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External USB Drive has no drive letter?

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by shenanigins, 2005/07/12.

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  1. 2005/07/12
    shenanigins

    shenanigins Inactive Thread Starter

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    I just completed a clean install of Windows XP on my Dell computer, have installed all drivers for the system and completed all windows updates. When I plug in my external USB drive it doesn't appear as a logical drive, the way it should. Using disk management I find it appears as Disk 2 and has 115 gb of unallocated space. It won't allow me to assign a drive letter... my only option is to partition. This drive has ALL of my data on it, so I absolutely must be able to access it. Anyone have advice on what my next move should be?

    Thanks.
     
    shenanigins,
    #1
  2. 2005/07/12
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    Was it plugged in when you re-installed Windows?

    Do you have another pc you can test it on?

    Might start looking/searching for "Data Recovery. "
     
    Steve R Jones,
    #2


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  4. 2005/07/12
    shenanigins

    shenanigins Inactive Thread Starter

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    No, I unplugged it before I reinstalled Windows.
     
    shenanigins,
    #3
  5. 2005/07/12
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    Either the disk & data died or windows is incorrectly reading the drive (which it usualy doen't do)...

    Have you loaded all the updates for Windows?
     
    Steve R Jones,
    #4
  6. 2005/07/12
    shenanigins

    shenanigins Inactive Thread Starter

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    Yes, all windows updates are completed.
     
    shenanigins,
    #5
  7. 2005/07/12
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    Need to try it on another pc. If the results are the same you'll HAVE to look for Data Recovery Software. Can search this site or the internet for data recivery.
     
    Steve R Jones,
    #6
  8. 2005/07/14
    alc

    alc Inactive

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    I was going to tell you what I did when installing a hard drive in a USB enclosure and there was no drive letter assigned, but I just realized it involved possible partitioning and formatting of the hard drive and that won't work for you. Sorry.
     
    Last edited: 2005/07/14
    alc,
    #7
  9. 2005/07/14
    Welshjim

    Welshjim Inactive

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    shenanigins--Try starting from scratch. Uninstall the External Drive. Shut down. Unplug the Drive. Reboot. Now follow the instructions for installing the Drive, which may involve using the CD that came with the Drive and installing drivers.
    Is the drive now shown in My Computer?
     
    Welshjim,
    #8
  10. 2005/07/15
    shenanigins

    shenanigins Inactive Thread Starter

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    Actually, the drive is plug-n-play in Win XP so there is no uninstall process. I have succesfully recovered all the files, though, and have repartitioned the drive. All is well. Thanks very much for all the responses!

    Shannon
     
    shenanigins,
    #9
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