Question about USB hard drive (solved) :)

[learninmypc]

Well, I got to & did #7 but now it don't show up so I can continue. The lights on the drive light up, but it don't show up any place

 

[learninmypc]

Next ??

 

[DelJo63]

Unplug the device, wait, reinsert

the USB should show up as RAW

 

[learninmypc]

Its been unplugged over night, just plugged it in & In disk management it still don't show at all, neither any place else.

 

[DelJo63]

You should see something like

 

[DelJo63]

read this thoroughly

 

[learninmypc]

I'll read that link shortly, but here is what I see

 

[learninmypc]

Is this guess correct? When I clicked delete volume, it deleted everything on the USB VERBATIM drive that WAS Drive L & re named the drive to O?
On the drive it shows it has 500.00gb & if that highlighted one means it has 3 partitions, I don't think I need 3 so I guess what I'm wanting to know now is how do I make it single so I can format it & start using it??

 

[cliffordcooley]

Delete all partitions and then create one new partition using all the space.

P.S. I only read your last comment, so I don't know what was previously discussed.

 

[learninmypc]

Thanks, easier said than done

 

[learninmypc]

How do I repartition it & format it when it don't show on the computer??

 

[cliffordcooley]

I will assume you are using a partitioning software. And the drive is not showing with that software. The drive will need to be formatted, before Explorer will show a drive letter for the volume.

If it is not showing on the computer, there may be a problem in the USB case communicating with the PC. Whether that be a default in the case, default in the USB port, or a glitch in the OS. It is possible it could be the drive in the case, but that is unlikely. The most likely is the USB to SATA controller in the case.

But before we jump to that conclusion try rebooting and using different USB ports. And if that doesn't work try a different machine to see if that machine will see the drive. If neither machines will see the drive, I'd then point a finger at the controller in the drive enclosure. But like I said it could still be the drive. Hard to say until all troubleshooting is finished.

 

[learninmypc]

Ok, for starters, when plugged in, the blue lights on the USB harddrive light up & I can feel "life".
No, I don't have any free partioning software yet.
In post #33, if O is the drive, can I leave it that way?
Correct, I've never done this & wish I had left it with the errors, at least I had access. Anyhow, I will see if I can check it out on another pc.
I have rebooted & tried other ports, same results, it lights up, just don't show

 

[cliffordcooley]

In post #33, if O is the drive, can I leave it that way?

What you need to understand about Disk 0, is that number represents the port assignment on the motherboard. That is not a value you can change, unless you move the drive to another port.

And to look at this a different angle. If you are asking about deleting the 450MB Recovery Partition, that's another matter. I've noticed all my systems somehow create that partition regardless of how I try to setup my drive. That's just one more reason for me to be pissed at MS, another feature we have lost control over. I don't want that partition, I don't create that partition, yet it keeps popping up regardless.

Edit: All this leads me to confusion though Disk 0 shouldn't be a USB drive.

 

[learninmypc]

Ok, the only reason I thought Disk O was it, is because the gb size is closest to the "real" gb size of the USB
Originally it showed up as Drive L VERBATIM & on the drive itsself it shows 500gb so post #33 shows it as 100% free.
I'm so confused now don't know what to do

 

[cliffordcooley]

Disk 0 is usually your boot drive. Any other device connected will have it's own disk number.

 

[learninmypc]

Ok, thank you. Just like to get it working again

 

[DelJo63]

Windows is unkind when dealing with external HDDs.

go here for the HP disk tool (humbug; hp only)

disconnect the ext HDD; run the tool and then plug in the ext Hdd.

Your object is to define ONE partition for the entire drive and then format it for NTFS.

 

[DelJo63]

*** THIS IS BRUTAL ***

the basic operation is a SELECT OBJECT followed by an ACTION
so be careful to know what you last SELECTED

click start
enter DISKPART in the search box

when it's shown in a new cmd window, enter LIST DISK

• DISKPART> list disk
  Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
  -------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
  Disk 0 Online 465 GB 0 B
  DISKPART>

you should have your C: as disk 0 and the ext as disk 1

you can see all commands with HELP

rescan

select disk 1
list partition
select partition 1
delete partition
select partition 2
delete partition
select partition ...
delete partition

select disk 1
CREATE PARTITION PRIMARY
Assign letter=O
list volume
select volume ?
format FS=NTFS

 

[learninmypc]

I'm working on it, thank you

 

[learninmypc]

pardon my ignorance, but is this what I'm supposed to be looking at??

 

[learninmypc]

It is alive

I truthfully believe I've bitten off more than I can chew. I think it might be safer for me quit before I mess something up.
I don't know how much patience you guys have with me having no clue as to what I'm doing.

 

[DelJo63]

View attachment 82389
pardon my ignorance, but is this what I'm supposed to be looking at??

That was a mistake to show you as there's no control for device selection, sorry.

 

[learninmypc]

I don't know whether I should try to continue or drop it & start buying other flashdrives ??

 

[DelJo63]

I bought a Segate Backup Plus Portable device with 1 TB capacity. I use it as Network Storage and backup my wife's Mac and my Laptop to it