Recognize new external hard drives.

[RedSword]

RedSword
31 October 2005
0810 Hrs.

SUBJECT:

Both computers will not recognize three external new hard drives.
How do I give these hard drives the values G:, H:, and I:?

Operating System being used:

Windows XP Professional, with SP#2.

Background Information:

I have two computers.
A. a Hewlett Packard tower.
B. a Gateway tower.

All six new external hard drives are hooked up
via three foot firewire cables.

Firewire cables are hooked up through ...
A. Hewlett Packard tower - three port Belkin PCI card.
B. Gateway tower - Startech front mounted 3 1/2 and PCI card combo setup.
(the firewire is hooked up through the 3 1/2 panel.)

Details about six external hard drives:

A. Hewlett Packard tower - 1st hard drive - windows xp pro, with sp#2.
2nd hard drive - windows xp pro, with sp#2.
3rd hard drive - unformatted, brand new.

B. Gateway tower - 1st hard drive - windows xp pro, with sp#2.
2nd hard drive - windows xp pro, with sp#2.
3rd hard dirve - windows xp pro, with sp#2.

What I already know:

1. Both computers indicate that
the Belkin firewire PCI card (Hewlett Packard tower),
and the Startech combo setup (Gateway tower)
the drivers are "Working Properly".

2. To resolve this problem I have to work through either ...

A. "My Computer" function,

B. or, "Control Panel" function.

Questions:

1. Could you give me detailed insturction on how to make my computers
recognize the three new external hard drives?

2. How do I give these external hard drives the values of G:, H:, and I:?

Thank You.

Awaiting your response.

RedSword.

[Panama Red]

The hard drives need to be formatted before they will be seen in My Computer. Use Disk Management to format them and name/rename the various partitions.

[jayb1234]

Also, you don't need to install windows on the external hard drives. 1 installation on the primary internal hard drive is all you need.

[Don Soriano]

Redsword:

I just connected a USB external Hardrive (WD 200G EIDE). As soon as I powered the unit, my computer (WINxp) detected it immediately. The drive appeared in the Device Hardware but not in the windows Explorer nor in My Computer. The User Manual stated that with XP I did not need the accompanying driver CD. so I went to the Disk Management and saw the drive but unlike the others installed, it listed it as "unspecified". I clickd on the box and clicked on Format. With the instructions which followed, I partitioned the 200G into four equal Gigs, assigned the ID letters to each partition, and lo and behold, the drive was labeled "Healthy". I was able to transfer files into any of the partitions right away.

Don