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01 April 2006

Ask Mecha: I've installed a USB drive on my computer, but can't find it in My Computer. →[More:]

I got one of those hard drive "enclosures" that lets you mount an internal hard drive as an external USB device. I put in the hard drive from my old computer, hooked it up, and got a notification that my "USB Mass Storage Device" had been installed. But where is it? I don't see it listed in Windows Explorer.

I did try the Disk Management thing to see if it had to be added there somehow, but it doesn't show up there either.

Any of you technically-gifted folks have any idea what I'm overlooking?

post by: BoringPostcards at: 18:28 | 12 comments

APRIL FOOLS!

posted by Eideteker 01 April | 18:49

I tried to get my wife's XP box to recognize a USB hard drive without any luck so thanks for asking this. I hope someone's got the trick.

posted by fenriq 01 April | 18:53

So, you power on the drive, plug in the usb, and the "fund new harware" thing sucsessfuly puts your drive in the little icon in the task tray.

In My Computer, Windows Explorer, and your Control Panel, the drive does not show.

HMMMMMMM:
Are you using and installed software - with the external hard drive Drivers and a kind of management program?

posted by jelly 01 April | 19:23

No, I haven't installed anything- it didn't come with any kind of software, and specifically says you don't need any extra drivers to use this under XP. (It did have a CD with Win98 drivers on it, but nothing else.)

This is the drive enclosure, BTW.

posted by BoringPostcards 01 April | 19:41

i'm stummped. Short of restarting the computer, I don't know what to suggest. Try plugging it into another XP system to reduce your possibilities. If it works on another syst em (xp) then it is your ccomputer settings. If it doesnt work on nother XP, then it's the drive or enclosure.

READ THIS FAQ

Wish i had more. Web page looks like it has online support.

you can instal the win98 driver, wont hurt anything. Then plug in the enclosure again after restart.

posted by jelly 01 April | 20:04

Actauly, i have heard about the FAQ - setting the jumpers right (to Master) - before. Seems like a common reason these enclosures initially ont work.

posted by jelly 01 April | 20:07

Aha... I haven't checked the jumpers, will do that.

Thanks for replying to this.

posted by BoringPostcards 01 April | 21:51

Also, I did restart the computer with the drive connected and powered up, to no avail.

posted by BoringPostcards 01 April | 22:05

Jumpers.

posted by jelly 01 April | 22:37

I will give those a shot tomorrow and post again with the result. :) Again, THANKS for replying...

posted by BoringPostcards 01 April | 23:00

I think jelly may be right. XP will see the controller circuitry in the enclosure, but if the drive isn't jumpered right, the controller won't see the drive.

In any event, the two places to look for problems are the device manager (see if it says there's a problem with the device) and disk manager (if there's a drive, it'll show up there).

posted by kmellis 02 April | 00:49

Most drive enclosures have the 80 wire cables that allow the drives to be set to Cable Select so the jumper settings shouldn't be an issue. My set up has the Cable Select set up.

Its amazing how much XP I've forgotten in the 2 months since I stopped having to use one at work.

posted by fenriq 02 April | 21:26

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