[Tiresias]

I've been using a LaCie external hard drive (henceforth EHD) to transfer data between my MBP and a PC. The other day, while it was connected to the PC, my four year old daughter got hold of the mouse and right-mouse-clicked something (I didn't have time to see what) deleting it from My Computer.

Now, when I connect the EHD to my MBP, I get the error message:

Disk Insertion:

The Disk you inserted was not readable by this computer.

Initialize / Ignore / Reject

Initialize takes me into Disk Utility. There I can select the LaCie EHD icon and have a choice between Erasing the HD or Restoring it; but to restore it I must "Drag a disk, choose a disk image, or type a URL from which to restore."

I have no idea what that means.

The data on my EHD is a backup of my HD. So I don't mind erasing its contents or resetting or whatever. I just want to be able to use my EHD again.

What should I do?

[Tiresias]

/twiddling thumbs.

[Cold Warrior]

Restoring is if you have one source (another drive, disc, whatever) that you want to copy ("restore") to another, e.g., your external.

Choose erase if you want to erase.

[Tiresias]

Will erasing the disk make it readable again?

[slpdLoad]

Yes, when you erase the volume in Disk Utility, you can select the file type to use (in this case, "Mac OS Extended (Journaled)"), thereby "reformatting" the drive.

[Tiresias]

Is there any way to make the EHD readable again without erasing it?

[Tiresias]

/whistling

[Jacke]

Does it show up on the PC? If so, back up everything essential from the drive with that first.

[Tiresias]

It shows up in the "bar" with the clock at the bottom of the PC screen as a USB/external icon but not as an F-Drive in My Computer.