Computer Guys! Having trouble loading an External Hard drive

[Hugh R]

Upgrading to a new computer soon. I bought a Buffalo 250 GB external hardrive. I currently have Windows ME. I downloaded the driver from their website, unzipped it, went to "My Computer" right clicked and went through to load the driver, when I have shown the computer where the drive is, and click next, it freezes. Any other way to load a driver so the computer will see the external hard drive? Thanks to anyone who can help.

[stomachmonkey]

hmmm,

You should be able to just plug the drive in and Windows should recognize it.

Try it without installing the driver.

Scott

[Scott R]

Need some details on the laptop, given that it's running Windows ME it may be too old to install a newer type USB drive on it. If the drive is USB 2.0 only for instance, and the laptop is say an older Dell with only USB 1.0 you're going to have issues. Also there is the possibility that your system can't address the geometry on a drive of that size.

[Neilk]

try formatting a partition that is under 32gb??? See if that helps.

[stomachmonkey]

USB 2.0 drives are almost always 1.0 compliant.

Partition size is a good call.

Not that famliar with ME and it's partition limitations.

Does ME recognize NTFS or jsut FAT32? Could be a format issue?

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

USB 2.0 drives are almost always 1.0 compliant.

Partition size is a good call.

Not that famliar with ME and it's partition limitations.

Does ME recognize NTFS or jsut FAT32? Could be a format issue?

It's fat/fat 32 native and it can access NTFS via NFS. but I don't think it can locally. I also did a quick check on the Buffalo 250 before I posted, it's listed as USB 2.0 only on Newegg. Most of the newer SATA external enclosures are 2.0 now.

Here is the link on Buffalo Techs site as well:

http://www.buffalotech.com/products/external-drives/drivestation/drivestation-sata/

[stomachmonkey]

You bought the MiniStation?

It is USB 1.1, comes pre-formatted but their data sheet does not say what the format is.

Since it's 250 GB I am going to assume it's not FAT32 as FAT32 does not support partitions largest than 38 gb's. To use the full 250 it would have 6 32 gb partitions. Meaning it would show up as 6 discs, not one.

Just checked and ME does not support NTFS, only FAT partitions.

So it looks like you either need to upgrade to XP, (doubt the box will handle Vista) or create 6 32 gb partitions on the drive, (ugh).

http://www.ntfs.com/ntfs_vs_fat.htm

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Scott R

It's fat/fat 32 native and it can access NTFS via NFS. but I don't think it can locally. I also did a quick check on the Buffalo 250 before I posted, it's listed as USB 2.0 only on Newegg. Most of the newer SATA external enclosures are 2.0 now.

Here is the link on Buffalo Techs site as well:

http://www.buffalotech.com/products/external-drives/drivestation/drivestation-sata/

Actually it is 1.1 complaint. Dig deeper, download the data sheet or just check the comparison link.

http://www.buffalotech.com/comparison-charts/external-drives/drivestation/

I love Newegg, buy a lot of stuff from them but I NEVER trust retailor info, been burned by that before.

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by stomachmonkey

Actually it is 1.1 complaint. Dig deeper, download the data sheet or just check the comparison link.

http://www.buffalotech.com/comparison-charts/external-drives/drivestation/

I love Newegg, buy a lot of stuff from them but I NEVER trust retailor info, been burned by that before.

You're right! But how can he partition it if it locks up when he plugs it in? He can't use DELPART because the USB sub-system is not loaded under DOS in ME. He will need to attach it to a newer system, and create a 30GB or so FAT32 partition, it may work after that.

[Hugh R]

Thanks guys, its a desktop dell Insperion 8100. It found it originally, and tried to find a driver. The box it came in says its ME compatible. I'll look into these suggestions, but first I need to figure out what they mean. If I can't even get to see the external drive, how would I format it into 6-32 gig partitions? Is there any other way to drop the driver in? As I said, it freezes when I tell it to install the driver, and I cntrl, alt, del and the Task Manager says its not responding.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by Scott R

You're right! But how can he partition it if it locks up when he plugs it in? He can't use DELPART because the USB sub-system is not loaded under DOS in ME. He will need to attach it to a newer system, and create a 30GB or so FAT32 partition, it may work after that.

It locks when he tries to install the driver, not the drive itself. If it's NTFS formatted it won't show/be recognized with or without driver.

I would try using the system utility to format it just like any other drive.

[911pcars]

Just an observation; Mac and Windows OS.

Whenever connecting a peripheral to my computer, there are 1-2 full pages on instructions for Windows machines. To connect to a Mac, it's about a paragraph, if that. I've seen this on scanners, printers, monitors, mice and external drives (CD, DVD and hard drives).

I guess their are too many variations of Windows hardware to expect complete compatibility. Why can't they make USB or the next connector-type truly universal?

Sherwood

[stomachmonkey]

Don't have ME here but it should be somewhat similar to XP/95.

Start Menu/Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Storage/Disk Management

If the Disc shows up select it and reformat.

[stomachmonkey]

Originally Posted by 911pcars

Just an observation; Mac and Windows OS.

Whenever connecting a peripheral to my computer, there are 1-2 full pages on instructions for Windows machines. To connect to a Mac, it's about a paragraph, if that. I've seen this on scanners, printers, monitors, mice and external drives (CD, DVD and hard drives).

I guess their are too many variations of Windows hardware to expect complete compatibility. Why can't they make USB or the next connector-type truly universal?

Sherwood

Dude, been trying to avoid THAT discussion.

Hugh needs help with Windows so we don't want it to degrade into THAT argument.

But I hear you.

If it was a Mac Hugh would not be asking since Macs have always supported every partition format out there.

Funny to think the MacOS supports more Windows partition formats than some versions of Windows does.

Don't tell anyone but that screen shot in my previous post was taken on on my Mac running XP. Also have Vista and a couple of different Limux distros installed that I run from time to time.

[slodave]

Well, we could get into a discussion about how bad ME was between us Windows users

Most external drives that I have come across, are usually formated with fat32, so that they will be compatible with the windows relics.

As for ME freezing, Hugh, you may never get it working right under ME. Sorry.

[Neilk]

Hugh,

If you really want to have fun, wait until you get your new PC and network your ME box to your Vista box. That should be a LOT of fun!

Go to Maxtor.com and download Maxblast. Create a Boot CD or diskette and format your new drive. For now, just create 1 or 2 32Gb partitions and leave the rest unformatted.

[Scott R]

Originally Posted by slodave

Well, we could get into a discussion about how bad ME was between us Windows users

Most external drives that I have come across, are usually formated with fat32, so that they will be compatible with the windows relics.

As for ME freezing, Hugh, you may never get it working right under ME. Sorry.

This is true, ME was an abysmal failure.

[slodave]

Hugh, If you need any help, I am down the street (well, sort of) and would be willing to come out. If you need data transferred from the ME machine, I can help when you get your new one.

Dave

[stomachmonkey]

Dave rocks.

Always ready to help out.

[Joeaksa]

Originally Posted by Hugh R

Thanks guys, its a desktop dell Insperion 8100. It found it originally, and tried to find a driver. The box it came in says its ME compatible. I'll look into these suggestions, but first I need to figure out what they mean. If I can't even get to see the external drive, how would I format it into 6-32 gig partitions? Is there any other way to drop the driver in? As I said, it freezes when I tell it to install the driver, and I cntrl, alt, del and the Task Manager says its not responding.

Plug it into another computer, then partition it as needed then plug it back into your laptop.