Has anyone having trouble with this also?

[iworld63]

Just bought a adapter kit on eBay to connect my 2.5" PATA Dell D-610 laptop to a 3.5" IDE Western Digital 160GB hard drive mounted externally via USB. The WD shows in Device Manager, but no designation of it being present shows in My Computer as with my flash drive, WD 1TB external HD, etc.... Contacted vendor, and they send me to UpDown for driver, which in kit description said "was not necessary" if using XP O/S, which I am using. Anyway, I go along with their suggestion to download the driver. Problem is the driver is for Win98 only. Vendor is from another country. Here lies the problem! Language barrier as usual. They love to do business in the US, but they've got alot more to learn! Anyone have a solution to get this to work?
Thanks in advance for any input you may have,
Destiny Marketer (iworld63)

 

[Onus]

Can you see the drive in Computer Management / Disk Management? It may need to be partitioned and formatted before you can use it.

 

[iworld63]

Thanks for such a quick reply. Gee, I only joined within the last hour. It shows in (new WD 160GB IDE drive) Device Manager. Tried to updates its driver, but that said drive was ok, and I had the best driver already installed. I'm an internet marketer full-time since 1995, but still very light on the tech stuff even though I've done extremely well as a IM. Maybe it has to run as a slave to the internal 40GB laptop HD? Am I on the right track thinking this way? I guess I should go to Bios, and check what's showing there? Good idea?
I'm totally confused with nthis stuff. Making money online is my strong point, but the tech stuff really still baffles me daily,
Russell (iworld63)

 

[Onus]

No, not Device Manager...right click "Computer" ("My Computer" in XP) and choose "Manage." Then go to Storage, and Disk Management. That's where you can partition and format a new drive.

 

[iworld63]

Yep, I see it! Says "unallocated". I'm learning neat stuff. Like myself, I love to help people. Nobody knows it all, Some are great at tech, others at marketing, graphics, etc.... For me, its marketing and making a living online. Therefore I have to go to programmers, etc... The CEO of GM doesn't turn wrenches. Its the same in IT. Very few can do it all. My respect goes out to those that can. I just did a online seminar with a IM that makes a whole pile of cash, yet he readily admits that he types one finger at a time, can't build a website, and basically is non-tech, yet he's great at marketing. That's who I am as well. Plus, I'm in a RV on wifi right now in FL. Its not the same as a good old home office set up right.
So now I got to do something about the "unallocated", right?

 

[iworld63]

Ok jtt283: Got it working perfect! Yup, it needed to be formatted. The drive had been wiped, but it needed formatting. I did slow rather than the fast format. It works CADILLAC! I know d-610 states you can only use up to a 160GB HD, but as this is USB with its own AC power supply adapter, could I go over the 160GB on the next one? My 1TB WD external HD works fine off this same laptop via USB and its own AC power supply.
Ok, you made it great learning day for me! If I can ever do anything for you, just PM me. You need some apps? I got a lotta stuff!
We'll talk soon again I hope,
Russell

 

[Onus]

Glad I could help! The 160GB is probably the largest internal drive Dell sells for that unit (probably old IDE too). You should be able to use up to 2TB externally; maybe larger with drivers, but possibly not.

 

[iworld63]

Jtt283: Well, the next one I'll try will be about 300GB or so. Off shoot > Just bought (5) more laptops this week online. Won them pretty cheap in auctions. All Dells. Really like my c840 Dell. Its bigger screen, and a bit heavier unit, but for my use (non transporting) its fine as a desktop. The c840's go even less higher for ram total ( I hear 1000GB or in the 1200's) than the d610 which is 2048GB maximum. That's a bit of a bummer for the c840. It was tops in business class in its day. Many of them ran win 2000, but the (2) I bought have XP. I still have Win2000. Use to love it in its day. My most favorite OS in its time was Win98 2nd edition. I sold software for 4 years in those days for a living, and really had a huge business that was hard for me alone to keep up with. Now there's alot of digital downloads. Back then it was pack & ship cd's. Anyway I'll have (3) c840's now. I picked up (2) d810's also. Never had one so far. Little bigger screen than d-610. For IM'ing these laptops suit me fine. They do everything I need. I see there's 182 reads on this thread. After I try the next internal ide as an external for the c-840 and d-810 dells I'll post here in case anyone else is interested in the info. Another thing is that you can buy the 3.5 desktop ide internal drives alot cheaper than the smaller Dell internals normally used in the model Dell's I refer to. I bought a 160GB Western Digital 7200RPM for $20.00, put it in a plastic pencil school box and lifted HD off the bottom for air circulation (plastic bottle caps worked great to lift it up a bit), then I hooked that adapter rig I told you about for $7.09 delivered price, and BINGO I have a 160GB HD for cheap money > under $30.00 Works like a champ!
Thanks again for your help,
Russ