Vista - External USB Hard Drive Not recongized anymore

I have not updated anything in my computer in 2 weeks (12/5/07 was the last
Windows Update I did). Today I just noticed that my "H" drive which is an
external Maxtor USB HDD is no longer being "read" like an NTFS disk.

This disk had data on it before and was formatted as an NTFS disk; however,
currently it says it can't read it, and if I connect it, it asks me if I want
to format the disk.

Is there a way to override this feature and tell Vista that it's really an
NTFS disk? At least temporarily so I can get my files off of it, then format
it so Vista likes it, then put files back on?

I'm running Windows Vista Ultimate x64.

Anyone? Any ideas?

"Brett" wrote:

I have a bullet-proof solution for you.

You will need a second external drive or enough space on your harddrive to move the files.

Goto http://www.ubuntu.com/ and download Linux There is a version that can run from the CD only, get this one.

Follow the directions that are on thier site. They are very simple.

Boot using the Linux Disk. An interface similar to windows will load.

Move files to new location. I had some kind of permissions problem, so I used another external drive. I suggest this route.

This should do it.

The problem you are having is usully caused by static electricity. The files are stil there, it is just that windows doesn't recognize the drive becaue the information was damaged. Linux is very forgiving in this respect. It reconizes almost anything. I use the Ubuntu Linux disk as a tool in my arsenal of tricks and it is the only tool that I know that can do this. It's also free. :-)

Sincerely,
Chris Arnell