External Hard Drive Problem

The General

I got a new external hard drive case and am using an old 20 Gb hard drive, i have an old PC downstairs running XP, and the hard drive will work with that PC no problem but when i try it on my new(better) PC also running XP it tells me there is a a USB connection when i plug it in but it doesn't show up on the PC at al(My Computer)
If i leave it plugged in and just switch off the hard drive it will appear in "My Computer" for a split second, anyone know what the problem might be?
Could it be that the hard drive is old?
Does hard drive speed make much of a difference to the speed of of transfering stuff from PC to hard drive, or is it all down to USB port speed?

Thanks

beller b

Try device manager & scan for hardware changes..

The General

beller b wrote:

Try device manager & scan for hardware changes..

i tried add new hard ware, no luck, and when i scanned for hardware it just shows up my internal hard drive

if i plug it in and turn it on it won't appear but also it will freeze the PC after about 5 mins(forgot about that)

Malafus

It's probably not becasue the HDD is old. As for the HDD speed affecting transfers - No if it's USB 1 or 1.1, VERY yes if it's USB 2.0.

Windows XP should detect the drive and auto-install drivers etc...

I had a similar problem, involving Firewire though. As it turns out, I had connected the face plate to the headers on the mobo wrong, and I had power running through the data line. Gave me a shock (literally and figuratively), but no permanent damage done to me or the PC, or the HDD.

Edit: Ah, from your new post it looks like it's trying to install additional drivers or something, and freezing when it can't? Hmmm.....

Fabritzo

It might be set to invisible mode...err
Try going to start, run, and type in the next letter a drive might be. like if you have a C: and a try going to run and typing in E: and enter?

beller b

It may be there ,but needs to be allocated...Try admin tools/disc management if it show up there then right click to allocate a drive letter & format

The General

Malafus wrote:

It's probably not becasue the HDD is old. As for the HDD speed affecting transfers - No if it's USB 1 or 1.1, VERY yes if it's USB 2.0.

Windows XP should detect the drive and auto-install drivers etc...

I had a similar problem, involving Firewire though. As it turns out, I had connected the face plate to the headers on the mobo wrong, and I had power running through the data line. Gave me a shock (literally and figuratively), but no permanent damage done to me or the PC, or the HDD.

Edit: Ah, from your new post it looks like it's trying to install additional drivers or something, and freezing when it can't? Hmmm.....

maybe thats it

It might be set to invisible mode...err
Try going to start, run, and type in the next letter a drive might be. like if you have a C: and a try going to run and typing in E: and enter?

i'll give that a shot thanks

The General

beller b wrote:

It may be there ,but needs to be allocated...Try admin tools/disc management if it show up there then right click to allocate a drive letter & format

tried that the PC just freezes when i try view disc management :rolleyes:

formatman

Have you reinstalled Xp lately on the new PC? , sounds like the Chipset drivers for the boards are not installed , this would give USB hub communication problems

Is it a BRAND PC or self made , are you using the front or BACK USB ports ?

The General

formatman wrote:

Have you reinstalled Xp lately on the new PC? , sounds like the Chipset drivers for the boards are not installed , this would give USB hub communication problems

Is it a BRAND PC or self made , are you using the front or BACK USB ports ?

It is about half a year old, it is a self made PC but i got a company to make it i picked the parts (sort of) i have 2 front USB ports and i use them. THey defo work cos i always use them for USB stick and wireless broadband connection

formatman

I would check if you got a CD for the chipset drivers and install/reinstall them anyway

But are you using a power supply for the External harddrive ? the front ports can supply less power than the back ports and for a 3.5 Inch Hard drive a external power supply for the hard drive casing is usually required

Sometimes the front ports are USB 1.1 only and not USB 2.0

Whats different about the PC downstairs , self made , branded , using back ports or front ports?

Try on the back ports first to see what happens first anyhow

Malafus

formatman wrote:

I would check if you got a CD for the chipset drivers and install/reinstall them anyway

But are you using a power supply for the External harddrive ? the front ports can supply less power than the back ports and for a 3.5 Inch Hard drive a external power supply for the hard drive casing is usually required

Sometimes the front ports are USB 1.1 only and not USB 2.0

Whats different about the PC downstairs , self made , branded , using back ports or front ports?

Try on the back ports first to see what happens first anyhow

Without a power supply, the HDD would not turn on, and the OP says that it did turn on, just won't appear in explorer.
USB 1.1 or USB 2.0, there should be no difference except for speed.
There is no difference between the back ports and front ports, unless they have been wired up incorrectly, as my firewire port was. Still, probably a good idea to try the integrated USB ports, assuming they exist.

The fact that the drive appears momentarily makes it feel like a power problem, but the freezing makes it seem like a driver issue. Very strange.

The General

i got a driver CD with it but all thas on the CD is WIN98 drivers, The Hard Drive has its own power cord, The PC upstairs is pretty much the same as downstairs except upstairs is better, should i format the hard drive and try again. The hard drive has "program files" and "recycle bin" on it

Malafus

No. Formatting won't do a thing. If it works on one computer, it should work on the other.
The only thing I can think of is that it's a driver conflict. Argh.

The General

Malafus wrote:

No. Formatting won't do a thing. If it works on one computer, it should work on the other.
The only thing I can think of is that it's a driver conflict. Argh.

So any idea what i can do about it?

The General

could it be a master/slave issue?????????

Malafus

Possibly, but unlikely. It works on your other PC, after all.
From that fact alone, I would surmise that it is not an issue with the HDD, but with the computer you are trying to run it on, i.e. either a borked USB drive (which is unlikely as you say other devices run fine on it) or messed-up drivers (which is probably what this is).

Maybe try removing the drivers from your PC, and then trying the drive again. That might do something, and even if it still doesn't work, document what happens, it might aid in diagnosis.

The General

Malafus wrote:

Possibly, but unlikely. It works on your other PC, after all.
From that fact alone, I would surmise that it is not an issue with the HDD, but with the computer you are trying to run it on, i.e. either a borked USB drive (which is unlikely as you say other devices run fine on it) or messed-up drivers (which is probably what this is).

Maybe try removing the drivers from your PC, and then trying the drive again. That might do something, and even if it still doesn't work, document what happens, it might aid in diagnosis.

remove drivers from PC, how do i do that and what effect will it have, on the devices that might be using them drivers i.e. mouse keyboard speakers

Malafus

Erm generally speaking, you'd go Start->Settings->Control Panel-> Add/Remove Programs. Most installed applications should be there, including drivers. I don't know what the name of your drivers would be - Probably something similar to the name of the brand of HDD enclosure. The documentation that came with the enclosure should have the name of the drivers anyway.