matte4
asked on
Can't activate new usb harddrive
i have a 500 gig sata drive new outta box. I put it into an external usb sata enclosure. When i plug the new drive in i get nothing. Windows finds the drive and says it is usuable but it doens't show up under My Computer or under Computer Management->Disk Management.
I suppose it needs to activated, but how do i activate a harddrive the computer doesn't recongnize?
I suppose it needs to activated, but how do i activate a harddrive the computer doesn't recongnize?
ASKER
from what i can find evidently you cant' initialize a drive via usb...
ok which product are you using?
drive cabinet and drive?
drive cabinet and drive?
You most certainly can initialized via usb. I do it all the time. If this is a virgin drive when you enter disk management there will be a window that pops open upon detecting any non initialized drive asking if you want to and how you want to initialize the drive. there are two options Basic (which is used by most) and dynamic which allows for some unique mounting and is not really partition based (not recomended unless you know what ur doing)
select basic and it will set the disk up you then goto that drive in the list and set a partition on and a formating option. It will then be available via my computer and get assigned a drive letter. All of this can be done reguardless of the interface you use to connect it to the system.
Now if the drive management doesn't see the drive at all we need to find out why.
does it appear in the device manager list?
does it show a x or ! beside it
is it being detected as a drive or as an unknown device or perhaps as something else
select basic and it will set the disk up you then goto that drive in the list and set a partition on and a formating option. It will then be available via my computer and get assigned a drive letter. All of this can be done reguardless of the interface you use to connect it to the system.
Now if the drive management doesn't see the drive at all we need to find out why.
does it appear in the device manager list?
does it show a x or ! beside it
is it being detected as a drive or as an unknown device or perhaps as something else
ASKER
That is the whole problem.. I plug the drive in and windows makes the sound that it detected new usb device. Then information balloon pops up saying the name of the drive. The drive itsself never shows up in Disk Manager so i can initialize it.
Tried on several different computer with no luck.
Tried on several different computer with no luck.
ASKER
i am using an external hard drive case that supports sata connected to computer via usb.
Now if the drive management doesn't see the drive at all we need to find out why.
does it appear in the device manager list?
does it show a x or ! beside it
is it being detected as a drive or as an unknown device or perhaps as something else
does it appear in the device manager list?
does it show a x or ! beside it
is it being detected as a drive or as an unknown device or perhaps as something else
ASKER
It doesn't show anything in device manager. All the usual drives are there, primary harddrive, cdrom, etc. but no other drives are present.
ASKER CERTIFIED SOLUTION
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hope this help