SATA drive / enclosure problem

[SmokeMeAKipper]

Hi guys

Hopefully somebody can help me. I bought a new hard drive for my PS3 (320gb) so thought I'd buy an enclosure for my original 60gb drive so I can use it as an external drive.

Bought this enclosure from Amazon:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/2-5-Sata-eSata-External-Enclosure/dp/B000S89NQG/ref=cm_cr_pr_product_top

and I've put the hard drive in and plugged it all in (two USB plugs - one to USB port, the other for power) and my computer has recognised it and made that "you've just plugged something into the USB port" noise but the drive isn't appearing in My Computer.

I've found it (I think...) in Device Manager and it says it isn't enabled?

Any ideas?

Thanks

Alex aka SmokeMeAKipper

[riku]

are you sure you need to plug both usb cables in? I assume you have a 2.5" enclosure, i have one too but I only plugged on of the usb leads in.

I any case, go to control panel, administrative tools, and computer management. then go to disk management, and see if your external drive is listed as a disc

[Strolls]

riku: some of the smaller / cheaper enclosures use a second USB lead for power. They draw a little more than can be supplied with a single USB lead, but a mains transformer adds to the cost & size. The USB spec says that each port must provide (I think) 500mA, so you can get twice as much current by using two of them. TBH I avoid such enclosures, but you tend to spend a lot more money if you find one that draws less power.

SmokeMeAKipper: if it's disabled in Device Manager then you should be able to right-click on it & choose enable. The original drive will have the special whacky PS3 file-system on it, so it probably needs to be partitioned / formatted before you can use it. In XP right-click on "My Computer" and choose "Manage" - this is probably the same Device Manager window you went to before, but look in the left-hand pane of the window & select "Disk Management". You should see your C: drive and also the new disk, and if you right-click on that there should be options for setting it up.

[SmokeMeAKipper]

Brilliant - thanks guys worked a treat. Once I enabled and formatted it it appears in My Computer.

Thanks again, I always know NTSC will come up trumps when I'm having problems