How to reformat an external HDthat may or may not be good.

I did as you suggested and here are the results. The external drive is not recognized in the "Disk Administrator", but when I left click on my computer I have a listing for local Disd G which would be the next drive letter to be assigned. I have a floppy titled "Power Max Verssion 4.21 from a previous project. Does that fit into the picture anyplace" Thanks for the immediate response. This is the very first time I am using Experts Exchange and I am truly impressed.

I gave you some incorrect inforamtion before. I just discovered that the external drive and my primary drive C are identical. I also discovered the following: When I went to properties on the external drive I got:

            File System: Raw
            0 bytes used
            0 bytes free
 

Went back to Disk Management to check again and drive G is not listed. The listings that are there are as follows;
`C which is the Primary drive
  D which is my CD Burner and DVD reader
  E which is my DVD burner
  F which is my Iomega Zip

I failed to answer rindi's comment. Yes, I went into Device Manager and this is what I found under disk drives.

  Iomega Zip 100 USB device
  Maxtor 6Y160PO  (I'm sure this is the primary)
  USB2.0 Storage Device USB Device

rindi, this is all it shows:

   Disk O   (C)
       152.66 gb

   Disk 1
         Removable F
         no media

   CD Rom (O)
        DVD (D:)
        no media

   CD Rom 1
      DVD  (E:)
        No Media
     
There "aint" no more.
   

What type of USB2 port do you have on your PC? is this an addon card or is it the builtin USB2 port?

Comment to rindi
    Went back to Device Manager/Disk Drives/Properties, and saw this.

    Iomega Zip 100
             Location O

    Maxtor 6Y160PO
             Location  O  (O)

     USB2.0 Storage Device USB Device
             Location O

    This is probably a dumb question, but could there be an IRQ conflict?
 

It is an internal card with four ports and the other three are also being used.

I don't think there is an IRQ conflict. What is conencted to the other ports? Do those devices work? Have you tried the disk on one of the builtin probably USB 1.1 Ports?

I will switch to one of the built in USB1 ports. Should be done in a couple of minutes

switched to a USB1 port and checked with DiskAdministrato and it is stll absent

yes, everything else on the other three ports works.

I will await one more message from you and then I have to "hit the hay". It is 3:34 a.m. and I am beat!!!  Thanks for your patience and help.

The other three items connected to the USB ports are a scanner a printer and  the omega drive.

In that case it deffinitely is not an irq conflict, as the other ports wouldn't work either.

To find out if the disk works, remove it from the usb casing and connect it directly to the ide connector of your mainboard. You'll have to set the drive to slave (as has been suggested earlier by amiurchaudry...

OK, good night. Here it is already 10:43...

THE STRANGEST THINGS HAVE HAPPENED TO ME AND MY COMPUTER THIS MORNING!!!

I decided to read some of the documentation that came with my computer(which computer was assembled by a local technician who I had never used before or even heard of before) and the documentation for the motherboard, (SOYO SY-P41865 PE Plus Dragon 2 was indicated on the box) indicated that it had 8  USB2 Ports. I could only find 2 USB built in Ports on the back and 2 USB Ports in the front although I think someplace I had seen a notation which might have indicated that the USB2 Ports might have been an option. I also remember the the technician who assembled the computer telling me not to pay attention to any of the ports and stuff on the front of the computer because they were not "hooked up" and he didn't know why they had them there. There are 2 USB Ports, one 1394 port, a microphone jack, and a headphone jack. I had niver tried to use the 1394 port or the Mike and Phone jacks but I had tried something on the USB Port. I remember one time when I hooked up something to the front USB port I got a message which said something like this " this device will run much faster if it is connected to a USB Port". Please bear in mind that much of the information I am giving now just flashed into my mind this morning. As I thought about all the observations just mentioned I began to wonder how you could distinguish between a USB 1 and a USB 2 port. Not knowing how to do this I went int "Jeeves" and came across a site which said to go to device manager and click on the plus sign next to universal bus controller. It also said that if one of the items listed has the word "enhanced" you have USB2.0 Ports. Since none of my listings for universal bus controllers said "enhanced" I got to thinking, "why doesn't one of them say enhanced since the add in card was supposed to be a USB2 port card and I decided, rightly or wrongly, that perhaps the USB2 drivers were never installed. My mind was racing and so was I, and thought I downloaded the USB2 driver, but when I rechecked the universal bus controllers I still didn't see any listing with the word "enhanced". NOW HERE IS WHERE THE REAL SURPRISE COMES IN. I had left the external drive in the built in USB port on the back of the computer (one of the two I mentioned previously) and when I went back to DISK MANAGEMENT, Lo and Behold I now find another item listed in the bottom portion of the screen on the right hand side  which says Disk2, Basic, 152.66 gb, on line, and to the right of that in another box it says (G) 5.52 healthy, and next to that another box that says 147.14 GB, Healthy (Active).

If I right click on the portion that says G.5.52GB Healthy, I get the following options:

  Open
  Explore
  Mark Partition as active
  Change Drive letters and paths...
  Format..
  Delete Partition...
  Properties
  Help

If I right click on the portion that says 147.14 GB, Healthy(Active) I get the same choices with the exception that the first 3 options are grayed out.

To say that I am completely puzzled is an under statement. Also above the lower portion on the right hand side of this screen area, whereas before all I had was:

  (C:) Partition  Basic      NTFS       Healthy(System) 127.99 GB  94,98 GB    74%   NO

   I also have"

         Partition  Basic                     Healthy(Active)   147.14 GB 147.14 GB   100%  NO

  (G:) Partition Basic                      Healthy                  5.52 GB     5.52 GB   100%  NO

I'm sorry for this long "song and dance" but I wanted to give you all the information I had in the hope that it would be of some help or importance to you in solving my problem. I hope some of what I have said makes sense to you.

Line 12 of the above diatribe should have said, "this device will run much faster if connected to a USB-2 Port

I think I'm "CRACKING UP". I was messing aroung with the device controllers again and now the information on the external drive has disappeared. Some of the problem appears to involve the USB Port Controllers.

I promise not to do another thing until I hear from someone.(That is if anyone will still "talk" to me). Here is what is listed under Universal Serial Port"

     Intel(R)82801EB USB2 Enhanced Host Controller 2400
     NEC PCI to USB Open Host Controller
     Nec PCI to USB Open Host Controller
     Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller
     Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller        
     Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller      
     Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller
     Unknown Device          
     USB Mass Storage Device
     USB Root Hub
     USB Root Hub  
     USB Root Hub    
     USB Root Hub    
     USB Root Hub    
     USB Root Hub    
     USB Root Hub

I just found another mistake on my part. That first item listed under Universal Serial Port  in my previous comment should be 24DD instead of 2400.

I just found the Quick Start Guide for the SY-P41865PE Plus Dragon 2. Here is what it says about USB 2.0

    8x USB 2.0 Compliant ports (4 on rear IO panel, 4x motherboard connectors.

    I find a total of 9 USB ports. 4 on the back via the PCI card plus one internal on the
    PCI card which is inaccessible without opening the computer. There are two built in
    ports on the back of the computer, and 2 built in ports on the front of the computer.    
         
    I notice there is no mention of a 1394 port in the manual so perhaps it came with  the
    case but was not accommadated by the motherboard. Whats also puzzling is that
    when I try to use one of the USB built in ports on the front I get that message which
    says the device would run faster on a USB2 port.

O.K. I'm hopping to it right now.

Here are the listings after I took the USB2 Card out.
Intel(R)8 USB2 Enhanced Host Controller 24DD
Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller
USB Mass Storage Device
USB Boot Hub
USB Boot Hub
USB Boot Hub
USB Boot Hub
USB Boot Hub

I hope I followed your instructions diligently.!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

No, I checked and the external drive still does not show in Disk Management.Thanks, and good night to you, or whatever it is where you are.

It's still morning here.

I might have given you the wrong impression in a previous comment. The two built in USB Ports on the front of the computer are active, but some time ago when I plugged in a USB2 device in one ot the built in front panel USB ports I got a message that said " this device would run faster on a USB2 Port. That seems like a strange message since accordiig to the documentation for the motherboard those 2 ports are supposed to be USB2 Ports. So it appears to me that there is not "wiring" or hookup to be done as suggested in your comment of 3/31/2005 at 03:17 AM EST.

I just rechecked Universal SerialPorts again and here is what I have now. The PCI USB Port is now back in the computer:

Intel(R) 82801EB USB2 Enhanced Host Controller 24DD
NEC PCI to USB Enhanced Host Controller (B1)
NEC PCI to USB Host Controller
NEC PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard Universal PCI to USB Host Controller
Standard Universal PCT to USB Host Controller
USB Mass Storage Device
USB Mass Storage Device
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub
USB Root Hub


    This list is different from my comment(before we removed the USB PCI Card) of 03/30/2005 9:42 PM EST




s

More Strange Happenings!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 When I "fired up" today, the external Hard Drive was plugged into one of the 4 ports on the back of the computer which were part of  the add on PCI  USB2 card. On a whim I decided to remove it and plug it into one of the two  built in ports on the back of the computer, which ports were supposed to be USB2 ports according to the motherboard manual.I had made this change after I shut the computer down.

 I restarted the computer and the external hard drive started to flash intermittently for about 4 or 5 minutes during which time the computer seemed to take a long time to start up and then I got a blank blue screen. When the external Hard Drive stopped flashing all my normal icons came on the screen.

I then decided to do another Disk Management and Lo and Behold I am listing below what I found.

On the right hand side and the upper portion of the screen here's what I have:

  (C:)                   Partition Basic     NTFS     Healthy (System)     127.99GB
  (G:)                   Partition Basic                  Healthy                       5.52GB
   HP Pavillion (H:) Partition Basic     NTFS     Healthy (active)        147.14GB


In the lower portion on the right hand side is the follwing:


   Disk 0            C:
   Basic             127.99 GB NTFS                                 24.67GB
   152.66GB       Healthy (System)                                unallocated
    on line
_____________________________________________________________________

   Disk 1
   Removable (F:)
   No Media
_______________________________________________________________________

   Disk 2            (G:)                                                    HP Pavillion (H:)
   Basic               5.52 GB                                             147.14GB NTFS
   152.66 GB       Healthy                                               Healthy Active
   on line
______________________________________________________________________

   CD ROM O
   DVD (D:)
______________________________________________________________________

   CD ROM 1
   DVD (E:)
   no media
______________________________________________________________________

The Disk I converted to an External Hard Disk came from a HP Pavilion computer I had fixed for my brother and which disk was deemed  to be defective during a phone conversation with HP. I think that accounts for the "Pavilion" described in Disk 2 above. I had my doubts at the time that it was defective. Is it possible that this disk still has the original formatting or did it get fomatted during my "messing around". In any case, I would like to know what the next step is. I will do nothing more till I hear from you.








 

I went into "my computer" and left  clicked on Pavilion (H:) and the external hard drive started to flash and seemed to keep flashing until I clicked on the X in the upper right hand corner.

I shut down the computer and restarted it. It took at least 5 minutes to load up during which time the external HD kept flashing. I went to the H drive again and I see that all of my brothers data is still on there. He was using Microsoft XP Home and maybe his MBR is still on there as well. I would like to remove all of hes data and programs and star with a clean disk. I am somewhat bewildered by the change that came about when I changed the port on the external drive. Please let me know what you think might be cause of these mysterious happenings.

The external enclosure I have does have and uses its own power supply. What I find puzzling is that the external HD would not "go into action" unless it was connected to the built in USB2 front port which port when used  in the past, declared that the device connected to it would  run faster if connected to a USB2 port. Don't know it it's of any help but the computer I'm using was "built" in December of 2003 but I'm not sure when I upgraded to XP Pro.
I've got to do some yard work now and I will fill you in on my progress later.  .  

I just had a terrible time when I fired up the computer. It would go to a blue screen and I got this message.

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

BUGCODE_USB_Driver

If this is the first time you've seen this error screen, restart your computer. If this screen appears again follow these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove any mewly installed hardware or software. Disable the BIOS memory options such as shadowing or catching(cacheing?). If you need to use safe mode to remove or disable components, restart your computer, press F8 to select advanced starting options, and then select safe mode.

Technical information:

*** STOP 0x000000FE, 0x00000005, 0x865FF0E0,0x10330035,ox86519180)
Beginning Dump of Physical Memmory
Physical Dump Completed
Contact your system administrator or technical support group for further assistance.

I shut down the computer, restarted it again and got the same message.

I then went in and deleted the USB driver that I downloaded from SOYO on April 1, disconnected the external HD and everything seems to be back to normal.
I had not as yet acted on your suggestion to download any updates on the SOYO board.
So that is where I am. I wasn't sure whether it would be O.K. to put the external HD back in, so it is not installed at this time.

I'd try those updates, but don't connect anything to the USB ports except possibly a mouse or keyboard. Also check for a BIOS update. Update that before the drivers.

I forgot to mention that I had not deleted the information on the external HD before I disconnected it.

That shouldn't make any differance.

I am going to bed. Will get back to you later.

Good night.

Got the same error message when I got up this morning and even when I went into safe mode and tried to do something the d--- thing would shut down and give me the blue screen with  the same error message with a different error code. I have been scrounging around all day to get my #2 computer( My original HP computer which had been upgraded to ME) working  so I could keep in touch with you while we try to solve Computer #1's problem in case it "shuts down" again. I've had the router for quite a while and am trying to have both computers hooked up so I don't have to run to the garage every time I want to make a change on the troublesome #1 computer.I do not have a cable outlet in the garage. At this time I'm on #1 computer(the one giving us a hard time) and I'm surprised it has not "broken down" as yet. I hope to have #2 computer on line within an hour in case # 1 breaks down again before you find the solution. Will let you know when I get #2 on my two computer network. I can't believe this thin is still working.

What If?
I took it out of the external enclosure and mounted it as the second drive in my #1 Computer. Could I reformat it then and be on my merry way?

Sure, that would be no problem.

I think that's what I'll try to do tomorrow. In the meantime I find that my #2 computer does not have an ethernet connector. All it has is phone in and phone out. I suppose I'll have to get some kind of a conversion if I want to have both computers availabe for use in case one of them fails, usually at the most inoportune tiime, like now when I was in the midst of doing my income tax using TurboTax. Computer #1 is now on the Routerand for what ever reason everything seems to be working fine. When I get to it my intention is to wipe off everything on the HD External Drive and start afresh.I checked on the internet for upgrades on the BIOS but they don't advise it. It looks like the upgrade they do offer is to permint use of Intel"s next new chip"Prescott".

Got my 2 computer nework working but I didn't have any luck with the external HD. I removed it from the case, installled it in computer #1 and qute frankly I had a very difficult task trying to figure out how the "jumpers" should go. I read as much as I could but I'm still in the dark. I kept getting messages telling me that My drive was bad, back  up my data because a crash was eminent. The original HD was attached to the end of the cable and I therefore attached the other one to the connectoir which is about four inches frmom the end connector.The HD in my computer is a Maxtor 6Y160PO and the one I took out of the enclosure is exactly the same. I had them both set at CS enabled and that didn't work. I tried at least 2 other configurations but they didn't work either.  

I got some info from Maxtor and connected the  Jumpers on both drives as per their normal setup and I still received the warning that my slave drive was defective and headed for a crash. I have decided to "scrap" the project  and move on to greener pastures. Many thanks for your effort.  

Thanx and better luck next time.