used hard drive install problems

[twildd]

Help!
I have a drive from another computer that I am trying to install in my current computer. I bought an enclosure(with both Ieee1394 & usb2 connections) and hooked it up to the system. It shows up as drive F, but it says that it is unformatted and asks to format the drive. In the hard drive administration tools it shows the drive as "healthy" but only at half of the  size that it really is (the drive is about 1/2 full of family photos) The Drive came from a custom built PC that was running W2000 and the new system is a Dell XPS system running XP media edition.
Is there anything I can do to get the computer to "see" the data?
The drive in question is a 72GB Maxtor. I am not too computer savvy but any help would be MOST appreciated.

Thanks!
Tom

[GX1_Man]

Try it on another computer to see if the problem is with your computer or the new old drive.  

[soybean]

You could try installing it internally as a slave drive, even if only temporarily, to see whether Windows will recognize it that way, and, if it does, then copy those valuable files to another drive, space permitting.

[twildd]

I have now tried the drive on a win 98 computer in the house and a winXP laptop. They both "see" the drive as a Maxtor removable storage device but nothing on it. However, in the XP system looking in the hardrive manager, I can see both the internal drive and the removable-they are both listed as "healthy" but the only difference is the internal drive is designated "fat" and the maxtor is designated "basic" Is this it? do I need to find a computer that is setup (or running Win2k?) to see a drive configured as basic? (whatever that means)
hope this info helps

Tom

[GX1_Man]

The only options are FAT (up to 2 gig), FAT32, annd NTFS. There is no 'basic' file system.   :-/

[twildd]

Thanks,
Well that shows how much I know about hard drives, are these file options compatable? is there a utility or program that will convert or read the info on this drive? I have'nt tried installing it inside the computer yet. Should I try to find someone with a win2k computer that I can hook this drive up to?

Tom

[pcdoc4christ]

T Wild D:

Windows XP and Windows 2000 both can create and use Basic or Dynamic disks.  What these mean is not important.  You should check the Windows Disk Management utility to see if the file system (either FAT, FAT32, or NTFS) on the external hard drive is still good:

1. Right-click My Computer
2. Click Manage
3. In the Computer Management console, click Disk Management
4. You should see at least two disks: Disk 0 (which is the hard drive in your computer) and Disk 1 (which might be the hard drive in the USB hard drive enclosure).  Both should likely indicate they are Basic disks and Online.
5. Look to the right of Disk 1.  Does it indicate the file system is NTFS and is Healthy, or does it indicate the file system is Raw or something else?

Let us know,
Doc

[pcdoc4christ]

The jumper setting on the hard drive might also be incorrect.  Does the documentation that came with the hard drive enclosure indicate the jumper for the drive inside it should be set to master or slave or cable select?

[twildd]

Thanks for the input,
This is what I see in the disk management window,
Disk 0 (internal drive) is shown with file system as NTFS,Fat 32 & a fat partition and is listed a under type as basic.
Disk F (maxtor drive in an enclosure) shows the file system spot is Blank and  under type is listed as basic.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

all help welcome
Tom
 

[twildd]

Regarding the jumper settings- The instructions with the drive enclosure wanted it set to master. I tried changing the setting to slave and re-installing the drive in the enclosure. This resulted in the computer not seeing the drive at all, so I changed the jumper back to master(according to the diagram on the top of the drive). I don't have the documentation for the harddrive itself, only the enclosure

HMMM? what could it be?

Tom

[pcdoc4christ]

Thanks for the input,
This is what I see in the disk management window,
Disk 0 (internal drive) is shown with file system as NTFS,Fat 32 & a fat partition and is listed a under type as basic.
Disk F (maxtor drive in an enclosure) shows the file system spot is Blank and  under type is listed as basic.

Thoughts? Suggestions?

all help welcome
Tom
 

T. Wildd:

Sorry for taking so long to get back to you.  I've worked 35 hours of overtime this pay week (so far!)

Please double check Disk Management.  It should be Disk 1, not Disk F, in the lower pane of the console.  For example, i have two drives in this computer, so it shows Disk 0 and Disk 1.  When i plug a thumb drive in the USB port, Disk Management reports the removable drive as Disk 2.

Did you mean to say Disk 1 has a partition Windows named the F drive?  If so, please right-click on drive F and click Properties.  In the Properties dialog box, note the type and file system and let us know what both are.  Also, let us know if there is another drive letter for Disk 1 and what its type and file system is.

Best regards,
Doc