Does the Viewsat have a menu choice to format the hard drive?
My Visionsat did... so I would expect yours should, too.
I have also found that what order things get powered up can matter, too.
Not sure what the exact sequence is, but sometimes after extracting shows with my computer, I have difficulty getting the receiver to recognize the drive again.
Since the prefered sequence for mine isn't likely the same as yours, I can't give good advice.
but . . .
What I do, is power up the receiver with the rear panel switch, and let it stabilize for a minute or two in the "off" state.
Plug in the power to the hard drive and give it a minute.
Connect the drive to the receiver and wait another minute or two.
- I notice my receiver appears to detect the drive in this condition, as the display blinks a bit.
Last step is to power up the receiver with the remote - and wait another 30 seconds for the drive to begin working.
- pressing a key to access the drive in this state won't get you anywhere.