external HD not found

[rcs99rcs]

Hi... i've recently run into a most frustrating problem.... looking for some help...

I have IBM/Lenovo T61 laptop.. XP with SP3...

the other day, I was saving a file to my Maxtor 200gb HD, and during the process something happened and the saving became "no longer responding"... I waited and waited for it to respond, and it never came back around....

after that, I could not access that Maxtor One Touch III 200gb, and had the "Device Cannot Start (Code 10)" error...

I then tried Maxtor on a different PC, new usb-cable, installed/uninstalled/reinstalled, restarted PC, etc etc... all with no luck

I then got a USB 2.0 to IDE/SATA adapter kit, removed the HD from its casing and tried to install back to PC.... got semi-good results...

device manager shows:
"USB Mass Storage Device",
"the device is working properly",
and "use this device (enable)"

but, i can't seem to find it in "my computer"... it was not assigned a letter....

when i look in "safely remove hardware", it is listed, but again - no drive letter

when I go to My Computer (right click) > Manage > Disk Management is does not show up (or else, I don't see it)

I'm still running google-searches for a solution, but any ideas to help sort this are welcome...

I'm optimistic I can recover the files/data on the drive.

thanks in advance!!!!

(I hope I put this in the right thread... thanks)

[Maq.H]

Very strange problem if it shows in Safely remove hardware and not showing under my computer. Ok, first do one thing, check if you plug another USB device driver on the same USB port, is it getting detected. If yes than the peripheral are working correctly and problem might be with your external HD. According to the seniority of your motherboard, it may be necessary to flash the BIOS.

[rcs99rcs]

hi and thanks....

btw - i actually have 2 separate Maxtors that i've tried the above process on... a 40gb and a 200gb.... both end up with the same end result as i described.....

ok - i just put 2 different flashdrives in/out of the same USB port - no problems, everything ok...

i'm not sure what "flash the BIOS" means....

again, thanks for any advice/counsel here.... cheers

[bestearner]

Hi rcs! I think anyhow either the MBR or partition/partitions of ur HD became unknown. U can connect the hd to SATA port n use any utility software i.e. RANISH.

[Sophia.A]

i'm not sure what "flash the BIOS" means....

again, thanks for any advice/counsel here.... cheers

The BIOS is a set of instructions contained in a physical element of your motherboard: the CMOS (Complementary Metal Oxide Semiconductor). This is a chip located on your motherboard and can physically take several different forms. Technically, it is also called an EEPROM (Electrical EPROM). This is a flash memory that stores the BIOS.

To know more about how to Flash the BIOS, just go through this post:
How to Flash BIOS with Flash Drives?

[rcs99rcs]

oh boy.... i think i am getting in over my head there....

i forgot to mention one more thing... i tried all the steps previously mentioned and reconnecting to 2 separate laptop (the original PC, where the problem started, and a separate PC as well)... both HDs, 2 PCs each.... same results across the board...

having said that... i have access to a Dell tower PC... and neither HD have ever been connected to that unit...

i wonder if i should give try the USB 2.0 to IDE/SATA connection on that unit?

thoughts?

again.... many thanks for all the feedback...

[rcs99rcs]

U can connect the hd to SATA port n use any utility software i.e. RANISH.

can that be done using the "USB 2.0 to IDE/SATA" connection? i don't want to open my laptop up (it's actually owned by my employer, so that's really not an option)

is there a tutorial you can recommend?

as always... many thanks

[bestearner]

Sorry man! Without opening the laptop I've no idea. all the best.

[Solomon]

can that be done using the "USB 2.0 to IDE/SATA" connection? i don't want to open my laptop up (it's actually owned by my employer, so that's really not an option)

is there a tutorial you can recommend?

as always... many thanks

Yes you can definately try to use USB 2.0 to IDE/SATA to connect the hard drive into your laptop, you can go for the USB 2.0 to IDE / SATA cable from Brando. Below are its specs:

Complies with USB 2.0
Backwards compatible to USB 1.1
Supports 2.5″ and 3.5″ IDE/SATA drives
Supports 3.5″ SATA HDD up to 750GB
Supports IDE and enhanced IDE hard drives up to 500GB
SATA Interface: High speed data transfer rates up to 1500Mb/sec
ATA/ATAPI: Support 16-bits DMA and Ultra DMA mode interface (Ultra 33/66/100/133)
Dual Mode: Support bisynchronous mode, compatible to SATA and IDE device simultaneously

Read more here.

[bestearner]

Use a USB 2.0 to IDE/SATA to connect the hard drive to a different PC & boot the pc with a bootable cd to DOS mood. Use RANISH to fill zero & write MBR to your HDD. If you don't Have Ranish you may download from the link bellow