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HDD doesn't show up in OS...!

Forum Storage : Hard Disks - HDD doesn't show up in OS...!

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Pillefaxe   06-08-2008 at 05:06:40 AM

My new external HDD doesn't show up on Vista after I forgot to turn it on before boot (it used to work).

The external HDD is a Philips SPE3051CC - and the drive inside is a Seagate ST3500830SCE.

Is it a firmware problem? Is it the firmware on the Philips controller, or is it the actual drive? The box doesn't say it supports Vista, but it used to work?!?

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bc4   06-08-2008 at 05:28:53 AM
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Do you get any message like: "new hardware found" when you turn it on?

The Drive is usb plug and play and although is not officially supported should work with Vista.

Have you tried the drive with a different computer? Does it require a separate power supply? are you using it?

Can you get it to work by turning it on before boot?

Also, check device manager: You might find an error message there, but it should just be a generic mass storage usb device...

If it is with-in warranty, i'd ask for support from philips. If not, i'd pop it out of the case and try it internally.

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Pillefaxe   06-08-2008 at 05:39:01 AM
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I haven't had the chance to try it with an XP machine, but I'll do that tonight.

It worked out of the box (enough for me to backup a whole ton of stuff to it), but I always had turned it on before boot. One day I forgot (I have a ton of external stuff) and when I did it without rebooting it started spinning, clicking and stopping. And repeating. It's on external power.

And I can't try it internally, because my comp is a laptop.

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Pillefaxe   06-08-2008 at 05:42:42 AM
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Oh btw I didn't reformat it from FAT32 (which it is out of the box)... I seem to recall Vista having some FAT32 compatability issues?

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frozenlead   06-08-2008 at 05:43:04 AM
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You're going to need to try it internally. got a desktop machine someplace? maybe a friend?

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frozenlead   06-08-2008 at 05:44:00 AM
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My vista has no problem with FAT32. I run vista x64 though.

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Pillefaxe   06-08-2008 at 06:45:59 AM
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While it used to boot up smooth (with the new drive), the drive now won't let the startup go all the way. The minute you turn it off - it goes straight to the desktop. If you try to turn it on while already booted, it does show up in the device manager, but if you try to access it explorer crashes. That means you can't open folders that has a thumbnail from the drive, let alone the drive itself.

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frozenlead   06-08-2008 at 07:29:37 AM
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my cousin had some problems from an external hdd with vista. didn't show up at all. had to format it again to get it to work.

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Pillefaxe   06-09-2008 at 04:22:39 AM
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Ok I tried a bunch of things now.

On XP it still makes some unpleasant noises when trying to spin, and you can't access the drive. It doesn't crash Windows Explorer though, so that's a start. It comes up with no stats, it can't be formatted (using the Windows right click option) and it doesn't respond to anything but recognizing the unit.

It comes up as the seemingly dreaded "RAW" file format.

Seems like the old desktop I have has a fried video card, so I can't use that to test it internally btw... But I have a feeling RAW is the problem. If thats the only one. I'm gonna go ahead and try to run Recover My Files shortly.

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Pillefaxe   06-13-2008 at 02:40:49 AM
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Final update - I tried a ton of file-recovery gadgets and programs, and nothing comes up. I'm pretty sure it's fried. I went to the store and they sent it for repairs, but I have no expectations as to it coming back fixed. Oh well, all I had on there was movies anyways :-)

Thx for the replies

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