initialize hard disk not working

  • Thread starter Thread starter mrwawa
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mrwawa

Hi all,

I have a Maxtor 3200 external hard drive that connects to my desktop
through a USB device. I have been using the hard drive for back up for
some time, however now I can't access it (A drive letter is not
assigned in Explorer). My computer recognizes the device through
Computer Management/ Disk Management, however Disk 1 (as it is known)
is labeled as not initialized. When I right click and try to
initialize, the "hour glass" pops up for ~ 2 seconds and disappears,
however the hard disk remains uninitialized. I have disconnected the
hard disk and connected it to my laptop, trying the same procedure to
no avail. The USB port on both machines can access a thumb drive.

Does this sound like a Windows problem or a hard drive problem?

Thanks for any input.

Wade
 
In
mrwawa said:
Hi all,

I have a Maxtor 3200 external hard drive that connects to my desktop
through a USB device. I have been using the hard drive for back up
for some time, however now I can't access it (A drive letter is not
assigned in Explorer). My computer recognizes the device through
Computer Management/ Disk Management, however Disk 1 (as it is known)
is labeled as not initialized. When I right click and try to
initialize, the "hour glass" pops up for ~ 2 seconds and disappears,
however the hard disk remains uninitialized. I have disconnected the
hard disk and connected it to my laptop, trying the same procedure to
no avail. The USB port on both machines can access a thumb drive.

Does this sound like a Windows problem or a hard drive problem?

Thanks for any input.

Wade
Click to expand...

Sounds like a problem with the Maxtor, to me. Have you tried hooking it up
to another computer to see if it shows up?
 
Hi,

I hooked it up to my laptop and the same problem occurred. I used the
command line diskpart in Windows and the OS can see the disk (labeled
as disk1), but is not assigning it a unique number (it only assigns
0000000). I have tried to manually assign a drive letter, but was not
successful.

I believe you are right, it does seem like a problem with the external
hard drive.

Thanks,

Wade
 
In
mrwawa said:
Hi,

I hooked it up to my laptop and the same problem occurred. I used the
command line diskpart in Windows and the OS can see the disk (labeled
as disk1), but is not assigning it a unique number (it only assigns
0000000). I have tried to manually assign a drive letter, but was not
successful.

I believe you are right, it does seem like a problem with the external
hard drive.
Click to expand...

Yes, sounds like it.
 
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