Laptop can't detect new 2.5" usb-powered extenal hard drive

[PandoraV]

I knew that we should partition/format brand new hard drive before we can use it,but the problem was laptop can't detect it at all !so it's impossible to format it under disk management.
Light was on,drive seems running after i pluged both usb cable to usb port respectively,windows cant detect any new hardware!
I tried several times with different usb ports and even pluged it to desktop but with no luck.
How to fix this?and is there another way to format your new external hard drive?


*windows xp pro with sp2
*seagate momentus 5400.5 sata 320-gb hard drive
*vantec nexstar sx sata-usb 2.5" external hard drive enclosure (NST-285S2-BK)


Thanks for your help.