External Hardrive? WHAT external hardrive?

[General Mortars]

Hi, guys,

i wonder if you could help me out here, I´ve just bought an external hardrive to connect to my computer via USB.



Problem is when I connect it, the computer detects it (it lets go that funny "- Tin-dlom!" music) but when I open up "My computer", there´s no external hardrive icon there.



I went to My Computer -> Properties->Device Manager to check if it was there and it really IS there in the pull list that appears in the Device Manager: Two disks and a USB one.



But where?



Help!

[Webster]

Problem is when I connect it, the computer detects it (it lets go that funny "- Tin-dlom!" music) but when I open up "My computer", there´s no external hardrive icon there.

You may have to mount/format it. For WinXP follow this path

Start-->setting-->control panel-->Administrative Tools-->Computer management-->storage-->disk management (local)

[greymalkin]

yep..the hard drive doesn't come formatted and until you format it AND assign a drive letter you aren't going to see it in windows explorer/my computer.

so follow the steps above and make sure in the options when you're formatting it that it is assigned a drive letter.

[General Mortars]

The disk I´m using has already been formatted, it used to belong to my previous external hardrive box before its power source went down.
i bought a new box for it but the disk is the same, it already had like 120 gb of stored files. so the computer should be able to recognise it....

[SingSing]

The connection between the USB/ide port and the hard disk failed.
The PC detected the USB slave, but did not find the hard disk.

Check this on the drive : Power supply, and the cable pin 1, and it is set to master drive.

[mzemina]

Like webster said you need to launch Start-->setting-->control panel-->Administrative Tools-->Computer management-->storage-->disk management (local)

Then what may have happened (depending on the number of devices &/or network drives you have attached) is that it cannot find a drive leter to map it to so it is kinda hidden. But when you get to Computer managment screen (upper right part of the screen) right click on the external drive's volume and select "Change drive letter and paths..."

Hopefully this will fix it for you.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

when all else fails, read the instructions.
not everything that is USB is automatically 'plug & play'

[General Mortars]

Let´s assume that the disc is dead due to the thing that fried the previous power source.


How do I guarantee that its information stored will never be salvaged or used?

Formatting is not an option since the computer doesn´t even detect it.

[redwudz]

Personally, I would take the drive and put it internally in the computer and access it from there. You may have to pull the IDE cable off one of your existing drives and plug it in there, along with the power connector. Make sure to set the jumper to the appropriate position, either master or slave.

That will tell you if the drive is OK. If it won't show up, maybe it's damaged. You would go to a recovery program in that case. If it works OK, then your USB interface/settings may be the problem.

If you never want to use the drive again and you want to ensure that the data is destroyed, destroy the hard drive. An axe works well, or a hot fire.

[TJohns]

Hammer!

[General Mortars]

I´ve tried inserting the drive into the computer but - funny thing- the computer wouldn´t even start when I pressed the power button.
I removed it and asked my brother to take it to work where they have all the heavy machinery to crunch it into a coin .
However, since I don´t wanna even dream of one of his colleagues getting his hands on it, I´ve just grabbed the thing and put it into the ove.

Which brings me to this post....

What´s the worst thing that can happen when you cook a hardrive in a oven?

I´m sure explosion is not a possibility but what about smells and stuff?
Will I ruin the oven by doing htis?

[redwudz]

It would stink up the house, emit vapors that may be hazardous to your health and could cause a fire. Assuming a regular over. A microwave would not likely do much except burn out the microwave.

You'd be better off using a propane torch and doing all this outdoors. Or pull the disc cover off so the platters are exposed and it would be destroyed quicker. But don't breath the fumes in any case.

I like the ax method myself. It's more satisfying.

If the drive stops the computer when put inside, there's a good chance it's shot anyway.

[Webster]

How do I guarantee that its information stored will never be salvaged or used?

here is my preferred ways (using at your own risk):

1. Hammer - very satifiying, highly recommend, and extremely cost effective. Face shielding recommended.
2. Open up with a special tip (star) screwdriver and take out the platter. Use the platter as a frisbee - this will satisfy your curious on the internal mechanic working of a hard drive plus you have a new toy to play with.
3. Soak it in brine then plug in a powersource - for those pyromaniac personallity type. Make sure you stand at least 5 feet away from the drive when you do it, preferably behind some kind of shielding.
4. Go up to the top of a tall building (the higher, the better) and drop, time it, to see how long before it hit the ground - for those with an interest in physic (gravity) obsession. Also remember to measure the splatter partern of the result to see how far it spread.
5. Put the drive next to a 2,000 WATTS subwoofer magnet for several hours while your stereo system blasting rapped musics at full volume and annoying your neighbors until they call the cops on you. This method offers some sastifactory (especially if you are pissed off at you neighbor). But it might get you a ticket from the cops or code enforment officer.
6. Give it to your 5 years old kid. I can guarantee you that within an hour, you will not recognize the darn thing.