cable of external harddisk doesn't cooperate, plz help!

[Emiel]

Hi y'all,

I bought this USB-cable to connect my external harddisk to one of my school's pc's, but somehow the computer doesn't recognize my baby (yeah, it's a d*mn good external harddisk, 120 GB ). I tried another cable, one of my teacher's and one of my classmates's, and it worked. So I figured it had to be the cable I bought. I returned the cable to the store where i bought it, and they told me it should work. They used the d*mn cable and somehow, it did is job on their computer without whining! The temperature outside is around 0 degrees, maybe these devices can't stand the cold. I think you'll understand I'm pretty pissed off right now; I have to use a d*mn back-up to do my work.  I have a few options:

1: return the cable and demand my money back, so I'll have to continue using the back-up until I get a new cable (which looks the most logical thing to do right now).
2: ask one of the CH computer geniusses to help me with this.

I'd really appreciate it if one of you guys (or girls ) know what the problem is, I wouldn't have to go back to the store to buy another one. The again, I'll get my money back, so it shouldn't be that hard to buy another cable.  Anyway, if you are able to, please help!

[DragonFly]

Is there any cable that came with the hard drive when you bought it?  It should, I think. If it does then why bought a new USB cable?

Did a sale man try the cable on your hard drive or their own hard drive. You should bring your hard drive and let they try it.

Well, make sure you have the right USB cable.  Buy a USB 2.0 rather than a USB 1.0. They both look and feel the same but one is faster than the other.

Have a happy holiday season.

[Emiel]

Is there any cable that came with the hard drive when you bought it?  It should, I think. If it does then why bought a new USB cable?

Did a sale man try the cable on your hard drive or their own hard drive. You should bring your hard drive and let they try it.

Well, make sure you have the right USB cable.  Buy a USB 2.0 rather than a USB 1.0. They both look and feel the same but one is faster than the other.

Have a happy holiday season.

The cable that came with my hardrive? I lost it somewhere between school and home, and I don't know where.  That's why I bought a new one. I brought my harddrive to the store, the sales guy tried out the cable on my own harddrive and it worked. Problem is, I'm now at home and it doesn't work here either. It almost seems the cable only works at the store.  About the cable, it fits perfectly, so I thought things would work out the right way. And I'm sorry, I don't know whether my cable's a USB 2.0 or a 1.0 . I'm at a dead end right now, don't knowing what to do next.

By the way, you have a happy holiday season too. 

edit: yay, i got promoted form newbie to rookie! 

[Emiel]

Hi guys,

my problem is solved now. It turns out that Dragonfly was right; my external harddisk was a USB 2.0 device while the first cable I bought was 1.0 Anyway, I bought a new cable which works perfectly; I connected my external harddisk to my home's computer and it worked (the computer didn't recognized it at first, the second time it did). I was lucky I didn't have to use my harddisk at school today, because we played games, watched movies and enjoyed a cup of hot chocolate milk.
Yet another happy ending... 

[Broni]

Thank you for posting back, and congratulations for your promotion