Question : Problem: new device doesn't show up in windows; how to format the disk

I have a new USB hard drive mounted in an external enclosure. It is an eSata drive, 320 GB. I formatted it a few weeks ago, however it has been doing odd things. Like showing up in the "My computer" window, occasionally. I think the formatting of it didn't go well, although I can't remember just how that went down. Suffice it to say, I would like to try to reformat the drive, I have XP. Can anyone tell me what method they would use to reformat the drive for best results - from floppy or from windows?

Thanks

Answer : Problem: new device doesn't show up in windows; how to format the disk

i'm confused : is it an eSata drive, or an USB one? those are different.
Any how, reformatting can be done from within windows :
go to disk management, right click the drive and select format