it's impossible to mount that drive on this PC.

That varys with what that external case presents to the PC with
that drive in the case. If it doesnt show the PC any drive at all,
obviously there is nothing anything done on the PC can do about that.

The same case with 500GB HD works fine with this system.

And a 1TB drive too, you said previously.

2TB also works on another Vista laptop.

You havent said that previously. That is crucial information.

That is the evidence that is NOT a problem with the bridge in the external case.

Should I try install Windows XP 64-bit on the system to see if it works there?

Wouldnt do any harm to try that if you can image the current install
so you can just restore that image if it makes no difference.

Or you could just try Win7, likely that would work if Vista can see the 2TB drive in that case.

 

[cpliu]

Does this 2 TB hard drive have the new 4K sectors ?

I don't know. I got it late last year. I formatted it as NTFS and used
it on a Vista laptop until I need to mount it on my other Win XP
desktop.

thanks,

 

[Rod Speed]

Does this 2 TB hard drive have the new 4K sectors ?

If so, you may need to jumper the hard drive:

That cant be the problem given that the external drive works fine on Vista systems.

 

[Rod Speed]

I would repartition the external drive and reformat on the XP system.

The drive isnt even visible on an XP system, so it cant be repartitioned and reformatted.

 

[Rod Speed]

It is my understanding that Win 7 and Vista understand the new 4K
sector hard drives. XP does not but the drives are "supposed" to
have a compatibility mode. The compatibility mode did not work for
me on a Windows 2003 server pc for a 1.5 TB internal hard drive.

Yes, but EXTERNAL USB drives dont have that problem.

In their case what matters is the bridge in the drive, and clearly
that can handle the 2TB drive because it works with Vista.

 

[Arno]

It is my understanding that Win 7 and Vista understand the new 4K
sector hard drives. XP does not but the drives are "supposed" to
have a compatibility mode. The compatibility mode did not work for
me on a Windows 2003 server pc for a 1.5 TB internal hard drive.

Actually they are supposed to be shipped with the compatibility
mode fixed to "on", i.e. completely transparent to the OS,
except for potentially bad performance.

What issues did you run into? Anything besides bad performance?

Arno

 

[Arno]

That is my understanding also.

Very similar to the OP. My Windows Server 2003 pc could not
see the drive whereas it could see an older 1.5TB with the 512
byte sectors.

Interesting. That should not happen, but shows that the 512 Byte
emulation is flawed in more ways than regarding performance.

Arno

 

[Arno]

BTW, that WD 1.5 TB 4K sector caviar green drive failed on me
after I wrote about 30 GB to it using my windows 7 x64 pc. So,
there may have been something else going on with it and it was
slowly dying.

Hmm, yes. Quite possible.

Arno