Member Avatar for moonypie

My PC ( windows Xp 2002 version) and my External Hard drive are brand new ( about 2 months old) and the external hard drive ( this one ) It told me on the package that I could use it on my Mac aswell as my PC, it works on my Mac, but for some reason its not recognising it on my PC. It knows its there because when i try and diconnect it, it appears in the remove hardware program as location zero. I'm confused, how do I make my PC able to see my hard drive so I can use it?

thanks

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  • Latest Post Latest Post by caperjack

Dani AI

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Good suggestions so far from , and . The next steps are diagnostic and safe — do not reformat or initialize the disk until the data has been backed up.

  • On the Mac: open Disk Utility (Applications -> Utilities -> Disk Utility) and select the external disk (not the volume). Note the reported Format/Partition type (HFS+, exFAT, FAT32, NTFS, etc.). If the files are important, copy them off the drive to the Mac or another disk before making changes.

  • On the PC: open Computer Management -> Disk Management and look for the external disk. Three useful facts to read there are (1) does Windows see a physical disk, (2) does it show any partition(s), and (3) does the partition have a filesystem Windows recognises and a drive letter. If the disk appears but the partition has no drive letter, assign one. If the partition is listed as RAW or not shown as a readable filesystem, do NOT format it — that would erase data.

  • If Disk Management shows no usable Windows volume but the Mac can read the drive, the filesystem is probably Mac-only (HFS+) or a partition type Windows XP does not understand. Two safe options: copy data off the Mac and reformat the drive as NTFS or exFAT for use with XP (exFAT on XP may need Microsoft updates), or install a Windows HFS reader (examples: HFSExplorer, Paragon HFS+, MacDrive) so XP can access the files without reformatting.

  • If the disk does not show up at all in Disk Management but is present in Device Manager, try different USB ports, another Windows PC, and reinstall the USB/Storage drivers. Also check whether the vendor supplied an unlock/encryption utility — some externals ship with software that must be run to unlock the volume.

Start by confirming the filesystem on the Mac, copy any irreplaceable files off the drive, then choose either a driver-to-read solution or a reformat for Windows.

Recommended Answers

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Member Avatar for BertC

I think it is being recognized. Location 0 is the location of your first hard drive. Location 1 would be the second one.

The drives begin with 0, not 1.

Bert

Member Avatar for Merlin33069

when you put it in the mac, did you format it to a mac proprietary file system?

Member Avatar for moonypie

I think it is being recognized. Location 0 is the location of your first hard drive. Location 1 would be the second one.

The drives begin with 0, not 1.

Bert

I realize that, except that i cant open it in 'My Computer', It doesnt exsist there, it only appears when i try and Remove it. Thats why im confused

Member Avatar for moonypie

when you put it in the mac, did you format it to a mac proprietary file system?

I'm not sure, my Dad did it for me, if he did do that how do i fix the problem?

Member Avatar for Merlin33069

well, if there's any important data on it, i wouldnt even try, BUT what is the make and model of your drive?

Member Avatar for moonypie

well, if there's any important data on it, i wouldnt even try, BUT what is the make and model of your drive?

if you look at the original post i put up theres a link the hard drive and all its details

Member Avatar for caperjack

I'm not sure, my Dad did it for me, if he did do that how do i fix the problem?

why ask us here ,just as your Dad.
maybe he also setup the encryption software that came with it .below is from the link in your first post

Synchronised and Secure - WD Sync™ synchronization and encryption software lets you take your critical data with you.

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