External HD question

  • Thread starter Thread starter Jim
  • Start date Start date
J

Jim

I have an external (USB) HD on one XP computer which is working just fine.
When I move the drive to my other XP PC, the drive letter shows but no data.
It's telling me to insert the disk!!

Suggestions greatly appreciated.
 
Follow up & correction

I was mistaken, when I move the external HD to a second computer no new
drive letter appears. I then tried another working external HD and it also
did not show a drive letter.

It's important to note that no new drive letter appears when I connect the
external drive.
 
Jim said:
Follow up & correction

I was mistaken, when I move the external HD to a second computer no new
drive letter appears. I then tried another working external HD and it also
did not show a drive letter.

It's important to note that no new drive letter appears when I connect the
external drive.
Click to expand...


Jim:
Just so we have a clear idea of the problem...

*Both* of your USBEHDs work just fine on PC #1. No problems at all.

But *both* USBEHDs are apparently not detected on PC #2.

Needless to say, you've connected other USB devices to PC #2, e.g., flash
drive, digital camera, etc., and experienced no problems there, right?

Is all that correct? If it is...

Try this re the second machine...

1. Power-off the USBEHD before bootup. After bootup, power-on. See if the
device is detected under those circumstances. If no-go, try the opposite,
i.e., power-on at bootup.

2. I'm assuming you've tried other USB ports on the second PC, yes? And
you're not connecting via a USB hub, right?

3. Access the BIOS on the second machine and disable the "boot from USB
device" option should that setting be present in the BIOS. Ditto for "USB
legacy support" or similar setting if present.

4. In the USB controllers section of Device Manager, uninstall all the USB
controllers listed and reboot.

5. We have encountered a few - very few - older motherboards (about five or
so years old) that exhibit USB 2.0 connectivity problems, even though
they're presumably designed for USB 2.0 capability and the installed XP OS
includes SP1 or SP2. (I'm assuming your PC contains a SP since there were
definite XP OS-related USB-connectivity problems prior to the SP1 update).
In a number of those cases involving a motherboard problem an additional USB
2.0 driver was included with the MB or available from the motherboard's
manufacturer. Theoretically there should not have been any need to install
an auxiliary USB 2.0 driver, but we found this was the only way to ensure
reliable USB 2.0 connectivity. Admittedly this was a rare situation with
only a very few motherboards and we haven't encountered this identical
problem with motherboards manufactured over the past five years or so. But
I'm including this as a "shot-in-the-dark". Anyway, if all else fails, check
the motherboard manufacturer's site and see if there's any info on this
problem you're experiencing.
Anna
 
I have an external (USB) HD on one XP computer which is working just
fine. When I move the drive to my other XP PC, the drive letter shows
but no data. It's telling me to insert the disk!!

Suggestions greatly appreciated.
Click to expand...

Sometimes they are seen OK but just aren't given a letter if the OS
can't decide what to do with it, or possibly an update is missing.

Control Panel; Administrative Tools; Disk Management will let you assign
a drive letter to it. Then all should be fine.

Please let us know.

Twayne
 
Many thanks Anna, your step 4 (remove USB from Device Manager) and reboot
fixed the problem!!!

Jim
 
Back
Top