Two drives with the same driver letter C:

maxwelltfmaxwelltf
edited November 2008 in Science & Tech
I just picked up an additional hard drive to add to my existing desktop system. I am mounting it in an external case, connected via 1394 to the PC. Problem is, windows hasn't recognized it. I'm not sure, but I think this might be because it too is also named C. Any suggestions how to change the drive letter of a drive that you can't see in windows? The drive was wiped, as I understood from the party I purchased it from. Thanks so much.

Comments

  • jaredjared College Station, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    What the drive is 'named' shouldn't affect the drive letter it is assigned.

    Try going into the control panel -> administrative tools -> disk management (its on the left)

    See if your drive shows up there. It might just need to be formatted (again) depending on how the owner before you chose to erase the data.
  • maxwelltfmaxwelltf
    edited October 2008
    jared wrote:
    What the drive is 'named' shouldn't affect the drive letter it is assigned.

    Try going into the control panel -> administrative tools -> disk management (its on the left)

    See if your drive shows up there. It might just need to be formatted (again) depending on how the owner before you chose to erase the data.

    The drive does not appear under windows disk management. that is what I meant by windows doesnt recognize it. The issue is I think this new drive is also a C drive so it conflicts with the internal C drive that my PC boots from. Does this make sense?
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    No, because Windows is responsible for assigning drive letters. A drive cannot come out of the box as a "C:\" or a "D:\." It is whatever Windows says it is. Something else, possibly hardware-related is at play.
  • maxwelltfmaxwelltf
    edited October 2008
    Thrax wrote:
    No, because Windows is responsible for assigning drive letters. A drive cannot come out of the box as a "C:\" or a "D:\." It is whatever Windows says it is. Something else, possibly hardware-related is at play.

    Wonderful - so it's a bad hard drive? Anyway to run some diags on it or do some process of elimination?
  • jaredjared College Station, TX Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    Check the bios to see if it is even showing up there.

    Also, you can try running some tests on the drive (if it even shows up).
    Hitachi's Drive Fitness Test will do the job.
    http://www.hitachigst.com/hdd/support/download.htm#DFT

    cheers :jared:
  • trolltroll Windsor, Nova Scotia Icrontian
    edited October 2008
    If the drive is IDE make sure it is set to Master in the FW case, not Cable Select as most drives are set for internal use.
  • maxwelltfmaxwelltf
    edited November 2008
    It was set for master (as an external drive) and was not working. I changed it to cable select (the opposite of the suggestion) and then it worked. Does that make any sense? It is an external drive with an IEEE 1394 connection.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    It's random. Every drive I've used seemed to want a different jumper setting.
  • trolltroll Windsor, Nova Scotia Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    maxwelltf wrote:
    It was set for master (as an external drive) and was not working. I changed it to cable select (the opposite of the suggestion) and then it worked. Does that make any sense? It is an external drive with an IEEE 1394 connection.

    I have a half a dozen FireWire / USB cases, every one of them (Except for the FW800 Dual) requires the drive to be master... Strange...
  • trolltroll Windsor, Nova Scotia Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    The true test is to hook the drive up inside your computer case and see if it works.
  • maxwelltfmaxwelltf
    edited November 2008
    Gents - it seems to be working as cable select. BUT it is "acting" up and I'm not 100% confident. Question: is there a size limit to connecting a large external drive to a PC, similar to that size limit of a boot disk? Maybe I can run some tests on it? Any suggested software tools for that?
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    "acting" up
    Please be more specific.
    is there a size limit to connecting a large external drive to a PC
    No, assuming you're running XP SP2 or newer. If it's an older drive enclosure, the enclosure itself could be limited to a certain size. How old is the enclosure? What's the volume of your new drive?
  • maxwelltfmaxwelltf
    edited November 2008
    Leonardo wrote:
    Please be more specific.
    No, assuming you're running XP SP2 or newer. If it's an older drive enclosure, the enclosure itself could be limited to a certain size. How old is the enclosure? What's the volume of your new drive?

    The new drive is 400gb. The oldr drive was 100GB. The enclosure is about 4 years old.
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    It's my bet your enclosure does not support drives up to 400GB. To be certain though, test your hard drive in your computer. Then we'll know for sure whether it's the drive itself or just the enclosure.

    If you need assistance, just ask.
  • maxwelltfmaxwelltf
    edited November 2008
    Leonardo wrote:
    It's my bet your enclosure does not support drives up to 400GB. To be certain though, test your hard drive in your computer. Then we'll know for sure whether it's the drive itself or just the enclosure.

    If you need assistance, just ask.

    Thanks. Is there another way to know if my enclosure does not support the larger drive?
  • LeonardoLeonardo Wake up and smell the glaciers Eagle River, Alaska Icrontian
    edited November 2008
    Is there another way to know if my enclosure does not support the larger drive?
    Yes, find its specifications through an Internet search (if available). Use both brand name and model, then the serial number for your searches.
  • yaggayagga Havn't you heard? ... New
    edited November 2008
    Sometimes there is a jumper on the drive itself that will limit its capacity, check on that, too.
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