Vista won't recognize External Hard Drive

Hi - I'm on Vista Home Premium and I have a Maxtor One Touch II USB external
hard drive...

Vista does Not see or recognize the hard drive in 'My Computer', but it does
show up in the Device Manager and it shows that it is "working properly".

Is there a way I can rectify this so that the external drive shows up in 'My
Computer'? I have not had any problems with this drive during any of my
former Vista installs.

Many Thanks for any help,...Frank

Frank Bright wrote:

> Hi - I'm on Vista Home Premium and I have a Maxtor One Touch II USB
> external hard drive...
>
> Vista does Not see or recognize the hard drive in 'My Computer', but it
> does show up in the Device Manager and it shows that it is "working
> properly".
>
> Is there a way I can rectify this so that the external drive shows up in
> 'My Computer'? I have not had any problems with this drive during any of
> my former Vista installs.
>
> Many Thanks for any help,...Frank

Go to Start/Administrative tools/computer management/disk management and
right click on the drive and select "mark partition as active".
Frank

Ok, I have gone into Disk Management, but the only options I have on a
right-click is to do 'simple volume' or 'Convert to a GPT disk' or 'Convert
to Dynamic Disk'
and if I'm not mistaken, some of these will reformat my drive and I'll lose
all my data.

Many Thanks for any other suggestions, Frank





"Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
news:evRiCmLgHHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Frank Bright wrote:
>
>> Hi - I'm on Vista Home Premium and I have a Maxtor One Touch II USB
>> external hard drive...
>>
>> Vista does Not see or recognize the hard drive in 'My Computer', but it
>> does show up in the Device Manager and it shows that it is "working
>> properly".
>>
>> Is there a way I can rectify this so that the external drive shows up in
>> 'My Computer'? I have not had any problems with this drive during any of
>> my former Vista installs.
>>
>> Many Thanks for any help,...Frank
>
> Go to Start/Administrative tools/computer management/disk management and
> right click on the drive and select "mark partition as active".
> Frank

Frank Bright wrote:

> Ok, I have gone into Disk Management, but the only options I have on a
> right-click is to do 'simple volume' or 'Convert to a GPT disk' or
> 'Convert to Dynamic Disk'
> and if I'm not mistaken, some of these will reformat my drive and I'll
> lose all my data.
>
> Many Thanks for any other suggestions, Frank
>
>
>
>
>
> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
> news:evRiCmLgHHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>
>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>
>>> Hi - I'm on Vista Home Premium and I have a Maxtor One Touch II USB
>>> external hard drive...
>>>
>>> Vista does Not see or recognize the hard drive in 'My Computer', but
>>> it does show up in the Device Manager and it shows that it is
>>> "working properly".
>>>
>>> Is there a way I can rectify this so that the external drive shows up
>>> in 'My Computer'? I have not had any problems with this drive during
>>> any of my former Vista installs.
>>>
>>> Many Thanks for any help,...Frank
>>
>>
>> Go to Start/Administrative tools/computer management/disk management
>> and right click on the drive and select "mark partition as active".
>> Frank
>
>
You're right clicking on the part where it says "Disk 0, Disk 1, etc.
You need to right click on the long area next to that then you'll see
"mark partition active".
Frank

Actually I've right-clicked on both of those areas already but I'll try
again, Frank



"Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
news:%23x%23tbuPgHHA.1008@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
> Frank Bright wrote:
>
>> Ok, I have gone into Disk Management, but the only options I have on a
>> right-click is to do 'simple volume' or 'Convert to a GPT disk' or
>> 'Convert to Dynamic Disk'
>> and if I'm not mistaken, some of these will reformat my drive and I'll
>> lose all my data.
>>
>> Many Thanks for any other suggestions, Frank
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
>> news:evRiCmLgHHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>
>>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>>
>>>> Hi - I'm on Vista Home Premium and I have a Maxtor One Touch II USB
>>>> external hard drive...
>>>>
>>>> Vista does Not see or recognize the hard drive in 'My Computer', but it
>>>> does show up in the Device Manager and it shows that it is "working
>>>> properly".
>>>>
>>>> Is there a way I can rectify this so that the external drive shows up
>>>> in 'My Computer'? I have not had any problems with this drive during
>>>> any of my former Vista installs.
>>>>
>>>> Many Thanks for any help,...Frank
>>>
>>>
>>> Go to Start/Administrative tools/computer management/disk management and
>>> right click on the drive and select "mark partition as active".
>>> Frank
>>
>>
> You're right clicking on the part where it says "Disk 0, Disk 1, etc.
> You need to right click on the long area next to that then you'll see
> "mark partition active".
> Frank

Help! I'm stuck now. Ok, I actually tried the 'make simple volume' option
and then chose not to format the drive.

Then in the upper section, I WAS able to right-click it and choose ' Make
active partition'.

Now it shows up in 'My Computer' but it won't let me access the drive
without formatting it. Of course, I'd lose all my data if I did that. So I'm
stuck...

Please advise further if you can, Thanks, Frank





"Frank Bright" <Brightbelt@comcast.net> wrote in message
news:130DEB9F-C267-493A-A04C-7BE982372045@microsoft.com...
> Actually I've right-clicked on both of those areas already but I'll try
> again, Frank
>
>
>
> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
> news:%23x%23tbuPgHHA.1008@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>
>>> Ok, I have gone into Disk Management, but the only options I have on a
>>> right-click is to do 'simple volume' or 'Convert to a GPT disk' or
>>> 'Convert to Dynamic Disk'
>>> and if I'm not mistaken, some of these will reformat my drive and I'll
>>> lose all my data.
>>>
>>> Many Thanks for any other suggestions, Frank
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
>>> news:evRiCmLgHHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>
>>>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Hi - I'm on Vista Home Premium and I have a Maxtor One Touch II USB
>>>>> external hard drive...
>>>>>
>>>>> Vista does Not see or recognize the hard drive in 'My Computer', but
>>>>> it does show up in the Device Manager and it shows that it is "working
>>>>> properly".
>>>>>
>>>>> Is there a way I can rectify this so that the external drive shows up
>>>>> in 'My Computer'? I have not had any problems with this drive during
>>>>> any of my former Vista installs.
>>>>>
>>>>> Many Thanks for any help,...Frank
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> Go to Start/Administrative tools/computer management/disk management
>>>> and right click on the drive and select "mark partition as active".
>>>> Frank
>>>
>>>
>> You're right clicking on the part where it says "Disk 0, Disk 1, etc.
>> You need to right click on the long area next to that then you'll see
>> "mark partition active".
>> Frank
>

Frank Bright wrote:

> Help! I'm stuck now. Ok, I actually tried the 'make simple volume'
> option and then chose not to format the drive.
>
> Then in the upper section, I WAS able to right-click it and choose '
> Make active partition'.
>
> Now it shows up in 'My Computer' but it won't let me access the drive
> without formatting it. Of course, I'd lose all my data if I did that. So
> I'm stuck...
>
> Please advise further if you can, Thanks, Frank
>
>
>
>
>
> "Frank Bright" <Brightbelt@comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:130DEB9F-C267-493A-A04C-7BE982372045@microsoft.com...
>
>> Actually I've right-clicked on both of those areas already but I'll
>> try again, Frank
>>
>>
>>
>> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
>> news:%23x%23tbuPgHHA.1008@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>
>>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>>
>>>> Ok, I have gone into Disk Management, but the only options I have on
>>>> a right-click is to do 'simple volume' or 'Convert to a GPT disk' or
>>>> 'Convert to Dynamic Disk'
>>>> and if I'm not mistaken, some of these will reformat my drive and
>>>> I'll lose all my data.
>>>>
>>>> Many Thanks for any other suggestions, Frank
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
>>>> news:evRiCmLgHHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>>
>>>>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Hi - I'm on Vista Home Premium and I have a Maxtor One Touch II
>>>>>> USB external hard drive...
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Vista does Not see or recognize the hard drive in 'My Computer',
>>>>>> but it does show up in the Device Manager and it shows that it is
>>>>>> "working properly".
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Is there a way I can rectify this so that the external drive shows
>>>>>> up in 'My Computer'? I have not had any problems with this drive
>>>>>> during any of my former Vista installs.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Many Thanks for any help,...Frank
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> Go to Start/Administrative tools/computer management/disk
>>>>> management and right click on the drive and select "mark partition
>>>>> as active".
>>>>> Frank
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>> You're right clicking on the part where it says "Disk 0, Disk 1, etc.
>>> You need to right click on the long area next to that then you'll see
>>> "mark partition active".
>>> Frank
>>
>>
>
Hummm...not a good move. You might try unplugging it and then plugging
it into a different USB port.
Then go back into disk management a set it to active.
Frank

Yes I found out that this was a bad move....I'm currently doing a file
recovery demo with trial Seagate Recovery software to see what is
retrievable.

Apparently, I may have corrupted the partition somehow. But on the lighter
side, the Maxtor rep said that if what I first saw in Disk Management said
'Unallocated' (which is indeed what I first saw before I tried anything),
then the partition was probably already corrupted at that point.

Maybe she was trying to make me feel better...and it worked!
Frank



"Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
news:%23u3fm1QgHHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Frank Bright wrote:
>
>> Help! I'm stuck now. Ok, I actually tried the 'make simple volume' option
>> and then chose not to format the drive.
>>
>> Then in the upper section, I WAS able to right-click it and choose ' Make
>> active partition'.
>>
>> Now it shows up in 'My Computer' but it won't let me access the drive
>> without formatting it. Of course, I'd lose all my data if I did that. So
>> I'm stuck...
>>
>> Please advise further if you can, Thanks, Frank
>>
>>
>>
>>
>>
>> "Frank Bright" <Brightbelt@comcast.net> wrote in message
>> news:130DEB9F-C267-493A-A04C-7BE982372045@microsoft.com...
>>
>>> Actually I've right-clicked on both of those areas already but I'll try
>>> again, Frank
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
>>> news:%23x%23tbuPgHHA.1008@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>
>>>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>>>
>>>>> Ok, I have gone into Disk Management, but the only options I have on a
>>>>> right-click is to do 'simple volume' or 'Convert to a GPT disk' or
>>>>> 'Convert to Dynamic Disk'
>>>>> and if I'm not mistaken, some of these will reformat my drive and I'll
>>>>> lose all my data.
>>>>>
>>>>> Many Thanks for any other suggestions, Frank
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
>>>>> news:evRiCmLgHHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>>>
>>>>>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Hi - I'm on Vista Home Premium and I have a Maxtor One Touch II USB
>>>>>>> external hard drive...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Vista does Not see or recognize the hard drive in 'My Computer', but
>>>>>>> it does show up in the Device Manager and it shows that it is
>>>>>>> "working properly".
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Is there a way I can rectify this so that the external drive shows
>>>>>>> up in 'My Computer'? I have not had any problems with this drive
>>>>>>> during any of my former Vista installs.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Many Thanks for any help,...Frank
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Go to Start/Administrative tools/computer management/disk management
>>>>>> and right click on the drive and select "mark partition as active".
>>>>>> Frank
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>> You're right clicking on the part where it says "Disk 0, Disk 1, etc.
>>>> You need to right click on the long area next to that then you'll see
>>>> "mark partition active".
>>>> Frank
>>>
>>>
>>
> Hummm...not a good move. You might try unplugging it and then plugging it
> into a different USB port.
> Then go back into disk management a set it to active.
> Frank

Frank Bright wrote:

> Yes I found out that this was a bad move....I'm currently doing a file
> recovery demo with trial Seagate Recovery software to see what is
> retrievable.
>
> Apparently, I may have corrupted the partition somehow. But on the
> lighter side, the Maxtor rep said that if what I first saw in Disk
> Management said 'Unallocated' (which is indeed what I first saw before I
> tried anything), then the partition was probably already corrupted at
> that point.
>
> Maybe she was trying to make me feel better...and it worked!
> Frank
>
>
>
> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
> news:%23u3fm1QgHHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>
>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>
>>> Help! I'm stuck now. Ok, I actually tried the 'make simple volume'
>>> option and then chose not to format the drive.
>>>
>>> Then in the upper section, I WAS able to right-click it and choose '
>>> Make active partition'.
>>>
>>> Now it shows up in 'My Computer' but it won't let me access the drive
>>> without formatting it. Of course, I'd lose all my data if I did that.
>>> So I'm stuck...
>>>
>>> Please advise further if you can, Thanks, Frank
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>> "Frank Bright" <Brightbelt@comcast.net> wrote in message
>>> news:130DEB9F-C267-493A-A04C-7BE982372045@microsoft.com...
>>>
>>>> Actually I've right-clicked on both of those areas already but I'll
>>>> try again, Frank
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
>>>> news:%23x%23tbuPgHHA.1008@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>>
>>>>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>>>>
>>>>>> Ok, I have gone into Disk Management, but the only options I have
>>>>>> on a right-click is to do 'simple volume' or 'Convert to a GPT
>>>>>> disk' or 'Convert to Dynamic Disk'
>>>>>> and if I'm not mistaken, some of these will reformat my drive and
>>>>>> I'll lose all my data.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Many Thanks for any other suggestions, Frank
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
>>>>>> news:evRiCmLgHHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Hi - I'm on Vista Home Premium and I have a Maxtor One Touch II
>>>>>>>> USB external hard drive...
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Vista does Not see or recognize the hard drive in 'My Computer',
>>>>>>>> but it does show up in the Device Manager and it shows that it
>>>>>>>> is "working properly".
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Is there a way I can rectify this so that the external drive
>>>>>>>> shows up in 'My Computer'? I have not had any problems with this
>>>>>>>> drive during any of my former Vista installs.
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Many Thanks for any help,...Frank
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Go to Start/Administrative tools/computer management/disk
>>>>>>> management and right click on the drive and select "mark
>>>>>>> partition as active".
>>>>>>> Frank
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>> You're right clicking on the part where it says "Disk 0, Disk 1, etc.
>>>>> You need to right click on the long area next to that then you'll
>>>>> see "mark partition active".
>>>>> Frank
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>
>> Hummm...not a good move. You might try unplugging it and then plugging
>> it into a different USB port.
>> Then go back into disk management a set it to active.
>> Frank
>
>
lets us know how it all works out.
Frank

It looks like I've recovered my data, but it took purchasing a data recovery
program to do it.

One take on this is: It's a good thing to own a data recovery program, so
I'm better off for it.

But it's still slightly uncertain what really happened in this, although I
accept that it very well might have been my fault.

I've reformatted the drive successfully and am putting the data back on it,
so next I'll hook it up to my Vista computer and see if Vista recognizes the
drive this time.

Thanks, Frank


"Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
news:eOhRXCSgHHA.2640@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> Frank Bright wrote:
>
>> Yes I found out that this was a bad move....I'm currently doing a file
>> recovery demo with trial Seagate Recovery software to see what is
>> retrievable.
>>
>> Apparently, I may have corrupted the partition somehow. But on the
>> lighter side, the Maxtor rep said that if what I first saw in Disk
>> Management said 'Unallocated' (which is indeed what I first saw before I
>> tried anything), then the partition was probably already corrupted at
>> that point.
>>
>> Maybe she was trying to make me feel better...and it worked!
>> Frank
>>
>>
>>
>> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
>> news:%23u3fm1QgHHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>
>>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>>
>>>> Help! I'm stuck now. Ok, I actually tried the 'make simple volume'
>>>> option and then chose not to format the drive.
>>>>
>>>> Then in the upper section, I WAS able to right-click it and choose '
>>>> Make active partition'.
>>>>
>>>> Now it shows up in 'My Computer' but it won't let me access the drive
>>>> without formatting it. Of course, I'd lose all my data if I did that.
>>>> So I'm stuck...
>>>>
>>>> Please advise further if you can, Thanks, Frank
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>> "Frank Bright" <Brightbelt@comcast.net> wrote in message
>>>> news:130DEB9F-C267-493A-A04C-7BE982372045@microsoft.com...
>>>>
>>>>> Actually I've right-clicked on both of those areas already but I'll
>>>>> try again, Frank
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
>>>>> news:%23x%23tbuPgHHA.1008@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>>>
>>>>>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Ok, I have gone into Disk Management, but the only options I have on
>>>>>>> a right-click is to do 'simple volume' or 'Convert to a GPT disk' or
>>>>>>> 'Convert to Dynamic Disk'
>>>>>>> and if I'm not mistaken, some of these will reformat my drive and
>>>>>>> I'll lose all my data.
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> Many Thanks for any other suggestions, Frank
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>> "Frank" <fb@nospamm.cmm> wrote in message
>>>>>>> news:evRiCmLgHHA.1552@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Frank Bright wrote:
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Hi - I'm on Vista Home Premium and I have a Maxtor One Touch II
>>>>>>>>> USB external hard drive...
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Vista does Not see or recognize the hard drive in 'My Computer',
>>>>>>>>> but it does show up in the Device Manager and it shows that it is
>>>>>>>>> "working properly".
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Is there a way I can rectify this so that the external drive shows
>>>>>>>>> up in 'My Computer'? I have not had any problems with this drive
>>>>>>>>> during any of my former Vista installs.
>>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>> Many Thanks for any help,...Frank
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> Go to Start/Administrative tools/computer management/disk
>>>>>>>> management and right click on the drive and select "mark partition
>>>>>>>> as active".
>>>>>>>> Frank
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>
>>>>>> You're right clicking on the part where it says "Disk 0, Disk 1, etc.
>>>>>> You need to right click on the long area next to that then you'll see
>>>>>> "mark partition active".
>>>>>> Frank
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>>
>>> Hummm...not a good move. You might try unplugging it and then plugging
>>> it into a different USB port.
>>> Then go back into disk management a set it to active.
>>> Frank
>>
>>
> lets us know how it all works out.
> Frank