External hard drive problem.

Gskater26 · 07-10-2008, 02:34 PM

Hi,

I have a external hard drive enclosure with an IDE laptop drive inside. I have Windows XP on it which worked great for around six months. Recently, I tried dual booting Unbuntu with XP on the external again, installed the OS, and when I tried to reboot into XP, a message after the BIOS screen read "Operating System Not Found".

I tried the drive on another PC and the drive didn't show up under My Computer or in Disk Management. I also tried doing "cat /dev/sda2" in a boot of a Live CD of Ubuntu. The drive is also not recogonized by my iMac.

I tried replacing the USB, which also didn't work.

I have to wait for my Dad to get home to test the power cord with a multimeter, but I don't think it's the cord.

Is there anything else I can do to save the disk, or even formatt it to install XP again? Thanks.

njw3356 · 07-11-2008, 05:38 AM

I don't know about saving it. But you can plug the external drive into another computer that is already running and go in the start menu, right click on my computer, manage, storage, disc management and format from there. Then you can reinstall XP without major problems.

njw3356 · 07-11-2008, 05:40 AM

But I guess that wouldn't work if you said that it doesn't show up in disk management... sorry... skipped over that i guess.

Gskater26 · 07-11-2008, 12:39 PM

Thanks for the suggestion, but yes, the drive isn't in disk management.

And the multimeter read that 5.02 volts of direct current was going through the power cord, so I guess the power cord is working, and the only thing left is either the enclosure or the disk. The enclosure is rather new, so I guess the disk is bad. I don't have another IDE 2.5" drive so I can't test the enclosure.

Anything else I can do before I buy another HDD?

njw3356 · 07-12-2008, 06:11 AM

When you said that you replaced the USB, was that just the cable? or the enclosure itself? If it wasn't the enclosure you replaced then I would suggest getting a new enclosure first. Cheaper, and if it doesn't work then go for the hard drive. It just makes more sense to me that it would be the enclosure and not the drive.

How old is the hard drive?

Gskater26 · 07-12-2008, 12:07 PM

The drive is rather old, older than the enclosure.

But could the drive go from perfectlly fine to junk in like twenty seconds?

tomguthrie · 07-12-2008, 01:37 PM

I installed a new boot drive and lost my external drive, WD 250 gb. It shows up in the device manager and in disk management, even my computer but I can't access! What's up?

njw3356 · 07-13-2008, 05:03 AM

If it got bumped or scratch while inside the enclosure then yes. But it seems very odd to me. I would try another enclosure first and then get a new drive. Just cause the enclosures are cheaper.

njw3356 · 07-13-2008, 05:06 AM

tomguthrie - I would try reformating the drive in Disk Management. Start, right click on My computer, manage, storage, disk management (local).

Try that. Could be that somethings conflicting.

Gskater26 · 07-23-2008, 03:22 PM

Sorry for not responding for a while.

I got one of those 2.5" to 3.5" adapters, that look like:

I tried it out in my PC by borrowing the cables to the CD drive, but that didn't work. So I ordered a new drive, thinking my old one was bad.

So, I got the new drive today, plugged it into my external case, plugged my external case into my PC to format it, but it's not in My Computer or Disk Management, so I tried using the adapter again using the CD drive cables. Unfortunately, the drive did not show up yet agian.

I am now left to think that:
a.) I bought a bad drive.
b.) I bought a bad adapter.
c.) I'm using the adapter incorrectly.

When I use the external case, with either my old or new drive, the LED shines up green and I can hear the drive inside spinning and such.

Please help me figure this out. Thanks.

07-10-2008, 02:34 PM	#1 (permalink)
Gskater26 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Maine. Posts: 20 OS: Mac OS X 10.5.4	External hard drive problem. Hi, I have a external hard drive enclosure with an IDE laptop drive inside. I have Windows XP on it which worked great for around six months. Recently, I tried dual booting Unbuntu with XP on the external again, installed the OS, and when I tried to reboot into XP, a message after the BIOS screen read "Operating System Not Found". I tried the drive on another PC and the drive didn't show up under My Computer or in Disk Management. I also tried doing "cat /dev/sda2" in a boot of a Live CD of Ubuntu. The drive is also not recogonized by my iMac. I tried replacing the USB, which also didn't work. I have to wait for my Dad to get home to test the power cord with a multimeter, but I don't think it's the cord. Is there anything else I can do to save the disk, or even formatt it to install XP again? Thanks. __________________ Skate.

07-11-2008, 05:38 AM	#2 (permalink)
njw3356 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 15 OS: xp sp3	Re: External hard drive problem. I don't know about saving it. But you can plug the external drive into another computer that is already running and go in the start menu, right click on my computer, manage, storage, disc management and format from there. Then you can reinstall XP without major problems.

07-11-2008, 05:40 AM	#3 (permalink)
njw3356 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 15 OS: xp sp3	Re: External hard drive problem. But I guess that wouldn't work if you said that it doesn't show up in disk management... sorry... skipped over that i guess.

07-11-2008, 12:39 PM	#4 (permalink)
Gskater26 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Maine. Posts: 20 OS: Mac OS X 10.5.4	Re: External hard drive problem. Thanks for the suggestion, but yes, the drive isn't in disk management. And the multimeter read that 5.02 volts of direct current was going through the power cord, so I guess the power cord is working, and the only thing left is either the enclosure or the disk. The enclosure is rather new, so I guess the disk is bad. I don't have another IDE 2.5" drive so I can't test the enclosure. Anything else I can do before I buy another HDD? __________________ Skate.

07-12-2008, 06:11 AM	#5 (permalink)
njw3356 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 15 OS: xp sp3	Re: External hard drive problem. When you said that you replaced the USB, was that just the cable? or the enclosure itself? If it wasn't the enclosure you replaced then I would suggest getting a new enclosure first. Cheaper, and if it doesn't work then go for the hard drive. It just makes more sense to me that it would be the enclosure and not the drive. How old is the hard drive?

07-12-2008, 12:07 PM	#6 (permalink)
Gskater26 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Maine. Posts: 20 OS: Mac OS X 10.5.4	Re: External hard drive problem. The drive is rather old, older than the enclosure. But could the drive go from perfectlly fine to junk in like twenty seconds? __________________ Skate.

07-12-2008, 01:37 PM	#7 (permalink)
tomguthrie Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 1 OS: xp	Re: External hard drive problem. I installed a new boot drive and lost my external drive, WD 250 gb. It shows up in the device manager and in disk management, even my computer but I can't access! What's up?

07-13-2008, 05:03 AM	#8 (permalink)
njw3356 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 15 OS: xp sp3	Re: External hard drive problem. If it got bumped or scratch while inside the enclosure then yes. But it seems very odd to me. I would try another enclosure first and then get a new drive. Just cause the enclosures are cheaper.

07-13-2008, 05:06 AM	#9 (permalink)
njw3356 Registered User Join Date: Jul 2008 Posts: 15 OS: xp sp3	Re: External hard drive problem. tomguthrie - I would try reformating the drive in Disk Management. Start, right click on My computer, manage, storage, disk management (local). Try that. Could be that somethings conflicting.

07-23-2008, 03:22 PM	#10 (permalink)
Gskater26 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Location: Maine. Posts: 20 OS: Mac OS X 10.5.4	Re: External hard drive problem. Sorry for not responding for a while. I got one of those 2.5" to 3.5" adapters, that look like: I tried it out in my PC by borrowing the cables to the CD drive, but that didn't work. So I ordered a new drive, thinking my old one was bad. So, I got the new drive today, plugged it into my external case, plugged my external case into my PC to format it, but it's not in My Computer or Disk Management, so I tried using the adapter again using the CD drive cables. Unfortunately, the drive did not show up yet agian. I am now left to think that: a.) I bought a bad drive. b.) I bought a bad adapter. c.) I'm using the adapter incorrectly. When I use the external case, with either my old or new drive, the LED shines up green and I can hear the drive inside spinning and such. Please help me figure this out. Thanks. __________________ Skate.