External hdd problem

Joe T

Joe T

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Hi guys

I have a Seagate Barracuda 7200.9 120GB ST3120814A ATA-100 8MB Cache in an Icy Box external enclosure.

Now, the drive spins up ok, and Widnows XP installs the new device ok. It is added to the list of removable devices (as USB Mass Storage device). It also shows up in Device Manager with the correct ID code (ST312081 4A). However, Windows doesnt seem to be adding it to the list of drives (c, d, e etc) in Windows Explorer.

Can anyone help? Thanks muchly.

Joe


P.S. sorry for all the pc-related threads, but I'm having an ightmare at the moment, what with this and that!
 
Go into control panel, Administrive tools, computer management, Disk management and activate it there.
 
As Praxis says - the system knows its there but it can't be used until you format it.
 
Thanks folks. Formatting it now. I knew it was somehwere in CP, but couldnt remember where!

The reason I have it in an external caddy was that I tried to add it as ain internal drive in a mates machine, but it wasnt recognised by the BIOS. So I brought it home to try it in mine. Would an unformatted disk show in the BIOS when connected to an IDE port?

Thanks
 
yes - assuming the bios is recent enough and the drive jumpers were set correctly. Some old computers can't understand new large drives or if they do they can only use part of the available space. There are drive makers utility program to get round those promlems in most cases.
 
Icy Box external closure? How big/bulky is that - I have major dramas in Afghanistan and Iraq keeping things cool.
It would need to be fairly well sealed against moisture and dust as well...
 
If you want a sealed unit take alook at these, only opening is for the USB connector and even that has a rubber flap cover, also powered by the USB port.

Western Digital Passport USB 2.0 HDD
Linky
 
Needs to be bigger - currently using a cheap Freecom 250Gb HD from PC World and will be buying a second one soon as I only have about 20Gb left.
I just worry that all the heat and dust will fry it before I have a chance to back it up back home. Typically each week of work while we're away generates about 20Gb of imagery (RAW, TIFF and JPEGs for each image), more if it's a heavy schedule.
 
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