locating external hard drive

This is a very basic question, but I'm a mac-user who's not very good with
PC's, let alone Vista, so here goes:

Long story short, I'm having trouble opening (?) an external hard drive.
It's not showing up under Computer where all the drives and removable disks
are listed, allowing you to open them and store things in them. I've
verified that it's turned on, recognized by the computer, and enabled.

[If you want the backstory, here it is:
I had to take the files on my external hard drive and temporarily store them
in a PC, and I had no trouble doing that because when I connected the drive
to the PC, it showed up, and I selected "open the folder" or something like
that, and just copied and pasted the contents to the PC's internal hard
drive. But now that I'm ready to transfer them back onto my external, I
can't locate it (i.e. it's not showing up under Computer where all the drives
and removable disks are listed). I know that the computer has recognized it,
because it shows up in Device Manager. I just need to be able to open as if
you're opening a folder so that I can put stuff back in it.]

Any instructions on how I can find this drive will be greatly appreciated.
I need to leave the country in two days with these contents on my external,
so it's really important that I figure this out soon.

Thanks a lot.

It seems that a lot of people have already written in the forums that you
need to partition, format, and assign a letter to the drive, but the thing
is, I didn't have to do any of that before. I was able to access the
external hard drive and it showed up under Computer.

"Aurora Stover" wrote:

> This is a very basic question, but I'm a mac-user who's not very good with
> PC's, let alone Vista, so here goes:
>
> Long story short, I'm having trouble opening (?) an external hard drive.
> It's not showing up under Computer where all the drives and removable disks
> are listed, allowing you to open them and store things in them. I've
> verified that it's turned on, recognized by the computer, and enabled.
>
> [If you want the backstory, here it is:
> I had to take the files on my external hard drive and temporarily store them
> in a PC, and I had no trouble doing that because when I connected the drive
> to the PC, it showed up, and I selected "open the folder" or something like
> that, and just copied and pasted the contents to the PC's internal hard
> drive. But now that I'm ready to transfer them back onto my external, I
> can't locate it (i.e. it's not showing up under Computer where all the drives
> and removable disks are listed). I know that the computer has recognized it,
> because it shows up in Device Manager. I just need to be able to open as if
> you're opening a folder so that I can put stuff back in it.]
>
> Any instructions on how I can find this drive will be greatly appreciated.
> I need to leave the country in two days with these contents on my external,
> so it's really important that I figure this out soon.
>
> Thanks a lot.

And please tell me there are options besides formatting it, cos I have files
on it...

"Aurora Stover" wrote:

> It seems that a lot of people have already written in the forums that you
> need to partition, format, and assign a letter to the drive, but the thing
> is, I didn't have to do any of that before. I was able to access the
> external hard drive and it showed up under Computer.
>
> "Aurora Stover" wrote:
>
> > This is a very basic question, but I'm a mac-user who's not very good with
> > PC's, let alone Vista, so here goes:
> >
> > Long story short, I'm having trouble opening (?) an external hard drive.
> > It's not showing up under Computer where all the drives and removable disks
> > are listed, allowing you to open them and store things in them. I've
> > verified that it's turned on, recognized by the computer, and enabled.
> >
> > [If you want the backstory, here it is:
> > I had to take the files on my external hard drive and temporarily store them
> > in a PC, and I had no trouble doing that because when I connected the drive
> > to the PC, it showed up, and I selected "open the folder" or something like
> > that, and just copied and pasted the contents to the PC's internal hard
> > drive. But now that I'm ready to transfer them back onto my external, I
> > can't locate it (i.e. it's not showing up under Computer where all the drives
> > and removable disks are listed). I know that the computer has recognized it,
> > because it shows up in Device Manager. I just need to be able to open as if
> > you're opening a folder so that I can put stuff back in it.]
> >
> > Any instructions on how I can find this drive will be greatly appreciated.
> > I need to leave the country in two days with these contents on my external,
> > so it's really important that I figure this out soon.
> >
> > Thanks a lot.

You would only need to format a drive that had not already been prepared
beforehand, or a drive that has an existing format on it which is
incompatible with Windows. As you guessed, if you do format the drive it
will erase the current contents. I don't know what OS you were using the
drive with but AFAIK only FAT32 format is fully compatible with both MAC and
Windows (someone will correct me if I'm wrong) or Vista/XP and Win98/ME. If
you haven't changed the format of the external drive since you used it last
then it shouldn't be necessary to format it again.

Assuming it's a USB drive, try changing the port that the drive is connected
to. Try connecting and turning on the drive after the computer has booted.
Connect the drive directly to the computer, not through an external hub. If
the drive is USB powered make sure the auxiliary USB power cable is also
connected or if there isn't one that at least no other high-power USB
devices are connected to the same hub.

"Aurora Stover" <> wrote in message
news:60A47445-7ED8-48CE-96C1-...
> And please tell me there are options besides formatting it, cos I have
> files
> on it...
>
> "Aurora Stover" wrote:
>
>> It seems that a lot of people have already written in the forums that you
>> need to partition, format, and assign a letter to the drive, but the
>> thing
>> is, I didn't have to do any of that before. I was able to access the
>> external hard drive and it showed up under Computer.
>>
>> "Aurora Stover" wrote:
>>
>> > This is a very basic question, but I'm a mac-user who's not very good
>> > with
>> > PC's, let alone Vista, so here goes:
>> >
>> > Long story short, I'm having trouble opening (?) an external hard
>> > drive.
>> > It's not showing up under Computer where all the drives and removable
>> > disks
>> > are listed, allowing you to open them and store things in them. I've
>> > verified that it's turned on, recognized by the computer, and enabled.
>> >
>> > [If you want the backstory, here it is:
>> > I had to take the files on my external hard drive and temporarily store
>> > them
>> > in a PC, and I had no trouble doing that because when I connected the
>> > drive
>> > to the PC, it showed up, and I selected "open the folder" or something
>> > like
>> > that, and just copied and pasted the contents to the PC's internal hard
>> > drive. But now that I'm ready to transfer them back onto my external,
>> > I
>> > can't locate it (i.e. it's not showing up under Computer where all the
>> > drives
>> > and removable disks are listed). I know that the computer has
>> > recognized it,
>> > because it shows up in Device Manager. I just need to be able to open
>> > as if
>> > you're opening a folder so that I can put stuff back in it.]
>> >
>> > Any instructions on how I can find this drive will be greatly
>> > appreciated.
>> > I need to leave the country in two days with these contents on my
>> > external,
>> > so it's really important that I figure this out soon.
>> >
>> > Thanks a lot.

Thanks for your response. I know what the problem is. It HAS been formatted
on my Mac. So now my question is, how do I format it on the PC?

By the way, it's USB2/IEEE and I currently have it connected via firewire.

"RalfG" wrote:

> You would only need to format a drive that had not already been prepared
> beforehand, or a drive that has an existing format on it which is
> incompatible with Windows. As you guessed, if you do format the drive it
> will erase the current contents. I don't know what OS you were using the
> drive with but AFAIK only FAT32 format is fully compatible with both MAC and
> Windows (someone will correct me if I'm wrong) or Vista/XP and Win98/ME. If
> you haven't changed the format of the external drive since you used it last
> then it shouldn't be necessary to format it again.
>
> Assuming it's a USB drive, try changing the port that the drive is connected
> to. Try connecting and turning on the drive after the computer has booted.
> Connect the drive directly to the computer, not through an external hub. If
> the drive is USB powered make sure the auxiliary USB power cable is also
> connected or if there isn't one that at least no other high-power USB
> devices are connected to the same hub.
>
> "Aurora Stover" <> wrote in message
> news:60A47445-7ED8-48CE-96C1-...
> > And please tell me there are options besides formatting it, cos I have
> > files
> > on it...
> >
> > "Aurora Stover" wrote:
> >
> >> It seems that a lot of people have already written in the forums that you
> >> need to partition, format, and assign a letter to the drive, but the
> >> thing
> >> is, I didn't have to do any of that before. I was able to access the
> >> external hard drive and it showed up under Computer.
> >>
> >> "Aurora Stover" wrote:
> >>
> >> > This is a very basic question, but I'm a mac-user who's not very good
> >> > with
> >> > PC's, let alone Vista, so here goes:
> >> >
> >> > Long story short, I'm having trouble opening (?) an external hard
> >> > drive.
> >> > It's not showing up under Computer where all the drives and removable
> >> > disks
> >> > are listed, allowing you to open them and store things in them. I've
> >> > verified that it's turned on, recognized by the computer, and enabled.
> >> >
> >> > [If you want the backstory, here it is:
> >> > I had to take the files on my external hard drive and temporarily store
> >> > them
> >> > in a PC, and I had no trouble doing that because when I connected the
> >> > drive
> >> > to the PC, it showed up, and I selected "open the folder" or something
> >> > like
> >> > that, and just copied and pasted the contents to the PC's internal hard
> >> > drive. But now that I'm ready to transfer them back onto my external,
> >> > I
> >> > can't locate it (i.e. it's not showing up under Computer where all the
> >> > drives
> >> > and removable disks are listed). I know that the computer has
> >> > recognized it,
> >> > because it shows up in Device Manager. I just need to be able to open
> >> > as if
> >> > you're opening a folder so that I can put stuff back in it.]
> >> >
> >> > Any instructions on how I can find this drive will be greatly
> >> > appreciated.
> >> > I need to leave the country in two days with these contents on my
> >> > external,
> >> > so it's really important that I figure this out soon.
> >> >
> >> > Thanks a lot.
>

(When I right-click on it in Disk Management, "format" is greyed out. If I
right-click on the left pane, everything is greyed out, on the middle pane,
everything except "delete volume" is greyed out, and on the right pane,
everything except "new simple volume" is greyed out.)

"Aurora Stover" wrote:

> Thanks for your response. I know what the problem is. It HAS been formatted
> on my Mac. So now my question is, how do I format it on the PC?
>
> By the way, it's USB2/IEEE and I currently have it connected via firewire.
>
> "RalfG" wrote:
>
> > You would only need to format a drive that had not already been prepared
> > beforehand, or a drive that has an existing format on it which is
> > incompatible with Windows. As you guessed, if you do format the drive it
> > will erase the current contents. I don't know what OS you were using the
> > drive with but AFAIK only FAT32 format is fully compatible with both MAC and
> > Windows (someone will correct me if I'm wrong) or Vista/XP and Win98/ME. If
> > you haven't changed the format of the external drive since you used it last
> > then it shouldn't be necessary to format it again.
> >
> > Assuming it's a USB drive, try changing the port that the drive is connected
> > to. Try connecting and turning on the drive after the computer has booted.
> > Connect the drive directly to the computer, not through an external hub. If
> > the drive is USB powered make sure the auxiliary USB power cable is also
> > connected or if there isn't one that at least no other high-power USB
> > devices are connected to the same hub.
> >
> > "Aurora Stover" <> wrote in message
> > news:60A47445-7ED8-48CE-96C1-...
> > > And please tell me there are options besides formatting it, cos I have
> > > files
> > > on it...
> > >
> > > "Aurora Stover" wrote:
> > >
> > >> It seems that a lot of people have already written in the forums that you
> > >> need to partition, format, and assign a letter to the drive, but the
> > >> thing
> > >> is, I didn't have to do any of that before. I was able to access the
> > >> external hard drive and it showed up under Computer.
> > >>
> > >> "Aurora Stover" wrote:
> > >>
> > >> > This is a very basic question, but I'm a mac-user who's not very good
> > >> > with
> > >> > PC's, let alone Vista, so here goes:
> > >> >
> > >> > Long story short, I'm having trouble opening (?) an external hard
> > >> > drive.
> > >> > It's not showing up under Computer where all the drives and removable
> > >> > disks
> > >> > are listed, allowing you to open them and store things in them. I've
> > >> > verified that it's turned on, recognized by the computer, and enabled.
> > >> >
> > >> > [If you want the backstory, here it is:
> > >> > I had to take the files on my external hard drive and temporarily store
> > >> > them
> > >> > in a PC, and I had no trouble doing that because when I connected the
> > >> > drive
> > >> > to the PC, it showed up, and I selected "open the folder" or something
> > >> > like
> > >> > that, and just copied and pasted the contents to the PC's internal hard
> > >> > drive. But now that I'm ready to transfer them back onto my external,
> > >> > I
> > >> > can't locate it (i.e. it's not showing up under Computer where all the
> > >> > drives
> > >> > and removable disks are listed). I know that the computer has
> > >> > recognized it,
> > >> > because it shows up in Device Manager. I just need to be able to open
> > >> > as if
> > >> > you're opening a folder so that I can put stuff back in it.]
> > >> >
> > >> > Any instructions on how I can find this drive will be greatly
> > >> > appreciated.
> > >> > I need to leave the country in two days with these contents on my
> > >> > external,
> > >> > so it's really important that I figure this out soon.
> > >> >
> > >> > Thanks a lot.
> >

Choose "delete volume" and then you can create a new volume, assign a
letter, and format it.

"Aurora Stover" <> wrote in message
newsA880550-510A-4397-8F07-...
> (When I right-click on it in Disk Management, "format" is greyed out. If
> I
> right-click on the left pane, everything is greyed out, on the middle
> pane,
> everything except "delete volume" is greyed out, and on the right pane,
> everything except "new simple volume" is greyed out.)
>
> "Aurora Stover" wrote:
>
>> Thanks for your response. I know what the problem is. It HAS been
>> formatted
>> on my Mac. So now my question is, how do I format it on the PC?
>>
>> By the way, it's USB2/IEEE and I currently have it connected via
>> firewire.
>>
>> "RalfG" wrote:
>>
>> > You would only need to format a drive that had not already been
>> > prepared
>> > beforehand, or a drive that has an existing format on it which is
>> > incompatible with Windows. As you guessed, if you do format the drive
>> > it
>> > will erase the current contents. I don't know what OS you were using
>> > the
>> > drive with but AFAIK only FAT32 format is fully compatible with both
>> > MAC and
>> > Windows (someone will correct me if I'm wrong) or Vista/XP and
>> > Win98/ME. If
>> > you haven't changed the format of the external drive since you used it
>> > last
>> > then it shouldn't be necessary to format it again.
>> >
>> > Assuming it's a USB drive, try changing the port that the drive is
>> > connected
>> > to. Try connecting and turning on the drive after the computer has
>> > booted.
>> > Connect the drive directly to the computer, not through an external
>> > hub. If
>> > the drive is USB powered make sure the auxiliary USB power cable is
>> > also
>> > connected or if there isn't one that at least no other high-power USB
>> > devices are connected to the same hub.
>> >
>> > "Aurora Stover" <> wrote in
>> > message
>> > news:60A47445-7ED8-48CE-96C1-...
>> > > And please tell me there are options besides formatting it, cos I
>> > > have
>> > > files
>> > > on it...
>> > >
>> > > "Aurora Stover" wrote:
>> > >
>> > >> It seems that a lot of people have already written in the forums
>> > >> that you
>> > >> need to partition, format, and assign a letter to the drive, but the
>> > >> thing
>> > >> is, I didn't have to do any of that before. I was able to access
>> > >> the
>> > >> external hard drive and it showed up under Computer.
>> > >>
>> > >> "Aurora Stover" wrote:
>> > >>
>> > >> > This is a very basic question, but I'm a mac-user who's not very
>> > >> > good
>> > >> > with
>> > >> > PC's, let alone Vista, so here goes:
>> > >> >
>> > >> > Long story short, I'm having trouble opening (?) an external hard
>> > >> > drive.
>> > >> > It's not showing up under Computer where all the drives and
>> > >> > removable
>> > >> > disks
>> > >> > are listed, allowing you to open them and store things in them.
>> > >> > I've
>> > >> > verified that it's turned on, recognized by the computer, and
>> > >> > enabled.
>> > >> >
>> > >> > [If you want the backstory, here it is:
>> > >> > I had to take the files on my external hard drive and temporarily
>> > >> > store
>> > >> > them
>> > >> > in a PC, and I had no trouble doing that because when I connected
>> > >> > the
>> > >> > drive
>> > >> > to the PC, it showed up, and I selected "open the folder" or
>> > >> > something
>> > >> > like
>> > >> > that, and just copied and pasted the contents to the PC's internal
>> > >> > hard
>> > >> > drive. But now that I'm ready to transfer them back onto my
>> > >> > external,
>> > >> > I
>> > >> > can't locate it (i.e. it's not showing up under Computer where all
>> > >> > the
>> > >> > drives
>> > >> > and removable disks are listed). I know that the computer has
>> > >> > recognized it,
>> > >> > because it shows up in Device Manager. I just need to be able to
>> > >> > open
>> > >> > as if
>> > >> > you're opening a folder so that I can put stuff back in it.]
>> > >> >
>> > >> > Any instructions on how I can find this drive will be greatly
>> > >> > appreciated.
>> > >> > I need to leave the country in two days with these contents on my
>> > >> > external,
>> > >> > so it's really important that I figure this out soon.
>> > >> >
>> > >> > Thanks a lot.
>> >

Thanks. That worked.

"Colin Barnhorst" wrote:

> Choose "delete volume" and then you can create a new volume, assign a
> letter, and format it.
>

You're welcome.

"Aurora Stover" <> wrote in message
news:849BE829-9C5C-4546-B870-...
> Thanks. That worked.
>
> "Colin Barnhorst" wrote:
>
>> Choose "delete volume" and then you can create a new volume, assign a
>> letter, and format it.
>>
>