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Thread ID: 82855 2007-09-10 09:32:00 WinME refusing to assign a drive letter to an external USB drive Jen (38) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
589949 2007-09-10 12:08:00 The computer could run XP, although it would be a bit slow (P3 866MHz and 512MB RAM), but it is perfectly adequate for the owners needs and WinME has not caused them any problems until recently, so there is no real need to buy a new OS disk.

If another reinstall is on the horizon how about installing Ubuntu 7.04 as an "interim" measure to test the hardware and get your friends fully up and running again.
Quicker to install than ME or XP, Ubuntu would make better use of 512MB of RAM and probably run faster than XP on a PIII . Pretty good driver support, more secure and safer than an unsupported OS like ME, it's free, arguably easier to use too, no drive letters to contend with...
bachelorno1 (6556)
589950 2007-09-10 14:11:00 = USB1(.1)



= USB2

Perhaps a conflict :confused:

I'd agree with Cyabro, worth a try; have heard of USB assignments getting confused, fixed by this.

Jen already said it worked fine, with ME BEFORE the reformat.
beeswax34 (63)
589951 2007-09-10 18:31:00 The question that circles my mind is, Why are you still at WinME, next to vista ME is the bug paradise. Go get WinXp I know you can find it :D JOYBEBA6679 (10686)
589952 2007-09-10 21:35:00 The question that circles my mind is, Why are you still at WinME, next to vista ME is the bug paradise . Go get WinXp I know you can find it :D

For goodness sake, that is not helpful . If it was an option I am sure Jen wouldn't have posted here in the first place . :groan:


After the format, was the printer installed before the external hard drive was first plugged in?

I would be inclined to do as CYaBro suggested and remove all items listed under USB Controllers in the Device Manager though I have doubts that this will work .

You did try all the USB ports, I take it? Sometimes on older machines the USB ports at the front won't work with all devices so the back ones have to be used .
FoxyMX (5)
589953 2007-09-10 21:59:00 Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management
Right click and give it a drive letter.

Secondly it could be a power issue, but as it has worked previously I would guess not.
Rob99 (151)
589954 2007-09-10 22:32:00 Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management
Right click and give it a drive letter.


Does Windows ME have Disk Management?? I thought that was only Win2K onwards? :confused:
FoxyMX (5)
589955 2007-09-10 23:29:00 Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management
Right click and give it a drive letter.

Secondly it could be a power issue, but as it has worked previously I would guess not.

No such thing in ME. Only fdisk.
CYaBro (73)
589956 2007-09-10 23:48:00 Hi Jen

I have never had anything to do with USB harddrive so take this with a pinch of salt but...

While i realise that it may have worked fine before without a driver. I have helped people before with non-functioning components that they have sworn black and blue worked before the reformat/upgrade without a need for a driver disk and found that downloading a driver was the only way to go so it may pay to check out if there is a driver for the hard drive on the manufacturers site

www.usbman.com

probably worse than usless
support.microsoft.com
Morgenmuffel (187)
589957 2007-09-11 06:01:00 Sometimes removing all items listed under USB Controllers in the Device Manager, restarting and letting it redetect everything can fix problems like this . I have given instructions to the owner of the PC on how to do this, so we shall see if that works .


After the format, was the printer installed before the external hard drive was first plugged in?

You did try all the USB ports, I take it? Sometimes on older machines the USB ports at the front won't work with all devices so the back ones have to be used . The external drive was plugged in first as it contained all the backup files . The computer only has 2 USB ports, and I tried them both . The USB flashpen works fine in both ports .


While i realise that it may have worked fine before without a driver . I have helped people before with non-functioning components that they have sworn black and blue worked before the reformat/upgrade without a need for a driver disk and found that downloading a driver was the only way to go so it may pay to check out if there is a driver for the hard drive on the manufacturers site

. usbman . com/winxpusbguide . htm" target="_blank">www . usbman . com

probably worse than usless
. microsoft . com/default . aspx?scid=kb%3bEN-US%3bq263218Thanks" target="_blank">support . microsoft . com Nigel . The MS article does refer to IRQ issues and the computer does have a NIC in one of the PCI slots that was added by the shop that reformatted the PC . This is something I could check out, but it is a bit strange other USB devices work fine .


Thanks for everyones comments so far . :)
Jen (38)
589958 2007-09-11 06:13:00 Is the USB hdd powered by a power supply or does it get power from USB? CYaBro (73)
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