External HDD troubles

[vanderz]

Hi guys...


I have an hitachi 250gb sata hdd with lots of pics and vids on it that I need access to.
I have plugged it into my laptop/windows 7 via a usb caddy. the computer said it was installing drivers etc but it doesn't show up under my computer. tried to follow steps previously mentioned in another thread (ie assigning the drive a letter but, I cant do that?) but not sure what to do.....
the hdd is not shown in the top list under disk management but appears in the bottom list as disk 1 unknown not initialized. see screen shot

really could do with your help pls! thanks in advance

 

[vanderz]

BUMP...

any ideas guys pls? I'm stuck as to what to do next??

 

[vanderz]

Will 'initializing' the HDD wipe the data from it?

 

[vanderz]

No one has any advice/info on this no? great help these 'tech' forums eh!!!

 

[TheHawk]

Hey vanderz. Was this drive previously used on another pc with a different OS?. Don't initialize it . I would go into device manager and look in the USB Controllers section. Expand them by clicking on the + sign if needed and find the drive. Right click on the drive and choose uninstall,unplug the drive,then reboot the system. After it comes ready,plug in the drive and see if the drive is recognized.