Hard Drive

Press F1 when you start the computer and make sure the dirves are set to auto for start up

Then go to the device manager and make sure the drivers are loaded for the USB

I am making the assumption that the computer has an operating system based on your statement of "cannot find it in my computer". Is this a secondary drive?

If this is a secondary drive and you are running a windows based operating system it may be necessary to partition and format the drive before it becomes visible within the operating system.

In windows this can be accomplished by going into the Control Panel -> Administrative Tools then clicking on the Computer Management icon. Within computer management you will find a menu item called Storage with a sub item called Disk Management. Click on Disk Management, this will bring up a view of the drives in your system. You should be able to see the drive there. By right clicking on the drive it should give you an option to partition it. Do so, then format the drive. At this point the drive should be usable.

If you are using Vista or some other OS I am sorry, I don't know the steps to get the drive live. If this drive has data on it that you need, please do not follow these steps as it will destroy the data on the hard drive. In that case I would recommend getting some technical help with the system.

Good Luck,

Doug

Yes, I have taken the hard drive out of the other computer, and have plugged it into the one I am currently using to post this reply. I am running windows XP media center edition.

Should it be formatted using FAT32, or NFTS?

NFTS is best unless you are running Win 95 or 98.

Some Win 98 programs dont like NTFS in win XP if they have FAT32 system.

I would go with NTFS.

?Before you do a partition make sure the drive name letter is not the same as an already existing drive. It is possible to have both named drive"C". Of course it will only display the first drive and not the mislabeled drive. I have to deal with this on a regular basis because the college has almost all drive letters reserved. The above directions for drive management will get you to the screen where you can observe the drive's letter name.

I've formatted the drive and it still says "Drive not ready-System Halted", do you think the hard drive should be replaced?

Sorry, but replacing the HD is probably the best choice at this point.

-Doug

Are you formatting the drive by itself from a boot disc or as a second drive and formatting from a windows program??

a second drive and formatting from a windows program, through a USB connector

I formatted it using NTSF, and it is now recognised in my computer, and I can now store files onto it, but when I use it as the master drive in my PC, it still says "Drive not ready-System Halted". What should be done to avoid needing a new hd? or, how big hard drive would I need to store an OS such as XP?

There some really small jumpers on the outside of the drive. Is there a chance you have the drive set as a slave?

Your hard drive is OK if you have stored files on it. have you made C partition active and loaded windows? and as others noted put the jumpers in correct position?

What size is your drive? memory is so cheap nowadays you can use a 10 GB hard drive if you want for XP . XP os requires 1.5 Gb of free space. Its not worth it messing around on a realy small HD. 40 GB would be a minimum for longer term use.

The hard drive is 20gb, but much memory is not need because the PC is just needed for Mozilla Firefox