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Author Topic: Western Digital External USB Drives Not Working  (Read 3272 times)

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IllinoisWayne

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    Western Digital External USB Drives Not Working
    « on: April 14, 2007, 08:08:48 AM »
    I have three Western Digital WD2500B007 external USB drives (connected one at a time) that were working OK up until a short time ago.  Now my computer will not recognize any of the drives.

    I have uninstalled and disconnected the drive.  When Windows XP sees that the drive has been reconnected, the “Find New Hardware” balloon appears for a USB Mass Storage Device.  Soon, the balloon displays that a problem occurred during installation. 

    In Device Manager under USB Controllers is an entry for a USB Mass Storage Drive.  It has a yellow circle with a ! in it.  When I check the properties, under Device Status I see “This device cannot start. (Code 10)”

    It sounds like there may be a driver issue, but I do not see anything on the Western Digital Web Site about drivers, and I thought Windows XP didn't require a special driver for something like this.  When I got these drives, I don't recall loading any drivers.

    Any ideas about what is going on and how I can fix this?

    GX1_Man

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    Re: Western Digital External USB Drives Not Working
    « Reply #1 on: April 14, 2007, 08:13:55 AM »
    Try the drives on another computer to see if they are functional and isolate where the problem is. No drivers are involved or needed.

    Raptor

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    Re: Western Digital External USB Drives Not Working
    « Reply #2 on: April 14, 2007, 08:49:20 AM »
    They should work out of the box, but perhaps they came with drivers? You also didn't mention whether or not you have SP2 installed...

    And can you see them in the disk manager when connected?

    soybean



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    Re: Western Digital External USB Drives Not Working
    « Reply #3 on: April 14, 2007, 09:03:07 AM »
    No drivers are involved or needed.
    Well, you mean no specific USB drivers are needed for a USB hard drive, right?  But, there could be a problem with the Windows USB drivers, couldn't there?  This situation reminds me of some of the forum discussions where patio recommended going into Device Manager, uninstalling all USB devices, restarting the computer, and letting Windows go through the Found New Hardware routine and reinstall USB drivers.  Also, the manufacturer of his motherboard may have USB drivers available for download; mine does.

    IllinoisWayne

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      Re: Western Digital External USB Drives Not Working
      « Reply #4 on: April 15, 2007, 04:18:48 PM »
      Thanks to everyone who replied.  These are my girlfriend's drives, and she discovered today that the problem was with the external power supply that she used for all of them.  The problem went away with another power supply.

      soybean



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      Re: Western Digital External USB Drives Not Working
      « Reply #5 on: April 15, 2007, 08:02:48 PM »
      Thanks for the follow-up.  Glad to hear the cause of the problem is now known. 

      That reminds me, I had some trouble with an external hard drive (hard drive in an external enclosure) with it seeming to sporadically turn on and off.  Some observation revealed the problem would start after the external power supply, or AC adapter, had been powered on for awhile and had become warm.  I decided to try sitting it next to the computer case where some air vents are drawing some air into the case, as a way of cooling the AC adapter.  Since I started doing this, I have not had any problems with the sporadic of and off behavior and the adapter stays cooler to the touch.