No driver for external usb hdd

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Guest

I just purchased a new WD 160gb external hdd and xp sp2 refuses to recognize
the drive at all. It never shows up in device mgr(only a yellow question mark
is shown in other devices/ext hdd), no drive letter is ever assigned, and the
new hardware wizard can't find any driver for it. No drivers came with the
drive since xp is SUPPOSED to have them built-in. I've got 2 usb ports and
both work perfectly fine for every other device I plug in except this hdd. WD
support has gone thru it with me and says its a windows problem.

Someone, anyone, please help!! I have to remove all my school work from this
computer(it was leased for me for retraining and I have to give it back).
 
Before you can use a disk, you must first initialize it.

Hope this helps

Here's the quote from help;

To initialize new disks

1.. Open Computer Management (Local).
2.. In the console tree, click Disk Management.
a.. Computer Management (Local)
b.. Storage
c.. Disk Management
3.. Right-click the disk you want to initialize, and then click Initialize
Disk.
4.. In the Initialize Disk dialog box, select the disk(s) to initialize.
The disk is initialized as a basic disk.

Notes

a.. To open Computer Management, click Start, and then click Control
Panel. Click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and
then double-click Computer Management.
b.. You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the
Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer
is connected to a network, network policy settings might also prevent you
from completing this procedure.
c.. New disks appear as Not Initialized. Before you can use a disk, you
must first initialize it. If you start Disk Management after adding a disk,
the Initialize Disk Wizard appears so you can initialize the disk.
 
Blair said:
Before you can use a disk, you must first initialize it.

Hope this helps

Here's the quote from help;

To initialize new disks

1.. Open Computer Management (Local).
2.. In the console tree, click Disk Management.
a.. Computer Management (Local)
b.. Storage
c.. Disk Management
3.. Right-click the disk you want to initialize, and then click Initialize
Disk.
4.. In the Initialize Disk dialog box, select the disk(s) to initialize.
The disk is initialized as a basic disk.

Notes

a.. To open Computer Management, click Start, and then click Control
Panel. Click Performance and Maintenance, click Administrative Tools, and
then double-click Computer Management.
b.. You must be logged on as an administrator or a member of the
Administrators group in order to complete this procedure. If your computer
is connected to a network, network policy settings might also prevent you
from completing this procedure.
c.. New disks appear as Not Initialized. Before you can use a disk, you
must first initialize it. If you start Disk Management after adding a disk,
the Initialize Disk Wizard appears so you can initialize the disk.
Click to expand...

The disk doesn't show up there either. The task bar does show that it was
plugged in/out and repeatedly brings up the 'Found New Hardware' wizard (it
does show it as an external hdd) which tries to find the driver.
I'm not a 'noob', but I'm not an expert in anyway either. Ever since I
installed sp2 a few months ago various things have constantly plagued my
system. I held off as long as I could installing it just because of all the
problems I've read about other people having, but I try my best to keep my
system as current as possible. Stupid me should have made a restore point
beforehand, but I needed the room on my hard drive for school work so I
turned it off.
Is there anyway to re-install windows or just the usb driver w/o loosing all
my school work? Where can I find just the usb drivers, because that's what's
causing all the problems?
 
How many GB's do you need to get your school work off the computer you need
to return? It sounds to me that it doesn't have a big hard drive to begin
with, would you be able to back up to a CD or DVD instead till you get a new
computer? I know that is a dumb question, and I'm sure you thought of
that, but having only 2 usb ports makes me think you've got a fairly old
computer, and maybe thats why your having problems with sp2. I'm guessing.
Maybe one or more of the experts on this newsgroup will be able to give you
better answers. Here's hoping. Sorry I couldn't be more help. I know it's
frustrating.
 
Blair said:
How many GB's do you need to get your school work off the computer you need
to return? It sounds to me that it doesn't have a big hard drive to begin
with, would you be able to back up to a CD or DVD instead till you get a new
computer? I know that is a dumb question, and I'm sure you thought of
that, but having only 2 usb ports makes me think you've got a fairly old
computer, and maybe thats why your having problems with sp2. I'm guessing.
Maybe one or more of the experts on this newsgroup will be able to give you
better answers. Here's hoping. Sorry I couldn't be more help. I know it's
frustrating.
Click to expand...

The system is only 2 years old ( a Gateway notebook - 1.4ghz mobile
P4/512mb/30gb/32mb Radeon7500) and came with xp. It probably is SP2 that is
causing all the problems. I forget now what MS made me install that req SP2,
and I've regretted it since!! My cdrw/dvd makes nothing but toasters since
then too. I don't know anyone in my area with a system to network with so I
can transfer my files either. Damn, I miss my Amiga!! Never, ever had a
problem. Since going to Windoze, nothing but!!
 
Update: Trying a suggestion in another thread, I booted into safe mode and
uninstalled my USB root hubs and host controllers and had Windoze reinstall
them after rebooting. It's a good thing I made a restore point beforehand
this time. Windoze refused, saying my install disk (original WinXP SP1 Home
OS) was too old. So now no USB ports work. Another SP2 glitch gets me again!
So I used my restore point to get back to my original problem, plus now one
of my thumbdrives isn't recognized but my other is. Same exact symptoms.

I went to the local library and tryed both the HDD and both thumbdrives in
their 'not so new' machines. Everything worked fine, so it's not the hardware.

Where are the XP drivers for USB and what do I do to reinstall them?
 
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