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Author Topic: vista won't read fat32 external drive  (Read 19523 times)

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blazingeagle2c

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    vista won't read fat32 external drive
    « on: May 25, 2008, 07:13:06 PM »
    I have a external drive that is formatted fat32. when I hook it up to my vista computer it won't read it. I can find it in device manager and have tried updating the drivers and it says that it has the newest drivers. help.

    Carbon Dudeoxide

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    Re: vista won't read fat32 external drive
    « Reply #1 on: May 25, 2008, 07:22:44 PM »
    Has it worked on your computer before?

    Try it on an other computer and see if you can get it to be read.

    blazingeagle2c

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      Re: vista won't read fat32 external drive
      « Reply #2 on: May 25, 2008, 07:25:11 PM »
      I have hooked it up to a xp computer and it worked and i hooked it up to my ps3 and it worked. I was able to put stuff on it and delete some stuff. so it works but not with my vista computer.

      Broni


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      blazingeagle2c

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        Re: vista won't read fat32 external drive
        « Reply #4 on: May 25, 2008, 08:51:08 PM »
        I deleted that file and vista still doesn't see the external hard drive. what else can I do?

        Broni


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        blazingeagle2c

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          Re: vista won't read fat32 external drive
          « Reply #6 on: May 25, 2008, 09:04:07 PM »
          I looked at that but the drive isn't even showing up under My Computer I can only find it under device manager. When I connect the external drive formatted fat32 to the computer it shows a usb device being connected in the tray at the bottom corner but that is all.

          Broni


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          Re: vista won't read fat32 external drive
          « Reply #7 on: May 25, 2008, 09:10:02 PM »
          Did you try different USB port? Are you using front one, or back one?

          blazingeagle2c

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            Re: vista won't read fat32 external drive
            « Reply #8 on: May 25, 2008, 09:15:23 PM »
            I tried connecting it with 2 usb ports in the front and all six in the back. It makes a sound saying it is connected every time i connect it . it just isn't showing up in my computer.

            Broni


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            Re: vista won't read fat32 external drive
            « Reply #9 on: May 25, 2008, 09:16:29 PM »
            Is that drive self-powered?
            Also, in Device Manager, when you right click on that drive, then Properties, is it set like this:

            Broni


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            Re: vista won't read fat32 external drive
            « Reply #10 on: May 25, 2008, 09:19:25 PM »
            Is it formal external HD, or internal-turned-external?

            blazingeagle2c

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              Re: vista won't read fat32 external drive
              « Reply #11 on: May 25, 2008, 09:25:28 PM »
              I checked and it was checked optimized for quick removal. I changed it to optimize for performance and it still isn't shown under my computer.

              I got this harddrive out of my old computer that died.  It is a 3.5 in. western digital 80gb harddrive. I put it in a external case. It worked on one of my xp computers and works perfectly with my ps3. I don't see why it won't work with my vista computer.

              thanks a lot for your help :)

              Broni


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              Re: vista won't read fat32 external drive
              « Reply #12 on: May 25, 2008, 09:27:13 PM »
              I assume, it has own power, right?
              What is the jumper set to?

              Broni


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              Re: vista won't read fat32 external drive
              « Reply #13 on: May 25, 2008, 09:32:15 PM »
              Does it show in Disk Management?

              blazingeagle2c

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                Re: vista won't read fat32 external drive
                « Reply #14 on: May 25, 2008, 09:35:06 PM »
                lol. The power is on.

                What is a jumper?

                It shows up under device manager, then under disk drives.