usb help!!

[Argotrance]

hi my externel wd hdd was working untill i did a reformat on my pc with vista. now the hdd is reconised in device manager and says working properley but i can not see it in my computer listed anywhere?? it makes the noise when you connect it bum bum like its all ok but can not see it??#please help??

[Van Nugent]

Did you reformat it or did you only delete the volume/partition without reformatting it?

[Argotrance]

hi van. full reformate mate. the whole thing

[Van Nugent]

That's strange :) but I don't think a reformat caused that problem. Can you please tell the make & model of the mobo and those of the external box.

On second thought, let's go to computer management => storage/disk management to delete the volume then create a simple volume and format it.

[Argotrance]

i cant reformat mate i backed up all my stuff onto it when i did the reformat on PC mobo is asus p5l 1394. external hdd is wd model wd5000e035-00.also this hadd worked before on vista before i reformatted also works OK on a vista laptop?

[Van Nugent]

Sorry, I thought it disappeared right after you formatted it. Let me have a check on the board.

[Argotrance]

thank you van

[Argotrance]

in computer management the hdd shows as unallocated? but if i initialize it will be wiped?

[Van Nugent]

in computer management the hdd shows as unallocated? but if i initialize it will be wiped?That's an excellent info. Don't initialize it because you'll erase all data on it. Somehow, the MBR got corrupted when or after you transferred the data onto it, probably an improper unplug of the external USB drive. Let me see how to restore the MBR the easiest way without disturbing the data.

[Argotrance]

cheers van thanks for helping mate. glad you know what you are doing lol!

[Van Nugent]

NP, bud. Since this is a USB drive, what you'll need to do is to recover the partition table (not the MBR as I incorrectly said above). Try the partition recovery tool TestDisk here (http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk).

[Argotrance]

trying it now mate will get back to on it.
thank you.

[Dirty Dog]

Just so we're clear, you didn't format the external drive, you formatted the internal HDD on the PC, is that correct?

Have you access to another computer that you could check the External drive on?

Cheers.....

[Argotrance]

yea its all sorted now dirty dog.....

thanks van for your help it worked a treat!!
cheers mate.

:cheers:

[Van Nugent]

UR welcome bud http://www.getsmile.com/emoticons/smileys-91853/r/dance.gif ! I used TestDisk for years (the old DOS versions) and it's a great tool to have. The author has changed the website so it was a bit hard for me to find it. And I'm glad he now has the new versions including the one for Windows XP/Vista.

Edit: One more thing, always use the Safely Remove Harware tool in System Tray to remove the USB devices, especially USB HDDs to prevent data corruption or loss of data.

[slimady]

Edit: One more thing, always use the Safely Remove Harware tool in System Tray to remove the USB devices, especially USB HDDs to prevent data corruption or loss of data.

good point there Van, i dont seem to get the `Safely Remove Hardware` icon in the system tray, is there any way to get it there when i plug in a usb drive or any usb hardware?

[Van Nugent]

There is a simple way we can try:

- Rightclick on the taskbar and make sure Lock the Taskbar is not enabled (not checked);
- Now select Properties and open the Notification Area tab;
- In the Icons section; click the button Customize;
- Scroll down to the Safely Remove Hardware icon then click on it to highlight it. Use the pulldown menu to customize how you want it to behave, i.e. Show, Hide When Inactive, or Hide.

[slimady]

thanks for that Van, there were a few others in there that needed changeing.
All sorted now, many thanks.:tup::beer:

[Argotrance]

see i told you you he (van) is just a fountain of knowledge!!!

:cheers::cheers::cheers:

[slimady]

he should maybe think of changeing his name to `The Oracle` :laugh::p

and yus! lots of :cheers::cheers::cheers:

[Argotrance]

:laugh:lol!!!!!!!!!!!! :laugh:
:laugh: :bigthump:

[Van Nugent]

Yep, Morpheus and Neo just came over to see me yesterday. http://www.getsmile.com/emoticons/funny-smileys-68129/sunglasses2.gif

[Argotrance]

Lmao!!!!!!!!!! :d