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    External USB HDD Problem

    Discussion in 'Hardware Components and Aftermarket Upgrades' started by orangeguy, Feb 9, 2008.

  1. orangeguy

    orangeguy Notebook Consultant

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    Hi,

    I've just recently bought a SATA HDD and a USB external HDD box. I've put it all together and plugged it into my notebook. Windows says that the device is working properly but the drive doesn't show up in windows explorer.

    What could be the problem here?

    Thanks.
     
    orangeguy, Feb 9, 2008
    #1
  2. hydra

    hydra Breaks Laptops

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    Looks like the OS sees the interface and not the drive. Is the drive powered up (spinning)? Re-check internal cables. Can you check the bare SATA drive on another CPU? Double check any jumpers the interface may require for IDE/Sata drives.

    Good Luck
     
    hydra, Feb 9, 2008
    #2
  3. 000111

    000111 Atari Master

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    you sometimes need 2 usb cords to power one drive... could that be it?
     
    000111, Feb 9, 2008
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  4. orangeguy

    orangeguy Notebook Consultant

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    I have tried connecting the external drive to another notebook, but same problem. It has its own power adapter so I dont think I need 2 usb cables.

    The drive does spin up when I turn it on. I haven't yet tried connecting the drive alone to a computer as I dont think my computer support SATA drives.

    Will recheck all the cables and things and try again.

    Not too familiar with SATA drives, do I need to set any jumper settings so the drive will act as a secondary drive?

    Thanks for all the help.
     
    orangeguy, Feb 9, 2008
    #4
  5. olyteddy

    olyteddy Notebook Deity

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    I should think you'd need to partition it and format it... Look for 'Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management' in the control panel to get started.
     
    olyteddy, Feb 9, 2008
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  6. dawsman_1

    dawsman_1 Newbie

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    A tip: if you are using the drive purely for storage purposes and transferring files from PC to PC, then I would recommend formatting the drive as FAT32. This is the file system most portable media (thumb drives etc) use. Windows can't to this for drives >32GB so if your drive is larger go to the following website and follow the instructions (includes partitioning instructions):

    http://www.ridgecrop.demon.co.uk/index.htm?fat32format.htm

    The advantage of the FAT32 file system that it is recognised by Win98SE and above, whereas NTFS it not recognized by the older operating systems (pre Win2000 excluding NT).
     
    dawsman_1, Feb 10, 2008
    #6
  7. John Ratsey

    John Ratsey Moderately inquisitive Super Moderator

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    SATA is irrelevant as the computer will see the HDD as a USB mass storage device. It should be plug and play. Windows should give you a message when it gets connected.

    (i) Check that Device Manager shows another HDD, then (ii) as suggested above, go into Administrative Tools to format it. It will only show up in Explorer once it is formatted.

    John
     
    John Ratsey, Feb 10, 2008
    #7
  8. orangeguy

    orangeguy Notebook Consultant

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    Thanks all for the advice.

    I will give the suggestions a try to see if it works.
     
    orangeguy, Feb 11, 2008
    #8