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need help installing a toshiba external hard drive

Anonymous
2009-08-25T20:26:50+00:00

i am trying to install an external hard drive. i was told that i need to get the driver. i went to toshiba's site, emailed them and they said 'The Toshiba External hard drive is a plug n play device, no genuine Toshiba

drivers are needed/provided. Contact www.microsoft.com  for support if your

operating system is not providing the necessary drives for usb devices.'  where do i find this specific driver??

Windows for home | Previous Windows versions | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2009-10-06T13:45:55+00:00

    Hello,

    I recommend you to check if there are any invalid registry entries related to the USB devices. To do this, follow these steps.

    1.  Click Start, and then click All Programs.

    2.  Click Accessories, and then click Run.

    3.  Type regedit, and then click OK. If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.

    4.  In the navigation pane, locate and then click the following registry subkey:

    HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318} 

    5.  In the right pane, click UpperFilters.

    Note: You may also see an UpperFilters.bak registry entry. You do not have to remove that entry. Click UpperFilters only. If you do not see the UpperFilters registry entry, you still might have to remove the LowerFilters registry entry. To do this, go to step 8. 

    6.  On the Edit menu, click Delete.

    7.  When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.

    8.  In the right pane, click LowerFilters.

    Note: If you do not see the LowerFilters registry entry, unfortunately this content cannot help you any further.

    9.  On the Edit menu, click Delete.

    10.  When you are prompted to confirm the deletion, click Yes.

    11.  Exit Registry Editor. 

    12.  Restart the computer.

    **Important Note:**This section, method, or task contains steps that tell you how to modify the registry. However, serious problems might occur if you modify the registry incorrectly. Therefore, make sure that you follow these steps carefully. For added protection, back up the registry before you modify it. Then, you can restore the registry if a problem occurs. For more information about how to back up and restore the registry, click the following article number to view the article in the Microsoft Knowledge Base:

    How to back up and restore the registry in Windows: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/322756

    Connect the external hard disk, install the driver and then check for its functionality.

    Tips for solving problems with USB devices: http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/help/c39bd203-f729-47a4-8351-83291e13c8a81033.mspx

    Hope this information is helpful.

    All the best!

    Thanks and Regards:

    Syed V – Microsoft Support.

    2 people found this answer helpful.
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  1. Anonymous
    2009-10-06T03:12:09+00:00

    Hi, I am the 2nd guy to have this problem. I took my hard drive out of a kaput Toshiba Satellite P35-S611 Laptop and am trying to attach it as an external drive through the USB port of a Dell desktop. The Hardware installer detects it with no problem then says that it is installed, but it does not appear on My Computer or in the Explore directory tree. I followed your suggestion to use devmgmt.msc, but the action menu does not include an option for adding Legacy Hardware.

    Ironically, I was able to install the drive in a 12-yr-old IBM Thinkpad with no problem. It shows both partitions and there is no drag on the access.

    I have tried to install it in the Dell several times. One time I did see it listed as drive "G" in "My computer", but there were no contents.

    Once it installed perfectly, but I had to disconnect it for start-up, since the Dell was confused by it in the boot up process. Then after the machine booted up, the "Found new hardware" msg appeared and from then on all I've gotten is an empty "G" or a "successful" installation where the existence of the drive is not shown anywhere.

    I would appreciate your help.

    Thanks, conejobob

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  2. Anonymous
    2009-10-02T21:34:55+00:00

    Hello, my Toshiba laptop (Satellite P35-S611) has died and I removed the hard drive, intending to install it as an external drive to another computer (Dell desktop with XP) until I could buy another laptop. The automatic hardware installer said that it was installed; I see it listed as a generic drive (G) in "My Computer", but clicking on it reveals no files. I can also see it in the directory tree but again clicking on it shows no files. I also tried to install it manually through the Hardware Add thingy with the same results.

    (Interestingly, I installed it on an old IBM Thinkpad (running on Windows 2000 sp4) and it had no problem loading and works fine. The only difference between the installations is that for the Thinkpad there was a message about "bridging to IDE".)

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  3. Anonymous
    2009-08-26T20:46:52+00:00

    well, i have tried every step you suggested and nothig has worked!  when i tried to manually install and got to the device manager i clicked on the action menu and there is no option for 'add legacey hardware' that i could find anywhere.

    the answer to your first 2 questions is 'no'.  the model # is HDDR250E03X. 

    if you have ANY other suggestions or solutions i would greatly appreciate it.

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  4. Anonymous
    2009-08-26T14:41:30+00:00

    Hi cranda2,

    We would like to know more information about the computer. Please answer the following questions as best you can, so that we can assist you better.

    1. Is the device recognized in the Device manager?
    2. Do you see the external hard disk icon in the “Windows Explorer”?
    3. What is the model of the hard disk?

    Whenever any hardware device is connected to the computer, the device driver is installed by default. However if the device driver is not installed by Windows, then it is recommended to get in touch with the hardware manufacturer to get the device driver and install it on the computer.

    Since Toshiba is not able to provide the device driver. I can suggest you to check the following:

    Use the Add New Hardware wizard in Control Panel to detect the device.

    1. Click Start, type Hardware in the Start Search box, and then press ENTER.

    If you are prompted for an administrator password or for a confirmation, type the password, or click Allow.

    1. Follow the instructions to install the USB device.

    If the device is not detected, then run the Microsoft Fix it. To run the Microsoft Fix it, visit the following link: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/314634

    To manually install the device, try these steps.

    1. Plug in the device.
    2. Click Start, type devmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
    3. From the list of items, click “Disk drives”, click Action menu and then click on “Add Legacy Hardware” and follow the instructions to install the hardware.

    Hope this information is helpful.

    Let me know if this worked.

    All the best!

    Thanks and Regards:

    Syed V - Microsoft Support.

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