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External HDD - Help!

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JTLP

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Not sure where this should go but I'm hoping my tech savvy ASF friends can help.

I've got an old Ritmo external HDD that I want to grab some things off. I've plugged it in to my lappy running Windows 7 64-bit and it says USB drive cannot be recognised. I can't find the driver that runs the external HDD but i've been reading you don't need one if you try and run if off new Windows systems?

Anyway i've tried multiple solutions (search driver etc etc) but nothing works.

Any suggestions?
 
Have a similar problem with my colour laser printer(Canon LBP2410), no drivers available for Windows 7 64bit........printer now useless as Canon won't release updated drivers.

You might be in the same boat.

Cheers
 
JTLP it's apparently a known problem with Windows 7, plus the 64 bit OS won't be helping in a compatibility sense. You need the drivers, and for an old HD they mightn't be available. You may be forced to retrieve the data by running the HD on a 32 bit/earlier OS Win or Mac machine.

A bunch of possible fixes at the link, checking to see if the drive registers in the BIOS is a good idea. If inoperation been caused by a recent automatic update, you could try rolling back via System Restore and see if it works then: http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/...rive-not/ee26e260-4b8e-45c8-9bbd-cdb2a7b31b20
 
My first point of call would be the manufacturer's website; but I suppose you've looked there already. It's worth a try though to see what they say about latest compatible system.
If that includes, say, Windows XP, you may have to obtain an old computer with XP (I have two) and copy the data on to a memory stick.
 

If no luck with above suggestions, you can always open up the external casing, pull the hard drive out and plug it directly into your computer.
 
marioland said:
If no luck with above suggestions, you can always open up the external casing, pull the hard drive out and plug it directly into your computer.
Click to expand...
Are you serious?
The first consequence could be that you won't have an Operating System: if your BIOS tried to start from the Ritmo drive, it won't find Windows 7; and if you really got the old disk piggy-backed as a Slave, you'd be no better off because even as a slave, you'd need a Windows 7 driver for it.
 
Thanks for all your suggestions but my external HDD seems "frozen". Will need to wind back zi clock - find an old computer and do the xfers.

Peace be with my Ritmo!
 
I had problems where my windows 7 laptop that would not recognise my HDD (they were not old) and did the following (Currently I cannot reproduce these steps as all my HDD's are now recongised)


click <Start>
-- Right click on "Computer" and select "Manage"

-- this presents "Computer Management" dialogue box

-- click "Disk Management" under the "Storage" heading

-- if you can see you HDD, right click on the HDD "Disk #"; this is where I was able to enable the HDD.

-- if you select "properties" and "driver" you could try to update the drivers

-- select "Driver" to update drivers
 
plug it directly into your system. you won't blow anything. at worst it wont start up. power off, then remove.

you are back to normal.
 
If you think its just a windows 7 no driver problem, you could try using ubuntu to access it (they have discs that allow you to start the ubuntu OS from the CD only). You could also try using a Windows XP VMWare image, which you run inside the Windows 7. This has worked for me before, for a device which did not work with Windows 7.
 
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