General Technology & Troubleshooting Topics

[#1]

LAPTOP:  Toshiba Satellite 1135-S155 Windows XP Home Edition. 

current preinstalled 40 GB HDD message says it is failing & backup.  want to backup to usb enclosure using western digital 80 GB HBB (didn't want to shock the system). computer does detect my toshiba 4 GB flash drive & assigns drive letter E.  DEVICE MANAGER detects the western digital hdd as: usb device generic void disc, PROPERTIES claims Location 0; VOLUME shows Disk 1, unknown, unreadable, partion style as Not Applicable, 0 MB.  Disk Management does not show usb device thus doesn't even assign a Drive letter to it.  not attaching any other usb device while i have usb enclosure hdd hookup.  have gone through troubleshooting, reinstall, basically what i can find to do from "Windows XP Inside Out Manual" unless not looking in right place.

Should i place new western digital 80 GB HDD into computer, use original restore discs that came with system, then place old 40 GB HDD into usb enclsoure and copy that hard drive onto the new 80 GB HDD? Or what?

found a hero once in this forum & hopefully will find you again.  love my old clunker & don't want to give her up yet!

[#2]

Satellite 1135-S155 

IMHO, you don't want to clone the drive that way in any case. You want to restore the drive after it's in place in the laptop. Otherwise, it's likely you'll have trouble with the boot.

So you need an external USB drive. You can use it later for backups.

Use a backup program like Acronis' True Image or StorageCraft's ShadowProtect to write an image of your laptop's disk to that new backup drive. Then insert the new drive into the laptop, boot from the CD that comes with the program, and restore the image to the new drive.

[#3]

Hey Jerry,  I am coming to a conclusion that the new 80 GB WD HDD needs to be formatted before Windows XP Home Edition will recognize it under disk management.  

How close am I to being right?

Sooo, if I'm spot on, then the next question to you will be . . . HOW?  I only have the 3 recovery CD's that came w/my system.  Tried the ancient way of 'FDISk' and as expected, zippo. (In fact, heard the laptop laugh)  Partioning  - the ancient way used FAT32, but I guess moving into the 21st century I'll be using NTFS - geez, can't wait until I get to the 'dynamic disks'.  Anyway, getting way ahead of myself here.  Tried 'diskmgmt.msc.', but that again, only brings up my original HDD (Drive C) and my CD-ROM (Drive D) - so guessing here, can't use that.

Sorry about taking so long in getting back to this, frustration = shoe buying & have I got some cuties! PLEASE, only eye rolling here - NO head slap - need that brain of yours undamaged!   How about it, wanta try & help me one more time ? ! ? ! Thanks.

[#4]

Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) should recognize a new disk.

What do you see under Disk drives in Device Manager (devmgmt.msc)?

   To detect new disks

Before you format, you need to partition. And before you partition, you need to initialize.

   To initialize new disks

[#5]

Hey Jerry, thanks for fast reply - & no I wasn't out stimulating the economy (shoe shopping!) HA

Well anyway, under Device Manager - Disk drives, I get 'Generic Void Disk USB Device'  -

         Whose  'Properties' - 'Volume'  - show:  Disk: Disk1;  Type: Unknown;  Status:  Unreadable;  Partition style: Not Applicable;  Capacity: 0 MB; Unallocated space: 0 MB; Reserved Space: 0 MB  & then in the Volume/Capacity box - shows nothing.

I am assuming this is the WD 80 GB HDD in the USB enclosure which is brand new from factory.  The only other Disk Drive is the 'Toshiba MD4018GAS', which is original HDD installed in Laptop.

Also, under 'Device Manager' - 'Universal Serial Bus Controllers' ; 'USB Mass Storage Device' is shown.  This device status is noted as 'working properly'.  Device Usage:  is 'enabled'.

PROBLEM occurs under the 'Disk Management' which doesn't show any 'USB Device', only my 'Drive C' (Disk 0) as 37.26 GB Healthy (system) NTFS -- which matches my original Toshiba HDD & of course, the original CD-ROM. 

Since I can't seem to find the WD 80 GB HDD in disk management, I can't call up the 'Initialize Disk' by right clicking on the Mass Storage Device Disk, which also isn't shown.  Since can't find Disk 1 in 'Disk Management' so no Status Report & can't figure out what action is required. (WD 80 GB HDD=Disk 1=USB Mass Storage Device, correct or am I wrong?)

I didn't  change any jumpers on the new drive nor is there a jumper shunt in use.  I have both USB end cables attached to the laptop.  No other USB device attached.  The light on the USB enclosure is green.  Hmmm, should we call it quits & go shoe shopping?  My treat --No? - figured as much ... Now What         P.S.  Oh yea, tried to find "Initialize & Convert Wizard" by using "Search" - "Find Files" typed *Wizard, & didn't seem to find it.  Using WIN XP Home Edition, will this require a download?     NOW do you want to go shoe shopping ??

[#6]

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under Device Manager - Disk drives, I get 'Generic Void Disk USB Device'  - Whose  'Properties' - 'Volume'  - show:  Disk: Disk1;  Type: Unknown;  Status:  Unreadable;  Partition style: Not Applicable;  Capacity: 0 MB; Unallocated space: 0 MB; Reserved Space: 0 MB  & then in the Volume/Capacity box - shows nothing.

PROBLEM occurs under the 'Disk Management' which doesn't show any 'USB Device', only my 'Drive C' (Disk 0)

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Look through these web pages for tips.

I'm a Windows specialist and this has got to be a hardware thing. Maybe some hardware guru will jump in to help out.

[#7]

Try going to Western Digital's Support Site and download their Disk Setup Utility.  That might gain access to the drive long enough to format it. 

[#8]

Hey Herry - Stumped you - did I?

As you already know I'm using the Toshiba Satellite 1135 - S155 and when I boot up I get:

SMART Failure predicted on Hard Disk 0:  TOSHIBA MK4018GAS-(PM)

WARNING:  Immediately back-up your data and replace your hard disk drive.  A failure may be imminent.

Press F1 to Continue

Sooo ... I always wondered if the old hardware was stable enough to cooperate with the new instructions.

And since it is raining cats & dogs here plus only 3 degrees above freezing, I'll follow your guidance & go to the site you directed me to.  Hey, and I found out a RICK family member just bought a brand spanking new laptop with VISTA!  If the weather clears up, I'll run the new HDD over there just to see if VISTA recognizes it.

Wish I was a specialist of something other than the old peroxide bottle - gotta keep this hair blonde so I have some excuse!  What do you think of Windows 7?  Is it all and more than I've heard about?

And as the Terminator says "I'll be back" (did I get the quote right, at least?) See ya & thanks.

[#9]

People who don't like Vista tend to not like Se7en.  All of the test I have run and the tiem I have spent with Se7en shows it to be a downgrade from XP and not really any better than Vista for the most part.  Some people dissagree with me on that and that's their right, but that's my take on this.

[#10]

Jerry - Just whip me with a wet noodle - sorry about the misspelling of your name.  Didn't spell check & typing faster than computer can keep up with - I'll blame it on the weather.  Beg your forgiveness.