Computer help

[TheREALJBird]

So I was messing around with my mom's computer the other day (Dell Latitude series, D510 I believe) and I noticed that her internal hard drive was just about full, and I needed to put some apps on their for her. She has an external one hooked up though, a Western Digital My Book Essential series HD, the 320gb model. Here's where the problem is, the computer doesn't recognize it so I can't use it to save stuff to. I tried switching to different USB ports and also the USB hub she has, and I get the same message everytime confirming that the computer doesn't recognize the device. Is there anything I can do to fix this problem? Any suggestions would be appreciated

[KAOSkins]

Found this

"Other Thoughts: Comes pre-formatted to FAT32 for compatablity. If you're running Windows XP converting it to NTFS is reccomended and doesn't take much effort. Control Panel > Admin Tools > Computer Managment > Storage > Disk Managment. Right click the drive and format. Due to it's size, I'd recommend a quick format. All the full format does is search for bad sectors on the disk and recover/disable them.
I'll probably buy another of these for its looks and quietness when I need more storage"

here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136025

[gbear]

look up the driver on line for the for the external hard drive. install it, and the computer should recognize it.

I usually just google the 'device name' driver.

[TheREALJBird]

Found this

"Other Thoughts: Comes pre-formatted to FAT32 for compatablity. If you're running Windows XP converting it to NTFS is reccomended and doesn't take much effort. Control Panel > Admin Tools > Computer Managment > Storage > Disk Managment. Right click the drive and format. Due to it's size, I'd recommend a quick format. All the full format does is search for bad sectors on the disk and recover/disable them.
I'll probably buy another of these for its looks and quietness when I need more storage"

here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136025

Thanks, I'll look into doing that.


look up the driver on line for the for the external hard drive. install it, and the computer should recognize it.

I usually just google the 'device name' driver.

Tried that but Windows XP automatically installs drivers when you connect a device via USB. The only drivers available for this specific HD are for Windows 98

[HOF44]

Did you try running this Data Lifeguard Diagnostic for Windows (http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?groupid=101&sid=3&lang=en) ?

The drive should automatically be recognized by xp.

Also maybe try another USB cable, and make sure its seated good in the drive.

[G-Prime]

Found this

"Other Thoughts: Comes pre-formatted to FAT32 for compatablity. If you're running Windows XP converting it to NTFS is reccomended and doesn't take much effort. Control Panel > Admin Tools > Computer Managment > Storage > Disk Managment. Right click the drive and format. Due to it's size, I'd recommend a quick format. All the full format does is search for bad sectors on the disk and recover/disable them.
I'll probably buy another of these for its looks and quietness when I need more storage"

here

http://www.newegg.com/Product/Product.aspx?Item=N82E16822136025

This is suggested but in this case won't do anything.. Have to be able to see the drive before you can format it... I'd suggest seeing if a driver is available from the HD manufacturer website. Also if the drive only supports USB 2 (Most HD's do) and your USB ports in the computer are USB 1 you might be SOL.

However it may be the case that the drive is being installed properly but for some reason wasn't shipped pre-formated. Follow his steps above and see if there is a drive that exists that reads "Unallocated Space" with an amount that matches the size of the drive, if so format it NTFS.. You may see some 10meg pieces that are unallocated.. ignore them.

Also as was mentioned try a different cable.. Goto the manu of the computer and see if there is an updated driver for the motherboard. These are usually "All In One" drivers that are for everything on your motherboard, but often times you can find drivers specifically for your USB.

Lastly, when you plug the drive in, make sure you hear it spinning up, making noise. If not and it's easy to take apart, dismantle it and make sure the drive is plugged into it's dock securely.

[motorhead]

This is suggested but in this case won't do anything.. Have to be able to see the drive before you can format it... I'd suggest seeing if a driver is available from the HD manufacturer website. Also if the drive only supports USB 2 (Most HD's do) and your USB ports in the computer are USB 1 you might be SOL.

However it may be the case that the drive is being installed properly but for some reason wasn't shipped pre-formated. Follow his steps above and see if there is a drive that exists that reads "Unallocated Space" with an amount that matches the size of the drive, if so format it NTFS.. You may see some 10meg pieces that are unallocated.. ignore them.

Also as was mentioned try a different cable.. Goto the manu of the computer and see if there is an updated driver for the motherboard. These are usually "All In One" drivers that are for everything on your motherboard, but often times you can find drivers specifically for your USB.

Lastly, when you plug the drive in, make sure you hear it spinning up, making noise. If not and it's easy to take apart, dismantle it and make sure the drive is plugged into it's dock securely.


Also if you have a gig stick see if it see's it.:2cents:

[Fred Jones]

To continue on what Motor said I always go back to fundamentals. Especially, since you don't provide all the data.

1. Make sure USB port is functional and chipset drivers are installed. Right click "My Computer" select properties - Hardware - Device Manger and make sure no problems.

2. Insert a USB stick and make sure the Laptop recognizes it.

3. I would also make sure you have at least Service Pack 2 installed. MS updated a lot of stuff with the SP.

4. As others have said, make sure you have the updated USB drivers for the HD. However, if you followed 1-3 above it should not matter in detecting the drive through Windows. Not accessing it would fall under needing a new format.

5. Another thing is to hook up the drive to another computer to test that the drive itself is not the issue.

6. Lastly, has anything changed? Could you access this drive before without problems? Did she ever have it hooked up?

[motorhead]

To continue on what Motor said I always go back to fundamentals. Especially, since you don't provide all the data.

1. Make sure USB port is functional and chipset drivers are installed. Right click "My Computer" select properties - Hardware - Device Manger and make sure no problems.

2. Insert a USB stick and make sure the Laptop recognizes it.

3. I would also make sure you have at least Service Pack 2 installed. MS updated a lot of stuff with the SP.

4. As others have said, make sure you have the updated USB drivers for the HD. However, if you followed 1-3 above it should not matter in detecting the drive through Windows. Not accessing it would fall under needing a new format.

5. Another thing is to hook up the drive to another computer to test that the drive itself is not the issue.

6. Lastly, has anything changed? Could you access this drive before without problems? Did she ever have it hooked up?


Did you say that you tried the drive in your computer?


If you did I am sorry.

Just trying to help a ES fan bro.

[TheREALJBird]

Thanks for all of the input, I'm getting ready to hook it up to another computer to see if it gets recognized, if that's the case then I guess it's something with my moms computer. As far as I know the ports are functional, I've switched it out with other devices and they worked fine but when I plugged in the HD I still got the unknown device message