Need help with an external usb hard drive

Hello my sister-in-law has a Compaq Presario 1500US with Windows XP service pack 2 (fully patched, she don't want to risk upgrading to service pack 3) laptop and we're trying to get a Western Digital External USB Hard Drive (model : Passport wd1600bev) to work with it with no luck. Everytime we try plugging it in a message pops up from Windows saying : New hardware found, then it asks me for the location of the drivers.

This shouldn't be happening because the computer at her job doesn't ask for drivers to recognize the drive. We tested other usb devices on her machine and they work fine : Logitech joystick, HP printer, IBM mouse, etc....

Any idea why her machine isn't working with the external HD?

 

Just let Windows automatically find whatever drivers it wants and you should be OK.

Additionally,a dual-connector cable is designed specifically for the WD Passport™ portable USB drive. Normally, the USB port on the PC provides enough power to operate the drive. However, there are some models of computers that do not supply enough power for the drive to operate. In those rare cases, this cable can be used to power the drive using power from two USB ports on the system.

 

That's the thing we tried that and it doesn't work. An error pops up saying windows can't find the right drivers and the device will not function properly.

 

Thank you hairy coo and JRViejo, I got it working now. You'll neve guess what it was!

When we tried using the external USB drive on her laptop (I didn't really notice it at the time) she had the laptop unplugged from the wall and it was running on the battery (the battery was at 37%). A friend of mine recommended we try using the usb HD drive again this time with the laptop plugged in (the battery was fully charged at this point). Guess what it worked!

Apparently we're not the only ones that had this happen to us. Its not a driver issue it's a power issue.