Problem with usb hardrive (my passport essential)?

Question

my problem is that I have 2 computers. On that uses windows XP and one that uses apple (macbook). When I connect the hardrive to the XP computer the bottom right of the screen says it has been attached. I can safely remove it whenever I want. However, I cannot access it because it does not come up on My Computer. My macbook is the only computer that can access the hardrive. What I need to know is how I can access the hardrive from a computer that uses windows XP.

Answer 1

The harddrive has probably been formatted for MacOS and will not be useable with any version of Windows. Macs can read Windows formatted drives but not vice-versa.

The only way to fix the problem permanently would be to move all data to your macbook, then format the USB harddrive from your XP laptop (right click on MyComputer and chose "manage", then you go "Storage" and "Disk Management") you'll see your drive and format it.