2.5" Int HDD in External Enclosure via USB

On Thu, 7 Feb 2008 14:37:02 -0800, "Jerry" <ChiefZekeNoSpam.DeleteThis@MSN.com>
wrote:

> Not really an answer to your overall problem but under WinXP you cannnot
> make a FAT32 drive larger than 32Gb so if you finally get things to work
> that 160Gb drive would have to be partitioned.


Sorry, this is *not* correct. It is true that Windows XP will not let
you *create * a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB, however it will
happily let you use one if you first create the partition with other
software.

--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup
 >> Stay informed about: 2.5" Int HDD in External Enclosure via USB 

"Teflon" <spambaitmeister.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:95ac4f76-7d70-47a8-a9ca-dc77d0e897bf@s13g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
> Got a 160GB Seagate 2.5" Internal Notebook Ultra ATA/100 HDD, 5400 RPM
> with 8MB Cache and mounted it in a CompUSA 2.5" enclosure. Intended
> to create an image of XP PRO on this new drive and install it as the
> new internal HDD in an R51 Thinkpad.
>
> Plugged the enclosure in (it uses two USB slots - 1 provides power)
> and booted XP Pro. Since its a new unformatted drive, I did not
> expect to see it in My Computer or Win Explorer. I wasn't
> disappointed, it wasn't there. Wasn't shown in Device Manager either.
>
> Following the enclosure's install instructions for formatting the
> drive under XP, I right clicked My Computer, selected Manage and got
> the Computer Management Screen. Selected Disk Management and there it
> was as Drive 1. (The existing internal HDD was Drive 0). Both were
> shown as Healthy, with a notation for the new drive 'Healthy [EISA
> Configuration]'. When I right clicked on that drive's Status screen
> (as instructed), the 'New Partition' option in the pop-up window was
> grayed out. With that, my formatting effort came to a screeching
> halt.

When connecting the drive, you should get the "disk initialisation wizard".
Disconnect it and try again.

>
> Called Seagate for some guidance and was told Seagate does not support
> using internal drives in external enclosures. Tried CompUSA tech
> support, but no response. Suspect they are all busy packing up.
>
> OK, so here I am. What is preventing me from formatting this drive?
> A BIOS setting perhaps? How do I proceed? If this is old hat, point
> me at something to read.

Try doing a cold restart. I use the method you are describing regularly
and it does work.

There may not be enough power getting to the drive. You might try using a
powered hub as one of the USB attachment points.

>
> Speaking of settings, are there 'jumpers' on a 2.5" notebook internal
> HDD?

No, there are not.

> If so, does one have to reset these 'jumpers' when the drive is
> being used in an external enclosure? If so, where does one find and
> how does one set these jumpers?
>
> Thanks in advance for any guidance provided.



>
> A last question (for now), which may need to be asked elsewhere, if
> this drive is formatted in FAT32, would I be able to connect this
> drive to a Win98SE system via the USB and see / use it?

If you need to use this on a Win9x system, yes you must format to FAT32,
though you may need to use a 3rd party tool to do so - at least during
installs, WinXP will not format drives over somewhere above 40 gig as FATx.
You will also need to install the driver disk that came with the enclosure.

HTH
-pk
 >> Stay informed about: 2.5" Int HDD in External Enclosure via USB 

> "Teflon" <spambaitmeister.RemoveThis@gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:95ac4f76-7d70-47a8-a9ca-dc77d0e897bf@s13g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
>> Got a 160GB Seagate 2.5" Internal Notebook Ultra ATA/100 HDD, 5400 RPM
>> with 8MB Cache and mounted it in a CompUSA 2.5" enclosure. Intended
>> to create an image of XP PRO on this new drive and install it as the
>> new internal HDD in an R51 Thinkpad.
>>
>> Plugged the enclosure in (it uses two USB slots - 1 provides power)
>> and booted XP Pro. Since its a new unformatted drive, I did not
>> expect to see it in My Computer or Win Explorer. I wasn't
>> disappointed, it wasn't there. Wasn't shown in Device Manager either.
>>
>> Following the enclosure's install instructions for formatting the
>> drive under XP, I right clicked My Computer, selected Manage and got
>> the Computer Management Screen. Selected Disk Management and there it
>> was as Drive 1. (The existing internal HDD was Drive 0). Both were
>> shown as Healthy, with a notation for the new drive 'Healthy [EISA
>> Configuration]'. When I right clicked on that drive's Status screen
>> (as instructed), the 'New Partition' option in the pop-up window was
>> grayed out. With that, my formatting effort came to a screeching
>> halt.
>>
>> Called Seagate for some guidance and was told Seagate does not support
>> using internal drives in external enclosures. Tried CompUSA tech
>> support, but no response. Suspect they are all busy packing up.
>>
>> OK, so here I am. What is preventing me from formatting this drive?
>> A BIOS setting perhaps? How do I proceed? If this is old hat, point
>> me at something to read.
>>
>> Speaking of settings, are there 'jumpers' on a 2.5" notebook internal
>> HDD? If so, does one have to reset these 'jumpers' when the drive is
>> being used in an external enclosure? If so, where does one find and
>> how does one set these jumpers?
>>
>> Thanks in advance for any guidance provided.
>>
>> A last question (for now), which may need to be asked elsewhere, if
>> this drive is formatted in FAT32, would I be able to connect this
>> drive to a Win98SE system via the USB and see / use it?


Teflon:
There are really a number of unrelated issues raised by your query...

1. First of all - and before we get to the precise problem you're having -
you say your objective is to install the new HDD as the boot drive in your
Lenovo notebook. And you expect to accomplish this by creating an "image" of
the XP OS onto that HDD.

Are you really intending to create a "disk image" onto that 160 GB HDD or do
you really mean that you intend to "clone" the contents of your notebook's
present boot drive to your new HDD using a disk cloning program? That's what
you really mean, don't you?

Because if it's a disk image that you'll be creating, that won't
automatically create a bootable HDD when you install it in your notebook. I
assume you understand that.

2. Continuing along those same lines, if you are intending to create a disk
clone of the new HDD (your present laptop's internal HDD being the "source"
drive), there is no need to partition/format the new HDD, unless of course,
you want a new partitioning scheme on the new HDD. And even that can be
accomplished through some (but not all) disk-cloning programs directly
during the disk-cloning process without the need to "pre-partition" the
"destination" disk.

3. Anyway, if for one reason or another, you're bent of
partitioning/formatting your new HDD while it's encased in a USB enclosure,
ensure that you've connected its USB cable with *both* of the dual-head USB
connectors connected to two of your USB ports. Connecting the cable to only
one USB port might not provide sufficient power for the external HDD.

If still a problem, try connecting the device before powering up the PC and
if that doesn't work then try powering up the device after the system has
booted.

4. There are no jumpers on your 2 1/2" PATA HDD.

5. Finally, your query re formatting the disk FAT32. Is this some fallback
position in case you retain the HDD in its enclosure and use it as some sort
of backup/storage device in a Win9x/Me environment? If "yes", then you could
so format it FAT32 using a DOS boot floppy disk (Win9x/Me "Startup" disk)
but we ordinarily suggest not to create partitions > 120 GB in a FAT32
environment.

On the other hand, you could format it FAT32 using XP's Disk Management
utility but FAT32 partitions would be limited to < 32 GB.
Anna
 >> Stay informed about: 2.5" Int HDD in External Enclosure via USB 

Rather common problem with notebook drives in external enclosures - a major
cause is "cabling" conversion. Check pin alignment (number of pins) on
enclosure versus the drive.

"Teflon" <spambaitmeister.TakeThisOut@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:95ac4f76-7d70-47a8-a9ca-dc77d0e897bf@s13g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
> Got a 160GB Seagate 2.5" Internal Notebook Ultra ATA/100 HDD, 5400 RPM
> with 8MB Cache and mounted it in a CompUSA 2.5" enclosure. Intended
> to create an image of XP PRO on this new drive and install it as the
> new internal HDD in an R51 Thinkpad.
>
> Plugged the enclosure in (it uses two USB slots - 1 provides power)
> and booted XP Pro. Since its a new unformatted drive, I did not
> expect to see it in My Computer or Win Explorer. I wasn't
> disappointed, it wasn't there. Wasn't shown in Device Manager either.
>
> Following the enclosure's install instructions for formatting the
> drive under XP, I right clicked My Computer, selected Manage and got
> the Computer Management Screen. Selected Disk Management and there it
> was as Drive 1. (The existing internal HDD was Drive 0). Both were
> shown as Healthy, with a notation for the new drive 'Healthy [EISA
> Configuration]'. When I right clicked on that drive's Status screen
> (as instructed), the 'New Partition' option in the pop-up window was
> grayed out. With that, my formatting effort came to a screeching
> halt.
>
> Called Seagate for some guidance and was told Seagate does not support
> using internal drives in external enclosures. Tried CompUSA tech
> support, but no response. Suspect they are all busy packing up.
>
> OK, so here I am. What is preventing me from formatting this drive?
> A BIOS setting perhaps? How do I proceed? If this is old hat, point
> me at something to read.
>
> Speaking of settings, are there 'jumpers' on a 2.5" notebook internal
> HDD? If so, does one have to reset these 'jumpers' when the drive is
> being used in an external enclosure? If so, where does one find and
> how does one set these jumpers?
>
> Thanks in advance for any guidance provided.
>
> A last question (for now), which may need to be asked elsewhere, if
> this drive is formatted in FAT32, would I be able to connect this
> drive to a Win98SE system via the USB and see / use it?
>
>
 >> Stay informed about: 2.5" Int HDD in External Enclosure via USB 

"Patrick Keenan" <test DeleteThis @dev.null> wrote in message
news:OvjWcrdaIHA.4684@TK2MSFTNGP06.phx.gbl...
> "Teflon" <spambaitmeister DeleteThis @gmail.com> wrote in message
> news:95ac4f76-7d70-47a8-a9ca-dc77d0e897bf@s13g2000prd.googlegroups.com...
>> Got a 160GB Seagate 2.5" Internal Notebook Ultra ATA/100 HDD, 5400 RPM
>> with 8MB Cache and mounted it in a CompUSA 2.5" enclosure. Intended
>> to create an image of XP PRO on this new drive and install it as the
>> new internal HDD in an R51 Thinkpad.
>>
>> Plugged the enclosure in (it uses two USB slots - 1 provides power)
>> and booted XP Pro. Since its a new unformatted drive, I did not
>> expect to see it in My Computer or Win Explorer. I wasn't
>> disappointed, it wasn't there. Wasn't shown in Device Manager either.
>>
>> Following the enclosure's install instructions for formatting the
>> drive under XP, I right clicked My Computer, selected Manage and got
>> the Computer Management Screen. Selected Disk Management and there it
>> was as Drive 1. (The existing internal HDD was Drive 0). Both were
>> shown as Healthy, with a notation for the new drive 'Healthy [EISA
>> Configuration]'. When I right clicked on that drive's Status screen
>> (as instructed), the 'New Partition' option in the pop-up window was
>> grayed out. With that, my formatting effort came to a screeching
>> halt.
>
> When connecting the drive, you should get the "disk initialisation
> wizard". Disconnect it and try again.
>

And if you don't, right click the drive from the management screen and
select 'Initialise'. You should then be able to partition and format.

>>
>> Called Seagate for some guidance and was told Seagate does not support
>> using internal drives in external enclosures. Tried CompUSA tech
>> support, but no response. Suspect they are all busy packing up.
>>
>> OK, so here I am. What is preventing me from formatting this drive?
>> A BIOS setting perhaps? How do I proceed? If this is old hat, point
>> me at something to read.
>
> Try doing a cold restart. I use the method you are describing regularly
> and it does work.
>
> There may not be enough power getting to the drive. You might try using a
> powered hub as one of the USB attachment points.
>
>>
>> Speaking of settings, are there 'jumpers' on a 2.5" notebook internal
>> HDD?
>
> No, there are not.
>
>> If so, does one have to reset these 'jumpers' when the drive is
>> being used in an external enclosure? If so, where does one find and
>> how does one set these jumpers?
>>
>> Thanks in advance for any guidance provided.
>
>
>
>>
>> A last question (for now), which may need to be asked elsewhere, if
>> this drive is formatted in FAT32, would I be able to connect this
>> drive to a Win98SE system via the USB and see / use it?
>
> If you need to use this on a Win9x system, yes you must format to FAT32,
> though you may need to use a 3rd party tool to do so - at least during
> installs, WinXP will not format drives over somewhere above 40 gig as
> FATx. You will also need to install the driver disk that came with the
> enclosure.
>

That should not be necessary under Windows XP.
 >> Stay informed about: 2.5" Int HDD in External Enclosure via USB