HD from laptop to external HD

J

jade_039

Recently, my old laptop crapped out on me and i had to junk it. Luckily, I was able to remove the HD and put it into a HD enclosure and now I have a fully functioning external HD :)

Problem is, I made the decision to erase all the windows system files that the HD would need to run windows (etc) because as an external HD, it no longer does this. Plus it was just taking up a lot of storage space.

Now, when I plug it into my new laptop, the computer recognizes that an external HD has been plugged in, but refuses to let me explore its folders! It does not appear in My Computer at all as an external HD.

If I could just see the file names on there, I could replace them. How can this be done? Through DOS since its a bit less picky?

please help! thanks.
 
assign the drive a letter in disk management.
do a CHKDSK on the drive as well from my computer.
 
MUST see files names on HD before reformatting

I must see the files on the external HD first, I will reformat after. The question is how to see the file names on the disk?
 
Will assigning a letter to the drive as well as performing a CHKDSK on the drive and my computer allow me to see the files on it? or will it erase everything?
 
Hi Jade, assigning a letter to the drive will not erase your files, just make sure you do not reformat it or you will lose everything.
 
Hi jade, just click on my computer, right click on the drive you want ( c ) etc, click on properties, tools, then error checking, that is probably the easiest way.

For disk management - start - right click on my computer - look down the list, click on manage - click continue when the little window pops up asking if you want to access this - on next screen second from the bottom is disk management - click on this - you will see boxes to the right with the drives you have and lettered eg c, d, etc, you may have one unallocated, right click on it if that is the one you want to look at, fourth option down is change drive letter and paths, click on that, change the letter or add a drive letter as required, it will give you a list of available letters to call your drive.

If you have info on the drive do not reformat it as you will lose it all, just rename it and then you should be able to find what you want.

There is a programme called recuva from www.piriform.com which will help you regain your files, a free download and very efficient, download this if there is anything you want to rescue, just make sure you do not over write anything on the drive you want before you do it.

Hope this helps
David
 
take ownership of the drive, then give full control to the USERS group.
this will then allow anyone to add / modify / delete data from the device.
 
Hi Damusca,

"you will see boxes to the right with the drives you have and lettered eg c, d, etc, you may have one unallocated,"

There isn't a drive that's there that isn't the C: drive... but the computer knows I plugged in a USB mass storage device and it made that connection sound when you plug in hardware.



Hi jobeard,

How do i take ownership of the drive and give full control to the users group?
 
External Hard Drive

Hi Jade,
Sorry may have sent you slightly the wrong way, am attaching a pic of my pc ( vista premium ) which should be the same as yours, just click on the attachment link to see it. Your drive should be shown on the main screen before you go to device manager.

Top attachment is the screen for your external hdd initially, second one is for your disk check and back up if you want it.

If your computer does not see the drive try clicking on your safely remove hardware icon which should be displayed in order to remove your drive.

Click on the Mass Storage Device shown to highlight it and then click on properties. You can check your driver details etc for it here.
Also when here you can check the drive for errors if you click on the tools tab, two below the check for errors is a tab to back up.
If you back this up to your internal HDD then you should be able to see all your files from there, might save you a lot of hassle if it lets you do it.
I have attached a pic to show you what I mean.

I apologise if I am not explaining this too clearly, let me know and will try again.

Shortcut to your drives on computer is windows key and E at the same time.
You should see your external hard drive shown up as mine is on D possibly, it is the one which is highlighted.

Forgot to ask, have you downloaded the drivers for your external hard drive onto your pc, that may be preventing you from seeing it as a drive on your screen. If not just type the name and model of your hard drive and go to the support section of the manufacturer and download the firmware ( most recent drivers for it ), that may work.

In order to take ownership of this, right click on your external drive, this, will bring up a different menu, click on share, click on advanced sharing, tick the box at the top left - share this folder ( make sure there is a drive letter in the row name below it ), then set the no. of people you want to use it, usually about ten will do plenty but up to yourself, depends how many people use your pc, click on apply then click on ok.

This just sets the number of people who can use the drive simultaneously, if you want to share it with the world just use a higher number :), there may be a different way of allocating a user group for it but this is what I use, yet again I am kind of protective when it comes to my laptop :D
 
Hi Damusca,

I've got windows XP cause I really can't stand vista, lol. Not much different though. I've attached a pic of a screen shot of the disk management and the safely remove hardware box. Hopefully shows you how my computer can see the external hard drive but also doesn't. The safely remove hardware also shows the the mass storage device is working properly and enabled.

I didn't know there were drivers needed to download for my external hard drive since it used to be the HD of my old laptop and i just bought an enclosure for it --> external hard drive. I deleted all the windows system files.

Does taking ownership of the drive allow me to see the files it contains?
 
External Hard Drive

Hi Jade,

Yes, if you take ownership of it and allocate it a drive letter then it will show up on your first screen adjacent to the C drive.

From there you will be able to go in and explore your files. All will be fine.

The back up thing was just in case you ran into some problems but do not think you will have any issues there as soon as you name it.

It will not show up on your computer management ( drive screen ) until you name it, the computer will not know to put it there until you do.

You won't need the drivers, all seems to be fine there.

Hopefully you get into it now

David :)
 
reformat an external HD

I just don't care about the info on it anymore, I just want to be able to use it again. How do I reformat the external HD if it doesn't appear in My Computer, and Administrative Tools can't see it either?

The only thing that does realize I've plugged something in is the safely remove hardware option and it says the device is working properly.

I just want to reformat it now, please help.
 
Login to an Admin account
plug in the ext hd
use the Disk Manager
select the drive
assign a Drive letter
then format the drive
 
"Login to an Admin account
plug in the ext hd
use the Disk Manager
select the drive
assign a Drive letter
then format the drive"

...'select the drive' is the issue here, I can't. Yes, the drive is plugged in and the computer knows it is there because it made a connection noise, but it doesn't appear in the disk management.

solution to reformat?
 

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