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Help XP Windows Explorer doesn't display USB Hard drive

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8 replies

by nikhildhyan2004

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I have a new Samsung 160GB IDE hard drive that I have put in an external (USB) case (Noontec Sunlite.) When I plug it into my laptop or desktop they both recognise it, install it and report that it is 'working.' However when I bring up windows explorer I don't see it. Does it matter whether the Jumper caps are set to Master/slave or other? I don't think so cause I've tried them all. Or do I just have a dud drive? Any ideas would be much appreciated.

8 replies

by hal 9000

If you have not then there is no available drive to allocate a drive letter to so you'll need to go into Computer Management, Drives right click on the unformatted drive and scroll down the drop down list till you see the format option and then format it in the form that you need.

Once this is done it will appear in explorer.

Col

by victoriafm

Hey guys! I am having the same problem. The now external HD is not recognized by neither the disk manager nor windows explorer. Should I format it? I am actually trying to save information from my old computer. If I format the disk then the whole point of my purchase is lost and so is the money. :-( SOS!

by rob miners

If the drive is not present in the Disk Management window or if you are not able to access it, then the drive may have failed.

Recheck your connections and make sure that everything is connected properly.

You may be able to use the Hard Drive Makers Testing Utility to Test the Drive

Hitachi / IBM - DFT "Drive Fitness Test"

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Works with all manufacturers

Western Digital "Data Lifeguard"

http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp#dlgtools

Works with WD drives only

Fujitsu "FJDT"

http://www.fel.fujitsu.com/home/drivers.asp?L=en&CID=1

Works with fujitsu models only

Samsung "hutil"

http://www.samsung.com/Products/Hard...ties/hutil.htm

Compatability unknown...

Seagate "Seatools"

http://www.seagate.com/support/seatools

Works with Seagate drives only

Let us know how you get on.

by ugadata

Rather than using Explorer try using Disk Management to see if the drive is recognized?

Disk management will see the drive even if it is not formatted. If the drive is formatted and it is a Dynamic Disk you may need to import the drive. It is also possible the the drive was assigned a drive letter that already in use by an existing drive.

To get to disk management right on the My Computer icon and choose Manage. If the view is not expanded click on the plus sign next to Storage. You see the option for Disk Management in the list.

by nikhildhyan2004

I feel like a droob, I had omitted to format the drive, using disk management as suggested I created a volume on the disk and it works fine now. Thanks for taking the time with something so simple.

by edlegs

I have a similar problem: I used a noontec sunlight model no. u235 (3.5inch, 500GB) to save my old photos as copies (not as backup using backup software). I was running window 7 32-bit at that time when my system crashed. I am now using a new computer which I bought with windows 7, 64-bit pre-installed, but now windows doesn't "see" the sunlite as a usb drive. When I use disk management, windows identifies the usb drive as unformatted. Is there a way I can access the drive without formatting it? I want to retrieve my old photos from it.

by Wizard57M-TR

This is an old thread, "zombie" is the common term. Instead of tacking
on a comment here, try reposting as a new question in Q&A!

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