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External Hard Drive Enclosure Problem

post #1 of 7
3/31/05 at 5:58am
Thread Starter 
I bought a new Maxtor 250 GB hard drive and StorTecc PM-350U2-ECB USB 2.0 aluminum enclosure. When I plug the device to my laptop, it says the USB device cannot be installed correctly or something like that. I've tried setting the hard drive to master, slave, and cable select.

THe hard drive has not been formatted. Could that be a problem? I heard I should format it before installing, but usually that's not a problem. I can't format it because I don't have a desktop. I tried using the enclosure with an old hard drive with FAT32, but my computer still won't recognize the device.

I tried using the device with other computers and other USB cables, but that also did not work.

I think there is a problem with the enclosure. Is there anything I'm overlooking?

Thanks in advance.
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post #2 of 7
3/31/05 at 6:22am
I am pretty sure that you must format the drive before it works.

In order to do this, go to My Computer --> Control Panel --> Administrative Tool --> Computer Management --> Storage --> Disk Management
-you should be able to see all of the connected drives and format through here. If not, then maybe your enclosure does have a problem.

For the problem with the FAT32 drive, I am not completely sure about this, but you may have to format drives when they are in the enclosure. But I wouldn't risk trying it if the data on the other hard drive is important
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post #3 of 7
3/31/05 at 8:04am
I'd say you have a problem withe the enclosure or the drive. I've used numerous USB drives and Firewire drives with laptops and they have always recognized them. I've never had to format one that is new from the box.

I have to when I have re-partitioned or doe something funky.

You could try downloading a proper hard disk management program which will tell you much more than Windows. I use Partition Manager, and it has recognised and can use evrything I've tried. There is a trial version, but you can't save changes. It will tell you what is going on.

There are others that you can use fully for a limited time.

If it won't work with your other computers that is a pretty good sign there is a hardware problem.

Cheers

Steve
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post #4 of 7
3/31/05 at 9:44am
the HDD's should be master, try plugging in the HDD without USB and turning it on (power only) see if the drive spins up properly, THEN plug in the USB after the drive has spun up. if not try another USB port
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post #5 of 7
3/31/05 at 11:57am
You do have to format it, but you can do so while it's plugged into the USB port. Windows will not recognize it through Explorer before it's formatted. Use the admin tools as pyro_dragun suggested or something like Partition Magic that can recognize and manipulate drives connected via USB.
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post #6 of 7
3/31/05 at 12:22pm
Quote:
Originally Posted by epp_b
You do have to format it, but you can do so while it's plugged into the USB port. Windows will not recognize it through Explorer before it's formatted. Use the admin tools as pyro_dragun suggested or something like Partition Magic that can recognize and manipulate drives connected via USB.
^^^^ You have to go into disk management and enable and format the drive before it shows up. Master is the most likely setting for most enclosures.
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post #7 of 7
3/31/05 at 3:21pm
Thread Starter 
I tried setting it to master, but the drive doesn't show up in disk management. It also does not show up in Partition Magic. The hard drive spins when powered up.
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