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#1
Can't access drives connected via an EIDE-to-USB kit
I have an older, non-functioning PC that has four internal Western Digital Caviar EIDE hard drives (WD1200, 136AA, and two 450AA). Before I donate the PC and drives, I temporarily removed the drives; I want to examine them to make sure they don't contain any sensitive data.
I have a simple EIDE-to-USB connection kit that I was hoping to use to view the contents of these drives from my Windows 7 PC (a Dell Studio XPS). I connected the first drive. Windows detects the drive upon connection but it doesn't appear in Windows Explorer. "Devices and Printers" lists the device as "USB Mass Storage Device" but the properties don't say much; on the General tab the manufacturer, model number, and description are all "Unavailable". The model is "USB Mass Storage Device". The category is "Storage device". On the Hardware tab, Device Manager listed the drive as "Unknown device".
I tried the Windows Troubleshooter tool, but it says that it 'couldn't identify the problem'. I tried the other drives and had the same result. I also tried numerous USB ports on my PC and had the same result.
How can I make Windows 7 see these drives? Is a special driver needed to view drives connected via an EIDE-to-USB connection kit?