accessing a password protected external hard disk drive

[Lord Kalthorn]

Well, you probably won't have to loose your data - just put the Windows Install CD in there and you will be able to fix the install without formatting it - I have done it before and it has worked. Sometimes it does and sometimes it doesn't. It probably will.

 

[Lozling]

For one i dont have the windows CD, for another, i cannot install anything on the drive, as it is EXTERNAL, recognised only as a USB mass storage device, not the primary hard disk drive. Messing around with installing thingd would only affect my INTERNAL, primary hard disk drive, which has nothing wrong with it whatsoever, is only a few days old and does not need a reinstall. To be honest, neither does the external wrong. I must repeat again, there is nothing wrong with the external hard disk drive, or the OS on it, or the files or the components or anything. The only problem i have is i need to be able to log into that hard drive at startup, which i cant do as i cant boot with it as primary. I know my passwords, and all my log in names, but because i cant boot with it i cant put them in at start up. Even if i could install im not sure it would do any good whatsoever, as i would still need to run it once as primary.
my only option is hacking my own hard disk drive, which i know nothing about but as is NTFS ive heard its incredibly difficult, or find someone with a computer with a new motherboard who can boot from USB. Ive heard from many UK sources that on new motherboards its possible although at times unstable. I dont want an OS on the hard drive anyway, once i can get the passwords off i intend to save the documents i want and reformat it as an empty store.

 

[TheSickness]

For one i dont have the windows CD, for another, i cannot install anything on the drive, as it is EXTERNAL, recognised only as a USB mass storage device, not the primary hard disk drive. Messing around with installing thingd would only affect my INTERNAL, primary hard disk drive, which has nothing wrong with it whatsoever, is only a few days old and does not need a reinstall. To be honest, neither does the external wrong. I must repeat again, there is nothing wrong with the external hard disk drive, or the OS on it, or the files or the components or anything. The only problem i have is i need to be able to log into that hard drive at startup, which i cant do as i cant boot with it as primary. I know my passwords, and all my log in names, but because i cant boot with it i cant put them in at start up. Even if i could install im not sure it would do any good whatsoever, as i would still need to run it once as primary.
my only option is hacking my own hard disk drive, which i know nothing about but as is NTFS ive heard its incredibly difficult, or find someone with a computer with a new motherboard who can boot from USB. Ive heard from many UK sources that on new motherboards its possible although at times unstable. I dont want an OS on the hard drive anyway, once i can get the passwords off i intend to save the documents i want and reformat it as an empty store.

Ok, you could try this. Connect the HD (the one you are talking about) to another computer.

Boot up and go into windows normally. Go into My Computer and there should be a new HD icon there. Go into it and you should be able to get anything you need for it. Then (if you are using XP) go back into My Computer, right click and format it.

Im not saying this will work but as i actually read the whole thread this time, i understood what the problem was, and this is what i done when i kinda had a problem like this with an external HD

Hope this helps

 

[Lord Kalthorn]

For one i dont have the windows CD, for another, i cannot install anything on the drive, as it is EXTERNAL, recognised only as a USB mass storage device, not the primary hard disk drive. Messing around with installing thingd would only affect my INTERNAL, primary hard disk drive, which has nothing wrong with it whatsoever, is only a few days old and does not need a reinstall. To be honest, neither does the external wrong. I must repeat again, there is nothing wrong with the external hard disk drive, or the OS on it, or the files or the components or anything. The only problem i have is i need to be able to log into that hard drive at startup, which i cant do as i cant boot with it as primary. I know my passwords, and all my log in names, but because i cant boot with it i cant put them in at start up. Even if i could install im not sure it would do any good whatsoever, as i would still need to run it once as primary.
my only option is hacking my own hard disk drive, which i know nothing about but as is NTFS ive heard its incredibly difficult, or find someone with a computer with a new motherboard who can boot from USB. Ive heard from many UK sources that on new motherboards its possible although at times unstable. I dont want an OS on the hard drive anyway, once i can get the passwords off i intend to save the documents i want and reformat it as an empty store.

So, I'm not entirely sure what you want help on now?!

You can't boot from the External Drive - we've already worked that out as it is impossible. So if everything is working ok, there is nothing wrong. Your original question was vague - you simply asked for help.

What is it exactly that you want to do?

 

[Lozling]

The problem was the hard drive wanted a password put into it on startup, which i couldnt do as i couldnt boot. FYI, ive since discovered its perfectly possible to boot externally, you can even boot form a key drive, and my mobo would let me boot from a floppy drive. What i wanted was a way to get round that fact that originally, the hard drive was a primary drive, with an OS with log ins and passwords. Because i could no longer log into my account through startup, my files were inaccessible with the drive connected externally. However, finally someone understood what i meant, and it was sorted, no reinstalls, no connecting it externally to other computers, as none of that would have worked. Thanks for all your help anyway.

 

[Lord Kalthorn]

The problem was the hard drive wanted a password put into it on startup, which i couldnt do as i couldnt boot. FYI, ive since discovered its perfectly possible to boot externally, you can even boot form a key drive, and my mobo would let me boot from a floppy drive. What i wanted was a way to get round that fact that originally, the hard drive was a primary drive, with an OS with log ins and passwords. Because i could no longer log into my account through startup, my files were inaccessible with the drive connected externally. However, finally someone understood what i meant, and it was sorted, no reinstalls, no connecting it externally to other computers, as none of that would have worked. Thanks for all your help anyway.

Ah, well you've got me there!

What I think you may need to do if set the Hard Drive which is in the Computer to Secondary. But I have no idea about External Drives at all - never had one because they're so expensive compared to internal ones and they are not as fast. I hope someone else here knows how though; I don't like to see someone not get an answer!

 

[Lozling]

Youre ok, Ive got myself all sorted now. I had almost got the the answer myself but a bit of an extra nudge from someone with know how meant i could claim ownership of the entire hard drive, thus disabling the previous user accounts on the hard drive. Yeah i would rather nice internal hard drives i have to say, but having a laptop makes that hard, however i have a nice new 60GB internal hard drive and this is a 20GB external MP3 and movie store. They are slower but USB 2 makes them bearable.
Actually i do have another totally unrelated question, how do i tell if my dvd writer is + or - or both? I cant see anything on the drive and so far poking about in the hardware settings has proved futile. Also a wee explanation of what the difference is would be nice, probably all very obvious stuff but im a girl with a laptop, nuff said

 

[Lord Kalthorn]

I don't think it says it anywhere; I can't find it one mine. When did you buy it? Maybe that would help somebody else work it out - the rise of new DVD Writers so quickly from the point where just the idea was amazing to me last June. Is it a DVD-RAM? That would mean its both - but thats all I know.

 

[David Lindon]

Youre ok, Ive got myself all sorted now. I had almost got the the answer myself but a bit of an extra nudge from someone with know how meant i could claim ownership of the entire hard drive, thus disabling the previous user accounts on the hard drive. Yeah i would rather nice internal hard drives i have to say, but having a laptop makes that hard, however i have a nice new 60GB internal hard drive and this is a 20GB external MP3 and movie store. They are slower but USB 2 makes them bearable.
Actually i do have another totally unrelated question, how do i tell if my dvd writer is + or - or both? I cant see anything on the drive and so far poking about in the hardware settings has proved futile. Also a wee explanation of what the difference is would be nice, probably all very obvious stuff but im a girl with a laptop, nuff said

Don't really know. I expect it would say on the box if you still have it

 

[Lozling]

it came from a lesser known internet based company (though the machine is a beast) so the box is totally unbranded. Its a few weeks old only so i suspect it'll be +-