Cannot start external drive

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I have read several posts related to this...still confused...
I am a rookie so don't know the lingo very well.
I have an enclosure with my old hard drive....
I plug into a USB port and nothing happens ???
I assume it would start automatically but doesn't..
I cannot figure out any way to manually start the device....
Thanks for any advice...
ClemMaurath
 
ClemMaurath said:
I have read several posts related to this...still confused...
I am a rookie so don't know the lingo very well.
I have an enclosure with my old hard drive....
I plug into a USB port and nothing happens ???
I assume it would start automatically but doesn't..
I cannot figure out any way to manually start the device....
Thanks for any advice...
ClemMaurath
Click to expand...

The first thing all rookies should do is to read the manual.
But the short answer to this question is this: Does the USB
enclosure need to have its own power supply turned on?
 
Did you jumper the hard drive in the enclosure correctly? Did you plug in
the power supply for the external enclosure? Have you checked to be certain
the cable is competent? Have you checked the drive on another computer?

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
I have checked the connections inside the box...everything looks OK.
The power is on..I can feel/hear the drive running...
I am fairly certain that the device is recognized by the main
computer....there is a beep and on one occasion I saw a couple of quick
messages at the bottom of the screen...but they went away before I could read
them...
when I look at the list of installed hardware I see 'USB mass storage
device' which I am guessing is the HD.
there was no manual with this enclosure..I assume that it is contained
within the device. It is a 'metal gear box' by 'i dot connect'
Thanks for the response..if you have any further ideas on how I can get this
thing started I would appreciate it.
Thanks
 
I thought I had better try your other idea...I borrowed a laptop and plugged
in the device and the install wizzard came up.....
amazing !!!!!
now what can that mean ? why wouldn't it work on my new computer ?
Thanks Again,
Clem Maurath
 
What does "device manager" say about the drive when you look in "disk
drives"?

If the drive is seen and indicated as being OK, you will have to create a
partition on the drive and format the said partition. Then the drive will be
given a drive identifier so you can use it. You can see this information if
you right click on "my computer", go to manage - then disk management. Look
for the drive there.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
ClemMaurath said:
I thought I had better try your other idea...I borrowed a laptop and plugged
in the device and the install wizzard came up.....
amazing !!!!!
now what can that mean ? why wouldn't it work on my new computer ?
Thanks Again,
Clem Maurath
Click to expand...

Well, Rookie, did you read the manual that came with the
new computer? There might be a section about loading the
chipset drivers and other utility files that might be
needed, including for USB. There might also be some part
about going into bios setup and enabling the USB port(s).
 
Appreciate the advice...but it is over my head...
I find nothing in the computer manual related to your suggestions....
nor am able to find anything by exploring the system(as best that I can)
guess I need to find some professional help ??
Do you think they can help me at Circuit City where I purchased the computer ?
Or what do you suggest ?

Again, thanks for the suggestions and help
 
ClemMaurath said:
Appreciate the advice...but it is over my head...
I find nothing in the computer manual related to your suggestions....
nor am able to find anything by exploring the system(as best that I can)
guess I need to find some professional help ??
Do you think they can help me at Circuit City where I purchased the computer ?
Or what do you suggest ?
Click to expand...

Well...you could have done better. At the very best, stores
such as Circuit City caters to the person who just wants a
computer and not do much more with it than use what's in the
box. "Building" an external drive by stuffing an old HD into
an USB enclosure takes a little bit more knowledge; it would
have been better to have just spent the bucks and get a ready-
to-use USB external HD. If the skill level and/or instructions
are missing, time to locate a friend who also happens to be a
computer guru or a local computer club who can teach you the
basics of owning, using and improving a home computer.
 
Thanks...I appreciate the input...
I am not using this as an external HD...my old computer failed and after
many attempts to fix it i gave up and bought a new one...my 4th Gateway,
which I have had fairly good luck.....
what I am doing is trying to set something up to retreive my files and
pictures from the old drive....after that I won't be using the external
drive...
I am hearing from others that I need to partition and format....is that the
answer ?
If the best way to figure this out is join a computer club...I guess I could
look into that...
I am retired and only want to use a computer...not know how it
works....right now I only want to get my files and pictures out of the old
drive...
and, I thought this would work easily....
Thanks Again
 
1. You can't partition and format if you can't see the drive.

2. If you do partition and format the drive, your information on the drive
may well be un-recoverable.

--
Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User

If you knew as much as you think you know,
You would realize that you don't know what you thought you knew!
 
ClemMaurath said:
Thanks...I appreciate the input...
I am not using this as an external HD...my old computer failed and after
many attempts to fix it i gave up and bought a new one...my 4th Gateway,
which I have had fairly good luck.....
what I am doing is trying to set something up to retreive my files and
pictures from the old drive....after that I won't be using the external
drive...
I am hearing from others that I need to partition and format....is that the
answer ?
If the best way to figure this out is join a computer club...I guess I could
look into that...
I am retired and only want to use a computer...not know how it
works....right now I only want to get my files and pictures out of the old
drive...
and, I thought this would work easily....
Thanks Again
Click to expand...

As it is turning out, what you want to do with a computer
is somewhat more than being the casual user who buys a system
from a store like Circuit City, unpack it, plug it in and then
use whatever programs are already functioning in the computer.
In order to achieve what you want to does require you to know
how it works or there is going to be a disaster, such as wiping
out the HD before you have a chance to recover the files and
pictures from the old HD. It is time to turn to an expert for
assistance and trying to get help from a forum like this is
not really the best way to do it. We cannot see your computer
or what you have done to the hard drive or USB enclosure and
we don't even know what brand of computer you have...not that
any or all of this information would help.
 
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