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computer does not recognize external hard drive

Discussion in 'PC hardware help' started by shadob, Mar 18, 2006.

  1. shadob

    shadob Guest

    My HD Computer (running windowsME)would not boot up, said hard drive failure was immenent. Removed it's HD, put that in n external casing that was recognized ME and used USB to connect to another computer running Windows XP, was told this would allow me to access the HD and recover it data. Cannot get my windows XP computer to recognize the external drive. The software for the ex drive says to use fdisk to assign a partion on this computer. Everything I read about fdisk (on the MS Website, looks like it will cause me to loose all data on the hard drive that I am partioning. Does anyone know a safe, yet fairly simple way, to get this external drive into my XP system? Any help would be appreciate, and hope I have posted in the correct forum.
     
  2. The_OGS

    The_OGS Active member

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    Hi shadob,
    Traditionally when this happens, you can install the harddisk (temporarily, as slave) to another PC, and attempt to access data.
    You don't want FDISK; that is for new empty harddisks from the factory.
    With your external casing powered-up (it does not get power through USB does it?) and your WinXP PC running, plug in the USB.
    You should hear 'chime', what happens then?
    If harddisk is recognised here, but does NOT have a drive-letter and cannot be seen in Windows Explorer, the answer is in Windows Disk Management...
    Go Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management.
    Maximize this page. Physical Drives appear at the bottom; Logical Drives at the top.
    Hopefully your drive will appear at the bottom (physically), you must then 'import' it into the Windows installation; Windows will put its 'signature' on the drive and assign it a logical drive letter :^)
    Many folks have used WinXP for years and have never seen Disk Management, LoL - so there you go.
    Hope this helps,
    Regards
     
  3. shadob

    shadob Guest


    Thank You OGS, sounds like something I can work with. Have heard about setting up a slave, but did not know how to do it. Have been into Disk managaement so can find that! Glad you warned me off of fdisk, and I will let you know when I try what you have outlined below. Thx again
     
  4. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Above all, don't format anything, you'll lose the data. You'll need to make sure everything's plugged in first of all (duh lol) then check if the device is recognised in Hardware manager. If it is, then go to the disk management option. If it isn't, try using it as a slave (set it low in the boot order in the BIOS and set the jumpers to slave)
     
  5. shadob

    shadob Guest

    OGS Did what you said to do. It does not show up under the disk managment, but it does show up under "my computer" as drive E. BUT there is a windows -wrong volume warning. It says the wrong volume is in the drive. Please insert volume V1.08.3 into drive E. Have NO CLUE about volumes, so do not know what this means. Also, I do not know where I would find V1.08.3. If you can help me again, I would really appreciate it.
     
  6. shadob

    shadob Guest

    Sammorris, thank you for your help. But considering what has happened with the wrong volume notice, do not know if your reccommendation still applies. Am hopeful that what I have now is a step up, but am not sure. This whole hard drive failure thing is beyond my experience. But, I want to save those files if I can. Thx again for your reply.
     
  7. shadob

    shadob Guest

    OGS My spologies, drive E is NOT the new drive, it is a CDrom drive that has been in the computer all along. Have NO IDEA why it now has a volume warning or what that means. Have not changed a thing in that drive since I last used it. NOW WHAT??
     
  8. The_OGS

    The_OGS Active member

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    No worries - the CDRom drive always says that when you click on it when it's empty.
    The harddisk must appear in Windows Explorer when you plug it in - if it does not, the answer is in Disk Management.
    Hopefully it will appear as a physical drive and you can assign it a logical drive letter...
    L8R
     
  9. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    ... WITHOUT formatting it.
    Lol. Just be careful! ;-)
     
  10. shadob

    shadob Guest

    Wow! what a nightmare! Found reason the computer would not recognize new drive, I am such an idiot, I did not have jumper cables connected to the case. Now, the computer sees the disk has assigned it a letter and a volume. That's the good part! The computer is also very sluggish and takes forever to boot. When I go into disk mgmt. and right click on explore for the new drive it says "D not accessable, incorrect function". If I right click on opern, the computer freezes and must be rebooted. I have read everything I can find in help and on microsoft website, but must not be asking the right question. Do not know what I could have done to cause this.What can I do to fix the problems with machine being sluggish and freezing? Then what can I do to access new disk. I really any and all help. Thx again for getting me this far
     
  11. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Me might be onto something...
     
  12. wdowsing

    wdowsing Regular member

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    with something like that i find its always useful to run a chkdsk in windows before doing anything, 2 this has saved me from losing all my work or should i say saved tv programmes ;)
     
  13. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    ;-) ;-)

    Unfortunately chkdisk didn't save me from my PSU surge...
     
  14. shadob

    shadob Guest

    OGS, sammorris, It is me AGAIN! The new drive now shows up in Disk Mgmt, and on "My Computer" It shows it as a basic disk and has assigned a letter. I still cannot get into the disk, when I try to it either says "Disk F not accessible, Incorrect function" or the Computer stops responding. Can someone tell me how to assign this disk as a slave if that will help, or anything else I can do to make it work. Sammorris, said to do this through the Bios, but I do not know how to do that. Any step by step instructions will be appreciated. Thank You to Everyone for all of your help.
     
  15. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    If the drive appears in windows with a letter, you've done everything right in the BIOS. Unfortunately, since the "not formatted" or similar message has appeared, the drive may have already failed after the Windows Me warning, so you may have to take the drive to a data recovery centre. However, I warn you they are expensive, at least 3-4 times the value of the drive.
     
  16. shadob

    shadob Guest

    Thanks sammorris, not exactly an answer that I like, but it makes sense. Will have to think awhile before I decide if I want to spend that much money to recover the data. Guess we all have to pay for the lessons we learn, and I have NOW learned to back everything up. Sure wish there was a way I could get into to it myself. Thx again for all of your help. OGS, yourself and everyone has been just great, and it is much appreciated by newbies like myself. Have a great weekend.
     
  17. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    You're welcome.
    Though I must warn you, above all, DO NOT open the drive to try and forge a repair operation. That makes the chance of success of a repair operation far lower.
    Drive mechanisms are so sensitive that half a dozen dust particles will permanently destroy the disk. All data recovery operations are performed in an industrial clean room, white floors, pressurised doors, white coats, foamy slippers, silly hats etc.
    It's serious stuff, hard disk repair, hence why it costs so much money. You're above average PC technician who could probably faultfind any problem with a PC wouldn't know how to perform most data recovery operations successfully, it's specialist labour.
     
  18. shadob

    shadob Guest

    sammorris, don't worry I won't try to open the drive. I just meant I wish there were some way I could access it through software. I live in a remote area and there may not even be any people of this caliber around here. Am still kicking myself for not backing things up, but have not had a harddrive failure before and did not even know they existed. Lots learn out there. Thx again
     
  19. sammorris

    sammorris Senior member

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    Hey, the data recovery services I've been looking through are all 200+ miles away from me, which given the comparative size of my country to yours (the UK) seems a bit irritating.
    I'm still debating whether or not to pay the £280 ($490) for the similarly-valued software on the disk.

    Unfortunately when software's wrong, software can sort problems. When hardware's wrong, it has to be repaired or replaced.
    Most data recovery companies charge along what I've put (seems between $3-5 per GB) but this is for a back up on CD/DVD. For the data on external Hard disks, it costs that plus the cost of the replacement drive.
    Of course, you have to bear in mind that for a 200GB like my problem drive, 43 DVDs aren't cheap either!
     
  20. shadob

    shadob Guest

    Yes, considering the comparable sizes of the countries, yours is definitely further. And $490.00 NO WAY are these files worth that. It was an HP machine that I replaced and just used it for storage. A lot of the files are on my other computer, it is just some pics that I hate to lose, but I don't hate it $490.00 worth. Am definitely getting another external drive to use as back up. Just wish this case I bought trying to recover this drive was set up for XP. But I can always put a blank in it and then reload ME. But I never did not that program and really have no desire to keep using it. Might just as well consider the whole thing a wash and move on.
     

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