3.5" usb 2 external hard drive

I just set up a 3.5" usb 2 external hard drive enclosure with a harddrive in it and connected everything and the green light is on on the external case but I can't find anything in My Computer. How do I use this thing? I have Windows XP and this new hardware shows up in Device Manager, but not in MyComputer.

 

start > right-click my computer > properties > what service pack version does it say?

 

service pack 2

 

Is the hard drive formatted?

 

Also it may not have registered correctly. I know this may sound stupid but try discsonnecting it and reconnecting it. also restart the machine as well. after restarting to into Computer Management (easiest way is to right click on ur My Computer icon and click manage). then go to disk management. see if it shows up there. if it does right click on it and click the option that says "make partition active". that may or may not help....

 

I have a usb 2.0 card reader & I plugged it in a usb 1.1 connector in the pc & it wouldn't turn on at all. No light. After a while, I figured it out. It must be plugged in a usb 2.0 connector to turn on. Try each one. Won't hurt.

 

akhilles cuold be right. check to see if you have usb 2.0 drivers. when u look in device manager expand the usb section and see if you see anything with "enhanced" in there. if you do then u have usb 2.0 drivers and should be ok. however since, your drive has an external power source it won't matter. it should still work with both usb 1.1 and 2.0.

 

Thanks Novice,Akhilles and Embrya for your suggestions. It turned out to be as Novice suggested, that the HD needed to be formatted. (If there were a smilie for embarrassment I would put it X here). Thanks again.