Help! Just bought a new harddisk casing but won't show up!

[iori57]

Just bought a new 3.5 inch harddisk casing together with a new 200gb harddisk (preloaded into the harddisk casing so i don't need to connect it myself). After I got it I connect it straight to my comp, after a while of hardware installation it says the hardware is ready to use, but I can't find it anywhere in my computer or windows explorer.. it didn't show up as a new drive letter..

I tried it on my friend's notebook and the same thing happen, it just don't show up. In the manual it says windows XP should be driverless and no drivers needed to be installed.

I fear that it is because the harddisk haven't been formatted at all. But I don't have a desktop with me that I can use to format it.. any suggestions?

thanks a bunch

 

[PCBliss]

right click on "my computer" and then go to "manage" and then to "disk management". You need to initialize the disk and make a partition

 

[iori57]

Been there done that the harddisk is not shown in there

 

[PCBliss]

on that screen it doesnt show up in the bottom right as an un-allocated volume or anything? If its not there then your computer isnt recognizing it at all

 

[amdskip]

Does it sound like the hard drive is on and running. Try shutting it off when in that screen and then turning it back on to see if anything shows up there.

 

[iori57]

ya it isn't shown anywhere in that screen, only has my normal C: and D: partition of my notebook harddisk and E: of my dvd rom
ya the harddrive is on and running, i can feel it vibrating inside the casing. Tried shutting it off and on again but still the same thing..

one thing to note is that the Safely remove mass storage device icon showed up on the bottom right corner, normally if i plug in a thumb drive it will show as "Safely remove mass storage device - Drive G:" or something like that, but it just shows "Safely remove mass storage device" this time

 

[amdskip]

What about it the very bottom of that screen though? It's a new drive so you have to set it up somehow.

 

[deathwalker]

Originally posted by: iori57
Just bought a new 3.5 inch harddisk casing together with a new 200gb harddisk (preloaded into the harddisk casing so i don't need to connect it myself). After I got it I connect it straight to my comp, after a while of hardware installation it says the hardware is ready to use, but I can't find it anywhere in my computer or windows explorer.. it didn't show up as a new drive letter..

I tried it on my friend's notebook and the same thing happen, it just don't show up. In the manual it says windows XP should be driverless and no drivers needed to be installed.

I fear that it is because the harddisk haven't been formatted at all. But I don't have a desktop with me that I can use to format it.. any suggestions?

thanks a bunch

Well..what brand of external drive system is this? Is it a generic external bay that someone mounted a drive in and sent to you or is it a branded system sold as a ready to use external drive system..If this is a generic bay that someone has thrown a drive into..its possible the drive isnt jumpered properly...Drives in USB bays must be jumpered as Master!

 

[corkyg]

Does the case have a power source of its own? It must have or it will never show up.

 

[iori57]

checked the jumper settings, they were set up correctly as Master. I even tried changing to Slave and Cable Settings but still the same, now i switched it back to Master.

and yes it has its own power source.

still not showing up.. help

 

[jackschmittusa]

Some external cases need the drive to be set for "cable select". Windows cannot use the drive until it is formatted. Did the drive come with a utility disk from the manufacturer?

Does it show up in: control panel - administrative tools - computer managment - disk management (you may need to scroll down in that window)?

 

[amdskip]

Yeah man, scroll down in the windows like jackschmittusa says and I said earlier. I bet its showing up there.

 

[iori57]

Sorry, in my previous message I said I tried changing to Slave and Cable Settings before, I meant "Cable Select" not "Settings", it still won't show up

And i did scroll up and down the disk management window but it isn't there. I also tried opening that window first, then plug in my harddisk and turn it on as advised, still no luck

maybe i have to find a desktop to format it

 

[lenjack]

Is it usb and if so, is usb enabled in bios?

 

[Aikouka]

Originally posted by: iori57
ya it isn't shown anywhere in that screen, only has my normal C: and D: partition of my notebook harddisk and E: of my dvd rom
ya the harddrive is on and running, i can feel it vibrating inside the casing. Tried shutting it off and on again but still the same thing..

one thing to note is that the Safely remove mass storage device icon showed up on the bottom right corner, normally if i plug in a thumb drive it will show as "Safely remove mass storage device - Drive G:" or something like that, but it just shows "Safely remove mass storage device" this time

The difference in titles is because Windows has no partition to mount when the device connects. The message shows that Windows is recognizing the device.

What brand is the external enclosure?

EDIT: Also, what brand is the HDD?