external hard drive problem!!!!

[btbaus]

hello!!! im new to these forums and i have an ok knowledge about computers.. im just having some problems with an external hard drive.

 i have a toshiba satellite notebook model # psaa8u.
i bought a fujitsu 2.5" notebook SATA hard disk drive and i put it in a metal cartridge so that i could connect it to my computer via usb. i connected the hdd to my computer and windows said my new device was ready to use so i open up my computer and i only see my internal hard drive and not the external drive!!
what am i doing wrong??!?!??!?!

[stones]

I think you need to enable it in Bios.
Not really my area of expertece but- usb/harddrive + not work = somthing in bios is disabled
i think, i could be wrong.

[btbaus]

IF THAT IS THE PROBLEM....
 
whats bios??? how do i enable it in bios???
if thats not it what else could it be???

thanks !!!

[stones]

BIOS setup. This is usually done by pressing the "del" or "F1" key on startup (F2 on mine).

The thing is that the hard drive your trying to connect is a SATA drive which uses RAID drivers, I use regular IDE drives so I have little experience.

Here is an online to guide to things in bios, look for things concerning SATA and RAID

http://www.techarp.com/freebog.aspx

[GX1_Man]

Wrong-o.  

Did you format the drive? Until this is done a new drive is not usable. Find the device in My Computer, right click on it and choose Format.

USB drives do not have to be seen in the BIOS to be used. The drivers, etc. are loaded when Windows loads.

[btbaus]

u mean format the new hard drive i bought, right?  and i do that buy opening my computer, right clicking on the drive and clicking on format???  well, its connected via usb and the drive is not showing up on my computer!! what do i do?!?!?!?

[stones]

Wrong-o.  

Did you format the drive? Until this is done a new drive is not usable. Find the device in My Computer, right click on it and choose Format.

USB drives do not have to be seen in the BIOS to be used. The drivers, etc. are loaded when Windows loads.

Like I said, not my area of expertese, just throwing out some ideas.


As for finding the HD to format there are 3 places to check
1- my computer
2- my computer/manage/disk management
3- my computer/properties/devicemanager/hardware/disk drives

In the disk management section you should be able to give the format command there.

[btbaus]

i find the device under my computer/properties/devicemanager/hardware/disk drives  

but i cant give the format command from there

i cant find the format command anywhere...  any more ideas?

by the way thanks for all ur help guys

[GX1_Man]

When you right click on that drive in My Computer what are your options?

[btbaus]

the drive doesnt show up under my computer. i right click on a blank space on the my computer window and i click on properties. then i click on the hardware tab and i access the device manager. thats the only way i can see the drive on my computer

[pcfool]

btbaus,

u can follow stone instruction on reply #6,, at your desktop,right click on my computer, manage, disk management. see got your USB hard disk?, then right click on it and format. GX1_man r right, new hard drive mostly come with not formated(may be all not formated, i don't know about it.)
good luck

[GX1_Man]

Correctly remove the drive, then restart the machine after replugging it in. WHat happens now - exactly?

[btbaus]

ohh ok!!!!!!!   the format command wasant accessible  so.. i  created a new partition .... guess thats kinda like formatting, right??? so yeah i created the new partition and it works now!!!!!!!! thanks for all your help guys!!!!!!!  wOOOOOooO!!!!!!!!!

[patio]

It still needs to be formatted...