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Storage forum: USB Mass Storage Device Not Recognized Anymore

by: simpsycho November 7, 2005 2:03 PM PST

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USB Mass Storage Device Not Recognized Anymore

by simpsycho - 11/7/05 2:03 PM

Okay, so I recently had to reinstall Windows XP and the only thing that I haven't got working properly is my external hard drive. It's a 160 gig Maxtor. It shows up in the Device Manager, the Safely Remove Hardware and Disc Management but not My Computer. I've tried uninstalling the driver, it didn't work. I tried it on another computer, it worked so I removed all the data and formatted it, it still doesn't work. I removed all the USB devices and power sources, didn't work. I've tried it in the other USB port, didn't work. It's a USB 2.0 port. Frankly, I'm at my wits end here. I've got no idea what else to do. Anyone have any ideas?


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XP doesn't do 160GB until SP1

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/7/05 2:32 PM

In Reply to: USB Mass Storage Device Not Recognized Anymore by simpsycho

And it may not have motherboard drivers either. I don't see either in your post so it looks like you're not done installing XP.

Bob


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RE: XP doesn't do 160GB until SP1

by simpsycho - 11/7/05 2:48 PM

In Reply to: XP doesn't do 160GB until SP1 by R. Proffitt Moderator

I've run Windows Update, so those things should be taken care of, right?


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Maybe.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/7/05 2:56 PM

In Reply to: RE: XP doesn't do 160GB until SP1 by simpsycho

You'll have to check. At least we know 2 reasons it shouldn't work.

Bob


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Okay...

by simpsycho - 11/7/05 3:12 PM

In Reply to: Maybe. by R. Proffitt Moderator

I've got SP2 but I'm not quite sure what I'm supposed to be checking for the motherboard driver. I know it's in the device manager, but I'm not sure under what.


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Here's how to find out.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/7/05 3:26 PM

In Reply to: Okay... by simpsycho

If you can reveal the make and model of the machine I could guess if Microsoft would pick passable drivers. The basic answer is if you have a non-Intel chipset, you need to install the motherboard drivers. Microsoft does not do this for us.

Bob


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Make and Model

by simpsycho - 11/7/05 3:49 PM

In Reply to: Here's how to find out. by R. Proffitt Moderator

It's an IBM Thinkpad T43. It's got an Intel processor too.


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That helps, Now install from the restore CDs.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/7/05 3:58 PM

In Reply to: Make and Model by simpsycho

A stock from microsoft CD will be missing drivers specific to the needs of this laptop. Some will try to install XP Pro clean. But learn that Microsoft will not fetch drivers for us.

My workaround if I don't have the day to find the drivers is to install the XP OS that came with the machine and then upgrade it to Pro.

Just one comment. Please don't dole out the details. This is your 3rd post and only now you reveal the make. Now the rest of the story could help.

Bob


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Sorry about that...

by simpsycho - 11/7/05 4:08 PM

In Reply to: That helps, Now install from the restore CDs. by R. Proffitt Moderator

Sorry, I'm not real proficient at all this. Ok, so I don't have a Windows XP cd, what I installed it from was a set of six recovery CDs that I got from IBM. And I appearently have Pro. That one's news to me.

Again, sorry.


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That's helpful.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/7/05 6:19 PM

In Reply to: Sorry about that... by simpsycho

Since you used the recovery CDs, the drivers should be fine. Were the recovery CDs marked XP SP2? Pro?

Now see if the drive shows up in the DRIVE MANAGEMENT (start, help and support). What does it report?

Bob


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Disk Management?

by simpsycho - 11/7/05 6:53 PM

In Reply to: That's helpful. by R. Proffitt Moderator

Do you mean Disk Management? If so, it shows up as Active(Healthy). And the disks are marked Windows XP Pro - SP2.


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Since it's active and healthy, try...

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/7/05 7:15 PM

In Reply to: Disk Management? by simpsycho

Find the drive letter assigned, then open a CMD window (start,run, CMD) and CHKDSK that drive letter.

It's also possible the drive letter is HIDDEN from explorer. The tool I use to check that is TWEAKUI found with google.com

Bob


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This is interesting...

by simpsycho - 11/7/05 8:17 PM

In Reply to: Since it's active and healthy, try... by R. Proffitt Moderator

I went into Disk Management to check what the drive letter was and while I was there I right clicked on the drive and clicked Open. I had tried this before to no success but this time it worked. It still doesn't show up in my computer though.

When I ran CHKDSK, the CMD window popped up very briefly then disappeared. I put in chkdsk [d:], is that right?

And according to TweakUI, it's not blocked.


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Also....

by simpsycho - 11/7/05 8:23 PM

In Reply to: USB Mass Storage Device Not Recognized Anymore by simpsycho

Also, everytime I restart the computer I have to reassign a Letter to the drive. Only after that can I open it.


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While you can open it.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/8/05 4:26 AM

In Reply to: Also.... by simpsycho

CHKDSK that drive letter.

If that doesn't clear it up...

Copy the contents out, then use disk management to remove the parition there, create it new and format the drive.

Copy the files back in.

What happens?

Bob


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Not good...

by simpsycho - 11/8/05 7:21 AM

In Reply to: While you can open it. by R. Proffitt Moderator

I deleted the partion and tried to make a new one and I got this message "The operation did not complete because the partition or volume is not enabled. To enable the partition or volume, restart the computer." I restarted it several times and I get the same message every time.


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Sounds like some hardware is failing.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/8/05 7:28 AM

In Reply to: Not good... by simpsycho

How's the warranty on this unit?

In another discussion the Maxtor owners find that changing the housing helps. Cheap fix for some.

Bob


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But...

by simpsycho - 11/8/05 7:56 AM

In Reply to: Sounds like some hardware is failing. by R. Proffitt Moderator

I was thinking that was the problem as well, so just to check I tried to do the same thing on another computer and it worked perfectly. Unfortuantly, it didn't improve my situation on this computer at all.


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XP repairs.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/8/05 8:10 AM

In Reply to: But... by simpsycho

That leads us to XP repairs and of course spyware scans.

1. Have the XP CD handy and run IEFIX from google.com

2. Scan the machine with EWIDO from download.com

-> I forget one basic item. The USB 2.0 cable must be ... an USB 2.0 cable.

I ran into some real oddball behaviour when I had some USB 1.1 cable on a hard disk.

In closing, I also ran into USB hard disk issue prior to XP SP2. For instance, CHKDSK would not function.

Bob


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Nothing

by simpsycho - 11/9/05 6:31 PM

In Reply to: XP repairs. by R. Proffitt Moderator

Neither of those did anything. I found that when I go to the properties of the drive, it says the file system is RAW. I don't know if that means anything though.


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Here's some articles on recovery.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/9/05 6:47 PM

In Reply to: Nothing by simpsycho

Your last post is telling me that your OS is repaired and if you do have SP2 installed you move onto DATA RECOVERY. Here's google on RAW.

http://www.google.com/search?q=file+system+is+RAW

The 2nd or 3rd links note the issue.

Bob


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I don't have any data to recover...

by simpsycho - 11/10/05 9:28 AM

In Reply to: Here's some articles on recovery. by R. Proffitt Moderator

I already got all the data I need off of it, so do I need to worry about data recovery?


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Then go ahead, re-partition and reformat.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/10/05 9:48 AM

In Reply to: I don't have any data to recover... by simpsycho

Why not?


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I can't though...

by simpsycho - 11/10/05 10:10 AM

In Reply to: Then go ahead, re-partition and reformat. by R. Proffitt Moderator

I've tried re-partitioning it on this computer and it never works. It always says that the drive is not enabled and to enable it I should restart my computer, but it doesn't do anything when I restart the computer.


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What I would do.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/10/05 10:32 AM

In Reply to: I can't though... by simpsycho

1. Have your XP CD handy and run IEFIX (google.com) While we are not worried about IE, this tool fixes up many small issues.

2. This should fix up any corrupted SP1 or SP2 file too.

3. I gotta ask this. Did any Sony Music CD ever get into the machine? Type Sony ROOTKIT into google.com to see what I ask. This rootkit can affect more than CD/DVD players.

4. After 1,2,3 I would find and reinstall the latest motherboard driver package.

5. You did try this when logged on as Administrator?

Best of luck,

Bob

PS. And do try another USB 2.0 cable.


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What if a Sony CD was used?

by simpsycho - 11/10/05 11:48 AM

In Reply to: USB Mass Storage Device Not Recognized Anymore by simpsycho

How would I go about fixing it if a Sony CD had been used? I don't use CD's all that often but I suppose it's a possibility and frankly, it's about all I have left as none of your other suggestions seem to fix the problem.


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Ouch.

by R. Proffitt Moderator - 11/10/05 1:02 PM

In Reply to: What if a Sony CD was used? by simpsycho

Something is amiss. I can't see how this could still be a problem if we did all those procedures.

Type into google.com SONY ROOTKIT and the first few discussions note the issue and can lead you to an uninstaller.

Bob


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