Windows XP not recognising external HDD enclosure/caddy.

GSDog

GSDog

GSDog

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Hi all.

My laptop died recently and I am trying to save the data on the hard-drive.
I bought a 2.5" SATA Hard drive USB enclosure which arrived today. I put the HD in and plugged it in. Windows said something like "Mass USB storage device; new hardware found" in the bottom right corner and then it showed this message about a minute later;

2a8qmhd.jpg


The HDD enclosure is not showing up in "My Computer" or "Disk managment", but it does sometimes show up in "Device managment" under USB controllers as a "USB mass stoage device" - however, it seems to disappear from the Device managment after about 1 minute of it being plugged in. :confused:

I have tried it on another PC also running Windows XP with the same result, it just shows up in Device managment for about a minute then disappears, and doesn't show up in my computer.

I don't really know how this is meant to work, but when I rightclick on the USB mass storage device in device managment and click on drivers, it says "No drivers are installed for this device.". The USB enclosure came with no drivers and it says in the manual that it doesn't need any with Windows XP.

Does anyone know how to get this drive to show up correctly in Windows XP so that I can save my data?

Any help would be much appreciated.
 
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Have you tried different USB port?
Last time I saw that, it was because I wasnt getting enough power from the USB port, and I either had to get a Y cable that got power from a second USB port, or I managed to get another port that worked ok.
 
Nanobot said:
Have you tried different USB port?
Last time I saw that, it was because I wasnt getting enough power from the USB port, and I either had to get a Y cable that got power from a second USB port, or I managed to get another port that worked ok.
Click to expand...


Yes. I have also tried it on another PC with the same result.

It is using a Y cable and already getting power from a second USB port.

I can hear the HDD power up inside the enclosure and the LED light is on, so I don't think it is a power issue.
 
Is the hdd in the enclosure still brand new or empty or have you used it/ got data on it already?
Only thing I can think of is - if its the same connection as the faulty one in your laptop and it is empty, then put it in the laptop and see if you can see or format it.
I wouldnt stick the original laptop one (with the data you want) into the enclosure in case it does any damage to your data.
 
Nanobot said:
Is the hdd in the enclosure still brand new or empty or have you used it/ got data on it already?
Only thing I can think of is - if its the same connection as the faulty one in your laptop and it is empty, then put it in the laptop and see if you can see or format it.
I wouldnt stick the original laptop one (with the data you want) into the enclosure in case it does any damage to your data.
Click to expand...

The HDD in the enclosure is the one from my dead/faulty laptop and it has all of my data on it. I have no way of testing the HDD other than using this enclosure as I don't have another laptop to try it in.
I guess it could be that the HDD is faulty/dead too, since I did kill the laptop by spilling water all over it.

I've read a few posts on the internet be some people who had the same symptoms and they switched the HDD jumper to "master" and apparently it fixed it. I'm not sure if that applies to laptop HDD's too though and I don't understand how to do that.

The enclosure I am talking about is similar to this one;
http://www.overclockers.co.uk/showproduct.php?prodid=HD-026-BT
 
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Ah sorry, I thought you had a new drive in the enclosure but just re-read and spotted what you said. What's the make and model of the hdd. Any jumper info on the manufacturers website?
Can see how the internals of the hdd would have been affected so quick if you spilt water over the laptop, but then I can't say I have experienced it before.
Only other thing I can think of is try it on a PC with Vista. I know it sounds daft, but when I left my IcyBox caddy (with seagate hdd) in a cupboard unused for over a year, my pc got the same message as yours, even with a Y cable. It worked straightaway plugged into a Vista PC, and after that, worked OK on the original XP PC it failed on moments before... Maybe a total co-incidence, but as it goes down as an unexplained co-incidence that worked, I never rule things out!
The fact that it powers up, I wouldnt write it off just yet.
 
Nanobot said:
Ah sorry, I thought you had a new drive in the enclosure but just re-read and spotted what you said. What's the make and model of the hdd. Any jumper info on the manufacturers website?
Can see how the internals of the hdd would have been affected so quick if you spilt water over the laptop, but then I can't say I have experienced it before.
Only other thing I can think of is try it on a PC with Vista. I know it sounds daft, but when I left my IcyBox caddy (with seagate hdd) in a cupboard unused for over a year, my pc got the same message as yours, even with a Y cable. It worked straightaway plugged into a Vista PC, and after that, worked OK on the original XP PC it failed on moments before... Maybe a total co-incidence, but as it goes down as an unexplained co-incidence that worked, I never rule things out!
The fact that it powers up, I wouldnt write it off just yet.
Click to expand...

The drive is a Hitachi SATA 100GB 7200RPM 2.5".

The water did not touch the HDD because I took it out the laptop straight away and it was dry.

I am starting to think it's either a faulty enclosure (it was a cheap one from an auction site) or the HDD itself is faulty.
I can't seem to find any other reasons why the HDD in the enclosure would not show up in disk management and my computer. It's just a plug n play device and should work straight away.
The fact I have tried it in two other computers raises my suspicions of either a faulty enclosure or HDD.

I will check the manufacturers website for jumper info.
 
Do the other PCs have SATA connectors? I've never seen the connectors on a 2.5" drive, so wondering if they are the same size as on a 3.5" drive? Rules out the enclosure then. Not sure.
 
I don't have any other laptops in the house so I can't test the drive without the enclosure.

I'm thinking about returning the enclosure and trying a different one.
 
Update:

I am now 95% sure the HDD is dead. :(

I found a SATA data cable in my motherboard box and plugged the drive into the PSU, etc.
Nothing showed up at all, not in the BIOS or Windows. The SATA controller is definitely enabled in the BIOS.

I then tried out my brothers work laptop HDD (also SATA) in the PC using the same method and it worked fine. It showed up in the BIOS and Windows.

I then put my HDD into his laptop and it didn't detect it at all.

Thanks for your help anyway. :(
 
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