partitioning and formatting an external USB drive

[Klunker]

Hi..

I just finished assembling an external USB hard drive...I bought a 120 gig Maxtor drive and a no-name external USB 2.0 enclosure. I have hooked it to my computer (Windows ME OS), connected the power supply and turned it on...my computer detects the new device and has installed the software for it. It shows up on the "device manager," but not in Windows explorer. I assume that the problem is it isn't partitioned or formated. I've tried Fdisk, but it can't "see" the external drive.

Any suggestions as to how to proceed?

Thanks

Dave

[JohnE.]

Does it show up in the Management Console's "Disk Management" section? If so, you can right-click it there and perform a format.

[Klunker]

Thanks for the quick response, John...unfortunately what you are suggesting is unfamiliar to me--is this "Disk management" found in Windows ME? I can't find it.
Thanks again...I've got to go out now, so I won't be able to reply to any further comments/advice for a while.

Dave

[JohnE.]

Doh! I'm sorry... I assumed either Windows 2000 or XP. I've not used Windows ME much at all so I'm not sure if it has the Management Console. You might be able to format that drive right from the DOS/command prompt from within Windows.

[shahani]

If the drive is not seen in explorer, it will not be seen in DOS window. Probably it is unpartitioned.

Why not just partition it and format it before putting it in the USB enclosure?

I doubt ME will recognize 120GB so you may have to do 3 partitions.