Plugged in USB 2.0 HD Not recoginized in Windows XP

[Keith]

I have a USB 2.0 HD enclosure with a 100 GB HD. I can plug the HD into a
Windows 7 machine and the HD is displayed properly in windows explorer.
However in windows XP the device is recognized and listed by the hardware
manager, but windows XP can not see the HD. What should I check in WinXP SP3
to see why the USB HD is not being mounted in windows? BTW, the HD is
formatted in NTFS format.

TIA

 

[boatman312]

I have a USB 2.0 HD enclosure with a 100 GB HD. I can plug the HD into a
Windows 7 machine and the HD is displayed properly in windows explorer.
However in windows XP the device is recognized and listed by the hardware
manager, but windows XP can not see the HD. What should I check in WinXP SP3
to see why the USB HD is not being mounted in windows? BTW, the HD is
formatted in NTFS format.

TIA

First, try another USB port. If that doesn't work, open Disk Manager:

Start>Run>"diskmgmt.msc" without the quotes.

Look for the drive there. If it's there, you might have to change the
drive letter to one that's unused.

If it's not there, report back here.

 

[Keith]

First, try another USB port. If that doesn't work, open Disk Manager:

Start>Run>"diskmgmt.msc" without the quotes.

Look for the drive there. If it's there, you might have to change the
drive letter to one that's unused.

If it's not there, report back here.

Yes it is listed, however the manager says that it is a healthy GPT Protective
Partition. In Win7 it is listed as a NTFS partition.

 

[boatman312]

Yes it is listed, however the manager says that it is a healthy GPT Protective
Partition. In Win7 it is listed as a NTFS partition.

The partition was formatted from a 64 bit OS and not compatible with WinXP.

Take a look here (Google is your friend...):

http://computerhelpforum.org/forum/hardware/f8/gpt_protective_partition/t11614.html

 

[Keith]

The partition was formatted from a 64 bit OS and not compatible with WinXP.

Take a look here (Google is your friend...):

http://computerhelpforum.org/forum/hardware/f8/gpt_protective_partition/t11614.html

Thanks, I learn something new every day.

 

[Paul]

Thanks, I learn something new every day.

There is an article here you can look at.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table

"Legacy MBR (LBA 0)

The MBR at the beginning of the disk was originally designed to prevent
MBR-based disk utilities from mis-recognizing, and possibly over-writing,
GPT disks (however, in Operating Systems that support GPT-based boot, it is
nowadays also used to store the first stage of the bootloader). A single
partition type of 0xEE, encompassing the entire GPT drive, is indicated
and identifies it as GPT."

That might be what you're seeing in Disk Management.

Maybe you could prepare the drive in WinXP and then humbly offer it to your
new OS ? You'd hope that a plain NTFS drive, would be portable.

Paul

 

[John Wunderlich]

Yes it is listed, however the manager says that it is a healthy

Thanks, I learn something new every day.

From Microsoft KB:

"HOW TO: Change a GUID Partition Table Disk into a Master Boot Record
Disk in Windows XP"

<http://support.microsoft.com/kb/282793/>

HTH,
John

 

[VanguardLH]

Yes it is listed, however the manager says that it is a healthy GPT Protective
Partition. In Win7 it is listed as a NTFS partition.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302873
See "Why does the GUID Partition Table have a Protective MBR?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table
"Windows XP 32-bit (the most prevalent version of Windows XP) and earlier
Windows systems cannot (without hacks) read or write to drives formatted
with a GUID partition table, however, Vista and Windows 7 include this
capability"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_boot_record
"Where a data storage device has been partitioned with the GPT scheme, the
Master Boot Record will still contain a partition table, but its only
purpose is to indicate the existence of the GUID Table and to prevent
utility programs that understand only the MBR Partition Table scheme from
creating any partitions in what they would see as free space on the disk,
thereby accidentally erasing the GUID table."

 

[VanguardLH]

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/302873
See "Why does the GUID Partition Table have a Protective MBR?"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GUID_Partition_Table
"Windows XP 32-bit (the most prevalent version of Windows XP) and earlier
Windows systems cannot (without hacks) read or write to drives formatted
with a GUID partition table, however, Vista and Windows 7 include this
capability"

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Master_boot_record
"Where a data storage device has been partitioned with the GPT scheme, the
Master Boot Record will still contain a partition table, but its only
purpose is to indicate the existence of the GUID Table and to prevent
utility programs that understand only the MBR Partition Table scheme from
creating any partitions in what they would see as free space on the disk,
thereby accidentally erasing the GUID table."

In addition (I haven't done this so it's at your own risk):

To remove the GPT and revert to the old standard MBR structure with
partition tables, use the 'diskpart' program included in Windows.
- Open a command shell:
Start -> Run menu
Enter: cmd.exe
- At the command prompt, run:
diskpart
- List all the disk IDs on your host (under the "Disk ###" column):
list disk
- Select the device to change focus to it for further commands:
select <disk id#>
(for example, "select disk 5")
- Show details for the selected disk (helps ensure you pick the right one):
detail disk
- Clean the MBR record:
clean
- Load the Disk Management applet (diskmgmt.msc).
- The cleaned disk should now show as "unallocated" (no partitions).
- Right-click on a disk info and select "Initialize Disk".
o If running a 64-bit version of Windows, the schemes are:
Master Boot Record (MBR)
GUID Protective Partition (GPT)
o MBR is usable on 32/64-bit Windows. GPT only on 64-bit Windows.
o This disk is initialized as a "basic disk".
o All data is erased on the disk.