youSB Posted June 14, 2013 Report Share Posted June 14, 2013 I have Windows 7 64 bits on a new Lenovo Thinkpad E530 laptop (previously I had Windows 8 with the exact same problem). I connect an external hard disk drive via a SATA-USB interface. The hdd was previously the primary disk in a PC and also has a Windows 7 64 bits installation. I need to copy a few files from it. The device manager finds the disk drive and says that the device is working properly and that the latest driver is installed. But I have no access to it in the file manager. Even in the command prompt I cannot do "cd D:" but then get the reply that the drive is not ready. Device manager / Ext Hard Disk properties / Volume says that its status is "Not Initialized". Would it help to "initialize" the disk?How do I do it?Would an "initialization" remove the content of the disk?Is there another way? Thank you for any advice! Best regards to you all Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ɹəuəllıʍ ʇɐb Posted June 15, 2013 Report Share Posted June 15, 2013 I have no idea what "file manager" is? Can you see the device in Windows Explorer? If not, how do you know it is the D: drive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
youSB Posted June 15, 2013 Author Report Share Posted June 15, 2013 Manager or Explorer, I have no idea what MS calls it primitive and mostly failed file handler tool nowadays.The problem is that I haven't found any way to access files on the USB drive. But sure, I just assumed that the second disk after C: would be D: But I'll try other letters on Monday. Like E: or Q:. That's a thought worth testing. But why cannot any Windows GUI tool manage any files on the disk, neither in Win8 nor Win7? Normally when I connect a USB drive it shows up with a letter as a unit in the "My Computer" screen. This one doesn't. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bludgard Posted June 19, 2013 Report Share Posted June 19, 2013 The USB drive hold a Windows OS and Windows is trying to protect it. Boot from a Linux distro like DSL or Puppy and browse at will after mounting the drive. Edit: I only metion these as they are relatively small in size. There are millions of ways to manipulate files.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bludgard Posted June 21, 2013 Report Share Posted June 21, 2013 n the spirit of one of my favorite forum members (Gandalph):Another bites the dust (paraphrased).... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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