help: external hard drive wont show up

[maclook]

i just bought an external hard drive enclosure for a new hard drive but it doesn't show up when i plug it into my macbook. the enclosure lights up with a blue status light when i plug in the USB but it never shows in disk utility and finder. leopard is installed on the external hard drive (im trying to clone my macbook's hd). i'm thinking its the enclosure but are there any steps i can take to ensure i'm doing everything correctly?
the external hard drive is working, it was installed in my macbook yesterday but i took it out because time machine restoring fails
also, i plugged the external into my time capsule. the blue status light turns on meaning its plugged in but i only see my time capsule in the network

 

[stridemat]

Does it show up in Disk Utility?

 

[maclook]

Does it show up in Disk Utility?

no it doesn't. i think it may just be the enclosure being crappy even though i just bought it. it's an antec mx-25 i got from bestbuy.
not being a fresh unformatted HD and having leopard already installed shouldn't be the issue right?

 

[stridemat]

It should still show up in disk utility if it is unformatted.

Have you installed the HD correctly in the enclosure? I would guess that could be the problem.

 

[maclook]

It should still show up in disk utility if it is unformatted.

Have you installed the HD correctly in the enclosure? I would guess that could be the problem.

wow i feel stupid though i blame the design more than myself . it wasnt correctly installed in the enclosure. thanks for your help!

 

[stridemat]

wow i feel stupid though i blame the design more than myself . it wasnt correctly installed in the enclosure. thanks for your help!

a true workman never blames his tools.....

 

[maclook]

i was so happy i thought this problem was solved but ITS NOT

i was in the process of writing down what just happened but i won't even bother. i have concluded that this hard drive was sent from hell. i cant restore my TM backups, i can't properly erase or partition it, and now it (could POSSIBLY be the enclosure) keeps disappearing and turning off when its plugged in via USB. i'm going to go throw it on the ground now