I'm trying to install an external hard drive (Western Digital IDE 3.5" disk) in a 
combined USB/Firewire external enclosure. But the enclosure is not being recognised 
by Windows ME on any of the USB ports.

The computer has both USB 1.1 ports (on the motherboard) and USB 2.0 ports (on a 
PCI Card). All the USB ports are working: they recognise all the other USB devices. 
It doesn't currently have a Firewire port.

The enclosure is powering-up (the drive spins, and the cooling fan spins), and I've 
swapped the USB cable with a spare that definitely works. I think it's a driver file 
issue.

The enclosure kit came with a driver CD, but the driver is for Win 98SE only. According 
to the kit's manual, Windows ME uses its built-in drivers (which is what I had assumed).

In Device Manager, the USB universal host controller (for USB 1.1) and the enhanced 
host controller (for USB 2.0) show up, as do the USB root hub and USB 2.0 root hub 
entries, and the Open Host Controller (E13+) entries. But there is no "USB Mass Storage 
Device" entry, and I'm wondering if this is where the problem lies?

Where do I find the necessary driver file? It's presumably supplied with Windows 
ME, in one of the CAB files. But I have an OEM version of Win ME, and I think it 
did not come with all the Win ME drivers pre-installed. Which driver file should 
I look for in the CABs?

Tip: Run a free scan for common Windows errors ad

re: USB External Drive Enclosure not recognised by Windows ME Friday, February 23, 2007 at 3:22 pm Posted by Steve (19681 messages posted) Look for the Drive in the Device Manager. If you see it you may need to assign it a Drive Letter, and check a box about it being a removable Drive. [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: USB External Drive Enclosure not recognised by Windows ME Saturday, February 24, 2007 at 5:42 pm Posted by Alan Masterman (302 messages posted) Hi Ed, Are you using a dedicated power supply with the external HDD (or a powered USB hub)? If you aren't, that might be your problem. Not all computers are set up to provide power through the data cable. If that's the case with yours, Windows will certainly register the box, but it won't register the HDD itself, and no drive letter will be allocated. On Friday, February 23, 2007 at 5:07 am, Ed wrote: >I'm trying to install an external hard drive (Western Digital IDE 3.5" disk) in a >combined USB/Firewire external enclosure. But the enclosure is not being recognised >by Windows ME on any of the USB ports. > >The computer has both USB 1.1 ports (on the motherboard) and USB 2.0 ports (on a >PCI Card). All the USB ports are working: they recognise all the other USB devices. >It doesn't currently have a Firewire port. > >The enclosure is powering-up (the drive spins, and the cooling fan spins), and I've >swapped the USB cable with a spare that definitely works. I think it's a driver file >issue. > >The enclosure kit came with a driver CD, but the driver is for Win 98SE only. According >to the kit's manual, Windows ME uses its built-in drivers (which is what I had assumed). > >In Device Manager, the USB universal host controller (for USB 1.1) and the enhanced >host controller (for USB 2.0) show up, as do the USB root hub and USB 2.0 root hub >entries, and the Open Host Controller (E13+) entries. But there is no "USB Mass Storage >Device" entry, and I'm wondering if this is where the problem lies? > >Where do I find the necessary driver file? It's presumably supplied with Windows >ME, in one of the CAB files. But I have an OEM version of Win ME, and I think it >did not come with all the Win ME drivers pre-installed. Which driver file should >I look for in the CABs? [Reply or follow-up to this message] re: USB External Drive Enclosure not recognised by Windows ME Monday, March 5, 2007 at 7:31 am Posted by Ed (603 messages posted) Thanks for the suggestions. I tried them both, unsuccessfully as it turned out, since I've now discovered that the USB device I was trying to install was faulty. It was not powering-up properly, which was why Windows was not recognising it. Once returned to the vendor and replaced with a non-faulty USB device, Windows recognised it and installed it normally. Ed [Reply or follow-up to this message] Tip: Use one of the [Reply or follow-up to this message] links above to add a message to this thread Search this forum Start a new thread on a different subject Report abuse of the forum Return to the Windows Me Discussion Forum