i have bought a 80 GB WD IDE 3.5 HDD and IDE enclosure. I have set the drive to master as required. I'm using my Laptop using XP. Laptop has recognised toe usb connection and installed drivers for usb mass storage BUT !!! i cannot see the drive when i look in My Computer. Any ideas ??

Thank in advance

Is it formatted?

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Zero Alpha: zeroalpha.com.au
Find Cheap Donor Drives App: https://www.zeroalpha.com.au/donor-drive-app Updated February 2026

i dont know i bought it from ebay and it arrived this morning

Probably need to be partitioned and formatted - it's done from DISK MANAGEMENT.

Where is disk management ??

I have found Disk management but new drive is NOT recognised - Cannot see new HDD in my computer. i only see MY c: and my d: on laptop.

Hello ??

So now i have removed Hdd connectors from the IDE enclosure. I then plugged usb into enclosure front woth HDD unconnected and it recognises the USB front just as it did when connected to HDD. When HDD is connected and powered the HDD spins and sounds as normal. What is my problem ?? can i fix it or do i need to install HDD into a proper pc with IDE cable(not USB) and format it or is there a way for me WITH laptop the USB cable.

Thank You

Not so hard:

> configuration panel > administration options > compter components > disk drives > computer disks > you will see listing of disks. Click on the one that is not in blue normally in black. Go to actions and tasks and there you need to create partitoin and format disk and then you can see it in your sytem.

Sorry if not exact translations but you get idea on how to do it. 2 min and it is finished good luck

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Iorana Haraharaini

Spildit is right on here, but slightly patronising.. Unless of course he saw the original packaging?

To make sure we get no damage, we ask our suppliers to teleport the drives to us. But even this can cause firmware problems. We had a shock once when Maxtor left one of their donkeys in their teleporter by accident, seriously damaged the G-List but we were able to use it as a lawnmower.

To: Doobie Lover

Plug the drive in using the external caddie.

Right click on 'My Computer' then come down to 'Manage'
Click on Disk Management
Can you see an empty 80 GB (probably shows as about 74 GB) Drive in here ?

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If you can keep your head when all about you are losing theirs, you probably don't fully understand the situation. ... Mr Kipling

https://www.mjm.co.uk/

Donkeys are donkeys, I am 100% for horses instead...

I bought two new, sealed 1TB enterprise drives off ebay a week ago. The guy shipped both in a single unpadded envelope. At least he was nice enough to wrap each drive in some bubble wrap. Before I opened it, I could just imagine how easy it would be to fling it on a pile of mail, the package being thin and frisbee-sized. One drive was DOA, and the other is causing RAID issues because of bad sectors. I sent one back to the seller in a proper box, and specifically told the seller to ship the drive back in the same box. The replacement drive is fine.

Some on Ebay know how to ship a drive, but unless if you know, is it worth it?