HD-enclosure problem
I recently bought a harddrive enclosure for my Seagate Barracuda 160GB HD. I put the drive in, connected the cables, and plugged it in my USB port. Vista detects it, but needs to install a driver. I first let it do the thing where it scans, before it prompts me to insert a disc. I insert the disk, despite it says the drivers are for win98. The disc is btw about half the size of a normal cd/dvd. It finds the correct driver, and begins to install. Suddenly it stops, and says the driver could not be installed, and nothing else happens. The Drive still doesn't show up in My Computer. I have searched Seagates website for a driver for the HD, but there are none. I do have a driver for the HD, but it is on a floppy, and my laptop doesn't have a floppy drive. I also tried going to the enclosure producers website (www.konigcomputers.info) but it doesn't seem to exist, or it is down. What should I do? When Vista asks for the drivers, what does it mean? Is it for the HD itself, or for the enclosure, or the USB cable? I though Windows after 98 was all "plug-and-play".
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One suggestion is to reboot and reconnect the drive, then check the disk manager (click start-->run, type compmgmt.msc). The drive may be detected by windows but wants to assign it a drive letter already in use. Check to see if the drive shows up in the disk manager list and whether there's a drive letter assigned. You can assign or change drive letters there. Be careful not to change the wrong drive...
The drive does not show up in disk manager, put it is shown in device manager as "unknown unit", with the message "The drivers for this device is not installed. (code 28)
I suddenly realised that no matter what, this is in the wrong forum, dunno why i posted in general software..
That could have everything to do with it. In Vista in particular it's very picky about user rights. Add to that the school could further limit your control on that computer through group policies. You may have found the answer yourself .
I would call and ask them if their group policy allows for you to add/remove hardware and explain the situation. You may need to have someone from the school login remotely and install it as an admin or take the computer and external drive to them.
That's my thinking as well, which is why the permissions thing seemed/seems like an explanation. We can only assume they were logged in as admins on the Vista box they were testing with.
However, a device is a device and does require some configuration with the OS. Most are standard controllers which is why it's plug and play. This is not a stead-fast rule. I have needed to load usb drivers for external usb adapters for numerous devices, even in XP.
The other option is to try and run the device setup off the disk that came with it in XP compatibility mode. Copy the contents of the CD to a folder on the hard drive and try this:
http://www.howtogeek.com/howto/windows-vista/using-windows-vista-compatibility-mode/
I don't hold out much hope of this working since the installer is probably not the cause of the driver failure. Likely that the XP driver included just doesn't work in Vista. The tech's suggestion of contacting the manufacturer of the enclosure is not a bad one.
That would definitely indicate they expect the enclosure to be plug and play compatible. Sounds like a Vista issue then.
"You can view and delete or modify hidden devices by:
1. Openning Device Manager. (I usually right-click on My Computer, select Properties, select the Hardware tab, then select Device Manager.)
2. Select View and check "Show hidden devices"
3. Hidden devices will appear below with the others and can be modified."
If they won't uninstall you can remove them from the registry:
http://www.tech-recipes.com/windows_installation_tips504.html
http://www.daniweb.com/forums/thread7700.html
I'm at a loss because of the arbitrary nature of the problem.
So, what you're saying is that Vista is bass ackwards, upside down, bloated, but highly aesthetically pleasing OS? :bigggrin:
Priceless LOL
OK, that was a long winded way of me saying that personally I would only avoid buying one brand - Maxtor. And that may be an illogical opinion.
Leonardo's spot-on with regards to current HD manufacturers - not a lot of difference at this time.
I'm always talking up backups here at Icrontic. I cannot overemphasize: Every hard drive is going to quit working. It's not if, it's when. Backup your data, friends.
Still a reason to get a new one:D
The reason I recommend looking for a good drive, even considering the USB interface will bottleneck it, is that the drive may eventually come out of the enclosure and go in your computer. My largest (volume) drives go in my external enclosures and serve as dedicated backups. Eventually the drives are integrated into computers and are replaced by even larger drives.