HP SureStore for Personal Media Device hd3100

[Falconvale]

I'm referencing an old post on this forum, found here: https://h30434.www3.hp.com/t5/Forum-Feedback-Suggestions/HP-SureStore-for-Personal-Media-Device-hd31...

I hope there's been some additional information uncovered on that subject as I find myself with the same issue.

So let's start with the basics:

I'm running Windows 7 Home Premium 64-bit... on two separate computers.

I'm using two different backup drives. One is a MUCH older version with a model number of hp10000z. The other is newer by a year and is the hd3100.

I reformatted my old faithful =on purpose= in an effort to purge the files and gain some space on it. Couldn't get it working again and set it aside...  for five years. I recently decided to ressurect it try finding the software to see if I could get it working again and found the software that is apparently for the hd3100. 

All the steps worked smoothly from finding it to downloading it onto my desktop to following instructions and extracting the files. It installed perfectly on the hp10000z with no issues at all. 

But the newer hd3100 won't take it at all. I even tried deleting the original download, rebooting my computer and going through all the steps again.

I get that same error message Mozel found "There is no HP SureStore drive in your system. Please connect it." 

Now, I haven't wiped the hd3100 as I did the hp10000z. Makes me wonder if that's not the solution here, too, but I wanted to try the forum first. 

Both computers recognize the drive, show it in the list of other drives, I can read information on the PMD, add and remove files from it...  but when I try to install the updated software I get "There is no HP SureStore drive in your system. Please connect it." Well, sure there is! I just ran that software update from it! (Yes, I also ran it from the original download location on my desktop, but thought it might recognize the PMD if it was installed FROM it.)

Considering that both of these drives are well over 5 years old I haven't attempted to contact HP Support simply because last time I made that mistake they wanted to charge me =over $100= for their time before I even explained the problem.

So have there been any advances in technology since July of 2016 that will allow me to fix this? 

And just to cloud the issue with another request...  IS there a way to purge all the files from these drives without completely reformatting them? It seems they are only able to backup and restore and save, and save, and save...  until there is no longer any space on it. 

I'll keep researching, but I'm hoping someone on this forum will have an answer. (to both those questions)

Thanks in advance for any tips, tricks or assistance you can offer.

~ Falconvale

[Falconvale]

 N/A

[Dennis_Handly]

Any reason you didn't reply to that topic?

[Falconvale]

Well, yes Dennis. I'm the OP on the thread and I had started typing an explanation for the original post when I realized one of the mods had moved it from the older thread and opened a new one here. I couldn't find where to delete my reply, so I simply...  erased it. 

Do you have a similar problem? Or do you just not particularly like blank posts?   lol   

I'm looking for any assistance on this I can get.

~  falconvale