So, I hooked up a Maxtor One touch mini portable usb drive. For some reason XP Pro will not recognize the drive. I have an HP Pavilion desktop.
Steps I have taken to correct the problem

• uninstalled drive/reinstalled drive
• checked seagate's website followed directions
• checked microsoft support...nada there
• read seagate's community forums

Apparently other people who purchased this drive are having the exact same problem.
The drive shows up in my device manager, however does not read in disk management as a drive. It also seems to be getting confused with my zip drive. I did remove the zip, and restarted the computer. The new drive still did not register.
So now what do I do?
I am going to take this portable drive back to where I purchased it. If any one has a suggestion on what other brand to buy that is in the -$100.00 range, I'd appreciate it.
Thanks for helping a newbie!

fishhead

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It's about time!

How much time have you given your hard drive to recognize?

I have the 160gb viersion, and use it religiously. It takes a little longer for the computer to search through it for an autorun.inf file. But it works normally.

So, it sounds like there may be a problem with the interface within the drive itself, maybe the data cable is not connected.

DO NOT OPEN THE DRIVE, you will void the warranty!!!

More in a bit when I don't have a kid on my lap

I gave it ample time. Like I said, it was recognized under disk drives in Device Manager, but was not seen as a physical drive in Computer management. Oh, yeah, the data cable was plugged in. I spent like 2 hours fussing with this thing.
I'm looking at returning it and picking up a WD 120 gb drive. The reviews on those seem to be pretty good. I can return this one tomorrow, and purchase the WD.
The problem is I've got to get my tower in to be diagnosed. It's pretty sick, and I don't know how much time I have before a crash (seems to be stable today). I think I'm only looking at graphics and fan issues. I also wonder if that's what's causing this other problem.
I'll wait for another response, thanks!

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It's about time!

Well if the machine is sick, it could very well play a factor in the not recognizing the machine.
How is it sick? what are the symptoms (another thread, more than likely), but they may affect this issue.

I was having graphics problems, but I just finished pulling out the card, blowing out the fan and dusting it off. Now, my graphics are just fine. I still seem to have a fan issue, but I don't know which one, and I might just replace them both. (cpu and main).
The keyboard and mouse have been terribly glitchy for two-three weeks. But hopefully that will straighten out too.
I still think the best route is to take this hd back and purchase the Western Digital. I get more gigs, and possibly a more stable product. Although I read that WD isn't famous for customer service.
Thanks for the input though.
If you have any thoughts on keyboard/mouse, that would be helpful. They are the wireless kind, although, right now it seems to be more stable than it has been in months. (blowing the 2 years of dirt off the graphics card fan could have something to do with it!)
Thanks bunches

fishheads

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It's about time!