Vista won't reconize external hard drive

So I just got a new computer, a HP Pavilion running Vista, and I have a
older hard drive that I want to copy data from. The hard drive came from
a system running XP. It's a older hard drive, a Seagate 80 gig IDE
connector hard drive, so I went out and bought a external hard drive
device bay -- you just put the hard drive into it and then plug it into
a USB port on my computer.

If I plug it in, all that happens is every 10 seconds I get a pop up a
message saying:

"You need to format the disk in Drive J before you can use it. Do you
want to format it?"

Of course I don't want to format it, I'd lose the data I'm trying to
copy!

If I click cancel it just keeps bugging me about it and I can't access
the HD.

HP wants $60 for a tech support call for this.

Help! How do I copy my data over?


--
SoulBlazer

 

"undisclosed" wrote in message
news:4e48f0dd48dd9e19dcf460b72ac653ee@nntp-gateway.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>
> So I just got a new computer, a HP Pavilion running Vista, and I have a
> older hard drive that I want to copy data from. The hard drive came from
> a system running XP. It's a older hard drive, a Seagate 80 gig IDE
> connector hard drive, so I went out and bought a external hard drive
> device bay -- you just put the hard drive into it and then plug it into
> a USB port on my computer.
>
> If I plug it in, all that happens is every 10 seconds I get a pop up a
> message saying:
>
> "You need to format the disk in Drive J before you can use it. Do you
> want to format it?"
>
> Of course I don't want to format it, I'd lose the data I'm trying to
> copy!
>
> If I click cancel it just keeps bugging me about it and I can't access
> the HD.
>
> HP wants $60 for a tech support call for this.
>
> Help! How do I copy my data over?
>
>
> --
> SoulBlazer<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

Try setting the external drive jumpers to CABLE SELECT (CS)..

--

Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience

 

"undisclosed" wrote in message
news:4e48f0dd48dd9e19dcf460b72ac653ee@nntp-gateway.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>
> So I just got a new computer, a HP Pavilion running Vista, and I have a
> older hard drive that I want to copy data from. The hard drive came from
> a system running XP. It's a older hard drive, a Seagate 80 gig IDE
> connector hard drive, so I went out and bought a external hard drive
> device bay -- you just put the hard drive into it and then plug it into
> a USB port on my computer.
>
> If I plug it in, all that happens is every 10 seconds I get a pop up a
> message saying:
>
> "You need to format the disk in Drive J before you can use it. Do you
> want to format it?"
>
> Of course I don't want to format it, I'd lose the data I'm trying to
> copy!
>
> If I click cancel it just keeps bugging me about it and I can't access
> the HD.
>
> HP wants $60 for a tech support call for this.
>
> Help! How do I copy my data over?
>
>
> --
> SoulBlazer<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->



It is not as easy as just installing the old drive into an external
enclosure.

Did you read the instructions and set the drive jumpers correctly? Did the
enclosure come with a CD that installs drivers so that the drive can be
accessed? Did you install the drivers? Does the external drive have a power
supply and are you using it? Did you try to plug the drive enclosure into
another USB port?

--

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP
Windows Desktop Experience

 

"undisclosed" wrote in message
news:4e48f0dd48dd9e19dcf460b72ac653ee@nntp-gateway.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>
> So I just got a new computer, a HP Pavilion running Vista, and I have a
> older hard drive that I want to copy data from. The hard drive came from
> a system running XP. It's a older hard drive, a Seagate 80 gig IDE
> connector hard drive, so I went out and bought a external hard drive
> device bay -- you just put the hard drive into it and then plug it into
> a USB port on my computer.
>
> If I plug it in, all that happens is every 10 seconds I get a pop up a
> message saying:
>
> "You need to format the disk in Drive J before you can use it. Do you
> want to format it?"
>
> Of course I don't want to format it, I'd lose the data I'm trying to
> copy!
>
> If I click cancel it just keeps bugging me about it and I can't access
> the HD.
>
> HP wants $60 for a tech support call for this.
>
> Help! How do I copy my data over?
>
>
> -- undisclosed-- I have similar project. Old Seagate HD removed from<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
my old computer running XP. If you find a solution, please post how you
did it and also what brand external bay device you used. Thanks.
lobem.

 

undisclosed wrote:<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> So I just got a new computer, a HP Pavilion running Vista, and I have a
> older hard drive that I want to copy data from. The hard drive came from
> a system running XP. It's a older hard drive, a Seagate 80 gig IDE
> connector hard drive, so I went out and bought a external hard drive
> device bay -- you just put the hard drive into it and then plug it into
> a USB port on my computer.
>
> If I plug it in, all that happens is every 10 seconds I get a pop up a
> message saying:
>
> "You need to format the disk in Drive J before you can use it. Do you
> want to format it?"
>
> Of course I don't want to format it, I'd lose the data I'm trying to
> copy!
>
> If I click cancel it just keeps bugging me about it and I can't access
> the HD.
>
> HP wants $60 for a tech support call for this.
>
> Help! How do I copy my data over?
>
> <!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->


If (as others have suggested) you make sure it's jumpered correctly

then it appears I am not the only one having a similar problem.

(I posted a similar question here and there was no solution, though I
got a lot of good help)


If you cannot get Vista to read the drive

pop it back in the original machine and just network the two
and copy the data over that way

 

On 9/21/09, the entity philo wrote this:<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> undisclosed wrote:<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
>> So I just got a new computer, a HP Pavilion running Vista, and I have a
>> older hard drive that I want to copy data from. The hard drive came from
>> a system running XP. It's a older hard drive, a Seagate 80 gig IDE
>> connector hard drive, so I went out and bought a external hard drive
>> device bay -- you just put the hard drive into it and then plug it into
>> a USB port on my computer.
>>
>> If I plug it in, all that happens is every 10 seconds I get a pop up a
>> message saying:
>>
>> "You need to format the disk in Drive J before you can use it. Do you
>> want to format it?"
>>
>> Of course I don't want to format it, I'd lose the data I'm trying to
>> copy!
>>
>> If I click cancel it just keeps bugging me about it and I can't access
>> the HD.
>>
>> HP wants $60 for a tech support call for this.
>>
>> Help! How do I copy my data over?
>>
>> <!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> If (as others have suggested) you make sure it's jumpered correctly<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> then it appears I am not the only one having a similar problem.<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> (I posted a similar question here and there was no solution, though I got a
> lot of good help)<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> If you cannot get Vista to read the drive<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> pop it back in the original machine and just network the two
> and copy the data over that way<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

I must say that the new post gave me a sense of deja vu :-(

It's beginning to look like a Vista bug...

--
Gene Bloch 650.366.4267 lettersatblochg.com

 

"Gene E. Bloch" <letters@someplace.invalid> wrote in message
news:#VxWRHvOKHA.1232@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> On 9/21/09, the entity philo wrote this:<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
>> undisclosed wrote:<!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
>>> So I just got a new computer, a HP Pavilion running Vista, and I have a
>>> older hard drive that I want to copy data from. The hard drive came from
>>> a system running XP. It's a older hard drive, a Seagate 80 gig IDE
>>> connector hard drive, so I went out and bought a external hard drive
>>> device bay -- you just put the hard drive into it and then plug it into
>>> a USB port on my computer.
>>>
>>> If I plug it in, all that happens is every 10 seconds I get a pop up a
>>> message saying:
>>>
>>> "You need to format the disk in Drive J before you can use it. Do you
>>> want to format it?"
>>>
>>> Of course I don't want to format it, I'd lose the data I'm trying to
>>> copy!
>>>
>>> If I click cancel it just keeps bugging me about it and I can't access
>>> the HD.
>>>
>>> HP wants $60 for a tech support call for this.
>>>
>>> Help! How do I copy my data over?
>>>
>>><!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>
><!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
>> If (as others have suggested) you make sure it's jumpered correctly<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
><!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
>> then it appears I am not the only one having a similar problem.<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
><!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
>> (I posted a similar question here and there was no solution, though I got
>> a lot of good help)<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>
><!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
>> If you cannot get Vista to read the drive<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
><!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
>> pop it back in the original machine and just network the two
>> and copy the data over that way<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>
> I must say that the new post gave me a sense of deja vu :-(
>
> It's beginning to look like a Vista bug...
>
> --
> Gene Bloch 650.366.4267 lettersatblochg.com
>
><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

I had the same problem and jumpered it to CS. Thereafter, I had no problems.

--

Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience

 

On 9/21/09, the entity Mike Hall - MVP wrote this:<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> "Gene E. Bloch" <letters@someplace.invalid> wrote in message
> news:#VxWRHvOKHA.1232@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
>> On 9/21/09, the entity philo wrote this:<!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
>>> undisclosed wrote:
>>>> So I just got a new computer, a HP Pavilion running Vista, and I have a
>>>> older hard drive that I want to copy data from. The hard drive came from
>>>> a system running XP. It's a older hard drive, a Seagate 80 gig IDE
>>>> connector hard drive, so I went out and bought a external hard drive
>>>> device bay -- you just put the hard drive into it and then plug it into
>>>> a USB port on my computer.
>>>>
>>>> If I plug it in, all that happens is every 10 seconds I get a pop up a
>>>> message saying:
>>>>
>>>> "You need to format the disk in Drive J before you can use it. Do you
>>>> want to format it?"
>>>>
>>>> Of course I don't want to format it, I'd lose the data I'm trying to
>>>> copy!
>>>>
>>>> If I click cancel it just keeps bugging me about it and I can't access
>>>> the HD.
>>>>
>>>> HP wants $60 for a tech support call for this.
>>>>
>>>> Help! How do I copy my data over?
>>>>
>>>><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>>
>><!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
>>> If (as others have suggested) you make sure it's jumpered correctly<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>><!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
>>> then it appears I am not the only one having a similar problem.<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>><!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
>>> (I posted a similar question here and there was no solution, though I got
>>> a lot of good help)<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>>
>><!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
>>> If you cannot get Vista to read the drive<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>><!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
>>> pop it back in the original machine and just network the two
>>> and copy the data over that way<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>>
>> I must say that the new post gave me a sense of deja vu :-(
>>
>> It's beginning to look like a Vista bug...
>>
>> -- Gene Bloch 650.366.4267 lettersatblochg.com
>>
>><!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> I had the same problem and jumpered it to CS. Thereafter, I had no problems.<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

Yes, this thread is about an IDE drive...

That ruins my deja vu, however, since the other thread (philo's) was an
eSATA, IIRC, so he won't be changing the jumper.

Also - I suspect (from experience) that different IDE enclosures have
different requirements with respect to jumpers. Some require CS, others
Master, others no jumpers, and others don't care. Oy.

--
Gene Bloch 650.366.4267 lettersatblochg.com

 

"Gene E. Bloch" <letters@someplace.invalid> wrote in message
news:uPcEPDwOKHA.388@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> On 9/21/09, the entity Mike Hall - MVP wrote this:<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
>> "Gene E. Bloch" <letters@someplace.invalid> wrote in message
>> news:#VxWRHvOKHA.1232@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
>>> On 9/21/09, the entity philo wrote this:
>>>> undisclosed wrote:
>>>>> So I just got a new computer, a HP Pavilion running Vista, and I have
>>>>> a
>>>>> older hard drive that I want to copy data from. The hard drive came
>>>>> from
>>>>> a system running XP. It's a older hard drive, a Seagate 80 gig IDE
>>>>> connector hard drive, so I went out and bought a external hard drive
>>>>> device bay -- you just put the hard drive into it and then plug it
>>>>> into
>>>>> a USB port on my computer.
>>>>>
>>>>> If I plug it in, all that happens is every 10 seconds I get a pop up a
>>>>> message saying:
>>>>>
>>>>> "You need to format the disk in Drive J before you can use it. Do you
>>>>> want to format it?"
>>>>>
>>>>> Of course I don't want to format it, I'd lose the data I'm trying to
>>>>> copy!
>>>>>
>>>>> If I click cancel it just keeps bugging me about it and I can't access
>>>>> the HD.
>>>>>
>>>>> HP wants $60 for a tech support call for this.
>>>>>
>>>>> Help! How do I copy my data over?
>>>>>
>>>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>> If (as others have suggested) you make sure it's jumpered correctly
>>>
>>>> then it appears I am not the only one having a similar problem.
>>>
>>>> (I posted a similar question here and there was no solution, though I
>>>> got a lot of good help)
>>>
>>>
>>>> If you cannot get Vista to read the drive
>>>
>>>> pop it back in the original machine and just network the two
>>>> and copy the data over that way
>>>
>>> I must say that the new post gave me a sense of deja vu :-(
>>>
>>> It's beginning to look like a Vista bug...
>>>
>>> -- Gene Bloch 650.366.4267 lettersatblochg.com
>>>
>>><!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
><!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
>> I had the same problem and jumpered it to CS. Thereafter, I had no
>> problems.<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>
> Yes, this thread is about an IDE drive...
>
> That ruins my deja vu, however, since the other thread (philo's) was an
> eSATA, IIRC, so he won't be changing the jumper.
>
> Also - I suspect (from experience) that different IDE enclosures have
> different requirements with respect to jumpers. Some require CS, others
> Master, others no jumpers, and others don't care. Oy.
>
> --
> Gene Bloch 650.366.4267 lettersatblochg.com
>
><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

It is a Nexxstar that I have.. worked in XP and Vista 32-bit set as master..
Vista 64 didn't want to know it until I set it as CS.. same enclosure..

--

Mike Hall - MVP Windows Experience

 

On 9/21/09, the entity Mike Hall - MVP wrote this:<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> "Gene E. Bloch" <letters@someplace.invalid> wrote in message
> news:uPcEPDwOKHA.388@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...<!--coloro:green--><span style="color:green <!--/coloro-->
>> On 9/21/09, the entity Mike Hall - MVP wrote this:<!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
>>> "Gene E. Bloch" <letters@someplace.invalid> wrote in message
>>> news:#VxWRHvOKHA.1232@TK2MSFTNGP05.phx.gbl...
>>>> On 9/21/09, the entity philo wrote this:
>>>>> undisclosed wrote:
>>>>>> So I just got a new computer, a HP Pavilion running Vista, and I have a
>>>>>> older hard drive that I want to copy data from. The hard drive came
>>>>>> from
>>>>>> a system running XP. It's a older hard drive, a Seagate 80 gig IDE
>>>>>> connector hard drive, so I went out and bought a external hard drive
>>>>>> device bay -- you just put the hard drive into it and then plug it into
>>>>>> a USB port on my computer.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If I plug it in, all that happens is every 10 seconds I get a pop up a
>>>>>> message saying:
>>>>>>
>>>>>> "You need to format the disk in Drive J before you can use it. Do you
>>>>>> want to format it?"
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Of course I don't want to format it, I'd lose the data I'm trying to
>>>>>> copy!
>>>>>>
>>>>>> If I click cancel it just keeps bugging me about it and I can't access
>>>>>> the HD.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> HP wants $60 for a tech support call for this.
>>>>>>
>>>>>> Help! How do I copy my data over?
>>>>>>
>>>>>>
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> If (as others have suggested) you make sure it's jumpered correctly
>>>>
>>>>> then it appears I am not the only one having a similar problem.
>>>>
>>>>> (I posted a similar question here and there was no solution, though I
>>>>> got a lot of good help)
>>>>
>>>>
>>>>> If you cannot get Vista to read the drive
>>>>
>>>>> pop it back in the original machine and just network the two
>>>>> and copy the data over that way
>>>>
>>>> I must say that the new post gave me a sense of deja vu :-(
>>>>
>>>> It's beginning to look like a Vista bug...
>>>>
>>>> -- Gene Bloch 650.366.4267 lettersatblochg.com
>>>>
>>>><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>><!--coloro:darkred--><span style="color:darkred <!--/coloro-->
>>> I had the same problem and jumpered it to CS. Thereafter, I had no
>>> problems.<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
>>
>> Yes, this thread is about an IDE drive...
>>
>> That ruins my deja vu, however, since the other thread (philo's) was an
>> eSATA, IIRC, so he won't be changing the jumper.
>>
>> Also - I suspect (from experience) that different IDE enclosures have
>> different requirements with respect to jumpers. Some require CS, others
>> Master, others no jumpers, and others don't care. Oy.
>>
>> -- Gene Bloch 650.366.4267 lettersatblochg.com
>>
>><!--colorc--><!--/colorc--><!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->
<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
> It is a Nexxstar that I have.. worked in XP and Vista 32-bit set as master..
> Vista 64 didn't want to know it until I set it as CS.. same enclosure..<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->

Worse than I thought

It never occurred to me that it would also depend on the computer+OS in
use!

So our future advice is to try all combinations at random and hope for
the best...

--
Gene Bloch 650.366.4267 lettersatblochg.com

 

"undisclosed" wrote in message
news:4e48f0dd48dd9e19dcf460b72ac653ee@nntp-gateway.com...<!--coloro:blue--><span style="color:blue <!--/coloro-->
>
> So I just got a new computer, a HP Pavilion running Vista, and I have a
> older hard drive that I want to copy data from. The hard drive came from
> a system running XP. It's a older hard drive, a Seagate 80 gig IDE
> connector hard drive, so I went out and bought a external hard drive
> device bay -- you just put the hard drive into it and then plug it into
> a USB port on my computer.
>
> If I plug it in, all that happens is every 10 seconds I get a pop up a
> message saying:
>
> "You need to format the disk in Drive J before you can use it. Do you
> want to format it?"
>
> Of course I don't want to format it, I'd lose the data I'm trying to
> copy!
>
> If I click cancel it just keeps bugging me about it and I can't access
> the HD.
>
> HP wants $60 for a tech support call for this.
>
> Help! How do I copy my data over?
>
>
> --
> SoulBlazer<!--colorc--><!--/colorc-->


Did you setup the hard drive initially or did it come with the computer
preconfigured? I am thinking the partition table on this drive was created
with a third party software that XP can read but Vista does not recognize.

One way to prove this is to actually initial the drive and create a
partition, but you want the data on the data on the drive so that is out.

You could look for a software that fixes up the partition table so that it
is recognizable to Vista, but there is some risk you might loose data stored
on the disk.

You could hook up the drive directly to the Vista machine via IDE cable to
eliminate the USB to IDE converter is the source of the problem.

Another option is put the drive back into the XP machine and run a "patch"
cable (they're wired so you don't need to buy a hub/switch/router) between
the two computers and network them. Or copy the contents of the drive to
CDs or DVDs if you have a optical writer. Or network the two using wireless
in ad-hoc mode.

It's possible that the drive maybe using drive overlay... There used to be a
problem with BIOS recognizing large hard drive way back when... They used to
use something like Disk Manager to write some code on the hard drive so when
it boots, it loads the corrected hard drive size. They would have to set
the hard drive size in BIOS large enough to store this bit of code but it
won't be the actual size of the drive because it was too big for the BIOS
to handle.. So you end up with a hard drive unreadable unless you booted
from another drive with drive overlay already loaded. If you can read it
from another XP or Linux machine, without drive overlay support then you can
rule this out.

You could try Recuva, but it would probably be a very slow process and
causes more problems in the end.

Just throwing out ideas you could try. I recommend going with networking
the two computers.