quote:
Originally posted by kierant
yet when it is inserted and taken out the customary noises occur. Baffled 
The sound you hear has actually nothing todo with Windows (not) reconizing the disk. The sound is just an indication that "something" is hot-plugged in.
Only then Windows should start up the reconizing stuff (in the form of a driver!) and only then it reconizes the disk as a disk.
If you don't have the proper driver or the driver isn't properly installed, then Windows wont reconize the disk as a disk, but still would reconize that "something" is plugged in (hence just the noise).
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Also check your configuration panel > system > hardware devices. And see if your USB drivers are properly installed and running (they probably are, but you never know).
Also try this:
Start > Run > "C:\WINDOWS\system32\rundll32.exe" shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll
It will start up the hotswap panel (safely remove hardware devices thingie). Tick the check box option below and see what it states in the list. If all things are good it should list all your drive letters assigned to the different USB ports. If not, there is something wrong with your driver.
If stuff is listed there, select each item and press on "Properties", check again if everything is running normal. After that, select the main top item and click on "end" or "stop" (or whatever the English equivalent of that button is). After that unplug the device and reboot windows and try again.
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