I think what Reverend & Super Star are trying to tell you is... The HDD needs to have a partition of a particular formatted file system, either FAT16, FAT32 or NTFS. Usually XP would prefer an NTFS partition for security & lower disk space useage. If there was a partition with any data on and it's not showing up as any of the recognised file systems then it's probably damaged. Things you could do are to check the MBR (Master Boot Record) for any errors, make sure all jumpers are in place & cables are in order, or even if the device is enabled or not. Other than that, not a lot. If there was any data, then once you've formatted it, use some recovery software to retreive the data, although some may get lost.