Vista - External USB Hard Drive Can't be Accessed

Hello. I have searched the posts in this group and have found similar
situations to this, but not the same. I have a HP Pavilion a1730n with
Vista Home Premium :-( I am trying to hook up a USB 2.0 external hard
drive (a Maxtor drive, set to Master, placed in a hard drive
enclosure). When I hook it up and go into Windows Explorer, Explorer
stops running. Same with trying to access the drive using the Computer
icon. As soon as I turn off the drive, Explorer comes right back. When
I plug in the drive and turn it on, I get the familiar tone indicating
that the drive was detected, but I can't access any function that
would show the drive. Any advice as to what to check? I'd appreciate
any help.

Thank you

Have you formatted it before?
"Sokd21" <Kathleen.D.So@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:1173409044.283203.298060@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com...
> Hello. I have searched the posts in this group and have found similar
> situations to this, but not the same. I have a HP Pavilion a1730n with
> Vista Home Premium :-( I am trying to hook up a USB 2.0 external hard
> drive (a Maxtor drive, set to Master, placed in a hard drive
> enclosure). When I hook it up and go into Windows Explorer, Explorer
> stops running. Same with trying to access the drive using the Computer
> icon. As soon as I turn off the drive, Explorer comes right back. When
> I plug in the drive and turn it on, I get the familiar tone indicating
> that the drive was detected, but I can't access any function that
> would show the drive. Any advice as to what to check? I'd appreciate
> any help.
>
> Thank you
>

On Mar 9, 11:16 am, "Me" <any...@home.yet> wrote:
> Have you formatted it before?"Sokd21" <Kathleen.D...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:1173409044.283203.298060@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Hello. I have searched the posts in this group and have found similar
> > situations to this, but not the same. I have a HP Pavilion a1730n with
> > Vista Home Premium :-( I am trying to hook up a USB 2.0 external hard
> > drive (a Maxtor drive, set to Master, placed in a hard drive
> > enclosure). When I hook it up and go into Windows Explorer, Explorer
> > stops running. Same with trying to access the drive using the Computer
> > icon. As soon as I turn off the drive, Explorer comes right back. When
> > I plug in the drive and turn it on, I get the familiar tone indicating
> > that the drive was detected, but I can't access any function that
> > would show the drive. Any advice as to what to check? I'd appreciate
> > any help.
>
> > Thank you

I have formatted it before. I'm not sure how to format it now, since I
can't access it. I think I'll hook it up to my old XP machine to
format it. Not sure if it'll make a difference, but it's worth a shot.
Thanks.

On Mar 9, 11:57 am, "Sokd21" <Kathleen.D...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Mar 9, 11:16 am, "Me" <any...@home.yet> wrote:
>
>
>
> > Have you formatted it before?"Sokd21" <Kathleen.D...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> >news:1173409044.283203.298060@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com...
>
> > > Hello. I have searched the posts in this group and have found similar
> > > situations to this, but not the same. I have a HP Pavilion a1730n with
> > > Vista Home Premium :-( I am trying to hook up a USB 2.0 external hard
> > > drive (a Maxtor drive, set to Master, placed in a hard drive
> > > enclosure). When I hook it up and go into Windows Explorer, Explorer
> > > stops running. Same with trying to access the drive using the Computer
> > > icon. As soon as I turn off the drive, Explorer comes right back. When
> > > I plug in the drive and turn it on, I get the familiar tone indicating
> > > that the drive was detected, but I can't access any function that
> > > would show the drive. Any advice as to what to check? I'd appreciate
> > > any help.
>
> > > Thank you
>
> I have formatted it before. I'm not sure how to format it now, since I
> can't access it. I think I'll hook it up to my old XP machine to
> format it. Not sure if it'll make a difference, but it's worth a shot.
> Thanks.

Looks like I was a victim of coincidence. When I tried to format the
drive on my old XP machine (to which the drive had been attached and
used for a few months previously), it didn't work there, either. After
testing in another machine, seems the drive is dead. Just happened to
occur when I hooked it up to Vista. Bummer. Oh, well. Thanks.

On 9 Mar 2007 14:29:50 -0800, "Sokd21" <Kathleen.D.So@gmail.com>
wrote:

>On Mar 9, 11:57 am, "Sokd21" <Kathleen.D...@gmail.com> wrote:
>> On Mar 9, 11:16 am, "Me" <any...@home.yet> wrote:
>>
>>
>>
>> > Have you formatted it before?"Sokd21" <Kathleen.D...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>>
>> >news:1173409044.283203.298060@j27g2000cwj.googlegroups.com...
>>
>> > > Hello. I have searched the posts in this group and have found similar
>> > > situations to this, but not the same. I have a HP Pavilion a1730n with
>> > > Vista Home Premium :-( I am trying to hook up a USB 2.0 external hard
>> > > drive (a Maxtor drive, set to Master, placed in a hard drive
>> > > enclosure). When I hook it up and go into Windows Explorer, Explorer
>> > > stops running. Same with trying to access the drive using the Computer
>> > > icon. As soon as I turn off the drive, Explorer comes right back. When
>> > > I plug in the drive and turn it on, I get the familiar tone indicating
>> > > that the drive was detected, but I can't access any function that
>> > > would show the drive. Any advice as to what to check? I'd appreciate
>> > > any help.
>>
>> > > Thank you
>>
>> I have formatted it before. I'm not sure how to format it now, since I
>> can't access it. I think I'll hook it up to my old XP machine to
>> format it. Not sure if it'll make a difference, but it's worth a shot.
>> Thanks.
>
>Looks like I was a victim of coincidence. When I tried to format the
>drive on my old XP machine (to which the drive had been attached and
>used for a few months previously), it didn't work there, either. After
>testing in another machine, seems the drive is dead. Just happened to
>occur when I hooked it up to Vista. Bummer. Oh, well. Thanks.
Look for bent pins,
Look for Misplaced Master|Slave|CS jumper
try a different IDE cable.
And make sure the BIOS re-detects the drive (Setup).

Steve