Have An External HDD Problem/Question

Discussion in 'hardware' started by TomAZ, Dec 28, 2016.

  1. TomAZ

    TomAZ Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2010
    Posts:
    1,131
    Location:
    USA
    For a few years now, I've had two usb HDDs attached to my computer with XP OS. Just the other day, one of them died and I replaced it with a new drive -- almost exactly the same as the original one.

    When I first attached the new drive, it was recognized fine as 'new hardware found.' And it seems to function okay with one exception... when I first boot my system (or re-boot it), the new drive is not recognized (or at least it doesn't show up in 'My Computer.') However, if I pull the usb cable from the port and re-insert it, the drive shows up after a few seconds.

    I can't figure out what's going on and it's a little confusing because everything is connected exactly the same as drive I replaced. By the way, the new drive did not come with an installation disk or drivers, so it must just be using universal system drivers. And the drive is also a combo unit -- both usb 2.0 and 3.0.

    Anyway, just wondering if anyone has any thoughts as to how I can get it to boot up correctly? Thanks.
     
  2. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 25, 2006
    Posts:
    2,555
    Try with the USB disk connected to another USB 3 port.
    All USB 3.0 disks are backward compatible with USB 2.0.
     
  3. plat1098

    plat1098 Guest

  4. TomAZ

    TomAZ Registered Member

    Joined:
    Feb 27, 2010
    Posts:
    1,131
    Location:
    USA
    Thanks for the suggestions. I'll try this, but it probably won't help much. I only have usb 2.0 on my system and everything is connected an configured exactly the same as with the old drive I replaced. That's what's so confusing.

    Both the original drive and the replacement drive are Western Digital 'My Books.' The only difference is the new drive is 3TB -- the old one was 2TB. And the new drive came with a usb 2.0/3.0 combo cable (which I haven't really seen before), but I'm still just using the usb 2.0 cable that I originally had. I can certainly try changing that cable, but I don't see where that would make much difference.
     
  5. subhrobhandari

    subhrobhandari Registered Member

    Joined:
    Nov 6, 2009
    Posts:
    780
    It is an XP computer with MBR? Then you cannot use more than 2 TB HDDs. Check this link.
     
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