Laptop died and trying to use the hard drive as an external

Question

Hello,
I'm new to this forum and did a search, but couldn't find the answer to my problem. I was using a Dell laptop with a Toshiba hard drive. I'm not sure what the model number is, but I think it's hdd2193.
At any rate, the laptop died (it stopped accepting power, nothing to do with the hard drive) but it died with some files on it that I need. Everywhere I looked on the web, it said that all you need to do when this happens is get an external enclosure and plug it in.
I did this and when I plug it in, Windows XP asks me to format my drive! It recognizes it is there, but won't access any of the files.
After some research, somebody informed me that certain Toshiba hard drives are locked to the laptop they came from, and as a result, might not work in an external hard drive enclosure. I need to know if this is the case, and if so, what I can do about it. If this is not the case, then I need to know why it's asking me to format, and how I can access my files. (If necessary, what data recovery program I could use to get my data off of it.)
Keep in mind that there was NOTHING wrong with the hard drive when I pulled it out of the laptop, and I was very careful about disconnecting and connecting it, so I don't believe the hard drive is corrupted. I think there is something else that's wrong, perhaps even the external hard drive enclosure.
Thanks a lot for any help you can give.

Answer 1

MK4026GAX is the model number.  That makes it a 40gig IDE 2.5" 9.5mm 5400RPM internal laptop hard drive.
That enclosure is one that is well known to have problems.  I would say that the problem is with the enclosure personally, but without having it here to test I can only be about 90% certain of that.  But since it draws it's power from the USB port I would have to lean in that direction. Comments on the Newegg site, along with comments I have read elsewhere show that the problem you are having is well known to happen with that enclosure though.  If you can try plugging it into a POWERED USB hub or directly into one of the motherboards USB ports.  Those normally supply more power than the USB ports mounted on the front of the case.  Also, do NOT use a USB extension cord as they tend to cause issues with these types of USB powered enclosures.  I normally use one of these to retrieve data from hard drives. http://www.microcenter.com/single_product_results.phtml?product_id=0285941  I've found them to be much more reliable and easier to use than an enclosure for temporary use.  I've yet to have a working drive that it won't work with.  Plus it works with ALL SATA and IDE hard drives from laptops and desktops. 
I know for a fact that it isn't a FAT file system, as that only recognizes hard drive partitions up to 2gigs in size.  If it's Windows XP it's either FAT32 or NTFS.  Since both systems have XP then it wouldn't matter as XP supports both.  I have no idea about the Mac as I don't use them (they aren't reliable enough and too many limitations to be usefull to me). 
If you don't post your COMPLETE model number it's very difficult to assist you. Please try to post in complete sentences with punctuation, capitals, and correct spelling. Toshiba does NOT provide any direct support in these forums. All support is User to User in their spare time.