problem that's stumped eveyone so far

[Shikina]

So I just recently reformatted my laptop (dell inspiron 2650) part of which included doing a fresh install of XP home. However, after doing all the updates (SP2, etc.) I discovered that my external hard drive isn't being recognized. Allow me to clarify. I'm using a Maxtor 6Y250P0 internal hard drive in a USB 2.0 enclosure- hey it was significantly cheaper this way. Now the curious bit is that my USB 1.0 bus reads the drive fine, if a little slowly. But when I try to connect the drive to my PCMCIA USB 2.0 card (BusLink) I can hear the sound that XP makes when new hardware is attached, but I can't see the drive on MY COMPUTER. And to make matters worse, so long as the drive is connected, my computer kind of stalls. I can use the mouse, but no file will open or program execute. The computer just sits there thinking...and thinking...until I remove the hard drive and then everything springs back to life.

Now my big admission is that I've had this problem in the past during an earlier reformat. That time I solved the problem by reinstalling my notebooks chipset driver. This time that hasn't solved the problem. What could be the issue? Do I need a driver for my enclosure? Where would I find one? Remember that my enclosure is generic and I no longer have any supporting cd-roms or even the name of the manufacturer. Maxtor won't give me support because I'm using a drive that's meant to be internal as an external drive without a maxtor enclosure. PLEASE HELP. You'd be doing me a gigantic favor, and you'd be proving your computer prowess as nobody in my companies talented IT staff has even come close to solving this issue. Thanks.

 

[CntdwnToExtn]

how long have you let your system stay "bogged down" after you hook up your HD?
does the little blurb say "hardware is ready to use" or something like that?
sometimes it take a while for USB hook ups to get installed.

 

[Shikina]

I usually won't allow my system to stay "bogged" down for very long. Possibly a minute or two. But I repeat that there is no doubt that my computer is frozen. Waiting longer would not result in my computer recognizing the hard drive as connected to my USB2 port. In fact the one time I did manage to successfully navigate to the device manager while my hd was usb2 connected, I tried to update the driver, and my computer got stuck "looking for updated drivers". I had to shut my computer down via the power button as I lost all access to the task manager (even after I disconnected the hard disk).

 

[fdisk]

This might help Maxtor Maxblaster You may need to use the cd to make your drive readable by your computer. With Wester Digital, they include a cd with each hard drive that you need to run before you even use the hard drive.

 

[Shikina]

I appreciate the response! Unfortunately I have tried this option. The MaxBlaster contains mostly installation manuals, a system diagnostic, and a formatting utility. It has not helped me solve my problem.

 

[RicoDirenzo]

What's with that! I just had (was going to anyway) to build a second puter for my DVDrw+ USB because my current puter finds the drive but I get an error message form XP that says the installation has malfunctioned and XP does not recognize the drive. I did device manager drive roll back, remove, update, ect. And this was after a fresh install! I'm suspecting that it is because I have 6 other usb devices attached to the original computer and maybe XP SP2 has a S**t hemoorage because of the large number of USB peripherals attached??? Looks like it a common bug! I'd like an answer too! The second puter recognizes the drive NP!

 

[clchris_80]

Mine too

So I am having the exact same problem with mine. I put a Maxtor in it and all that pops up is maxtor usb device in the device manager. I can't get it to fully install and give me a volume lable in my computer. I've tried everything. Nothing works. Sorry.

 

[clchris_80]

Mine too

So I am having the exact same problem with mine. I put a Maxtor in it and all that pops up is maxtor usb device in the device manager. I can't get it to fully install and give me a volume lable in my computer. I've tried everything. Nothing works. Sorry.

 

[Jorsoft]

Sometimes that happens with my WDC external. I haven't yet installed the cd for it on my laptop. When I connect it the drive will take a few minutes to recognize the drive. Have you tried plugging it in with the computer off, and then turning it on? That helps with me.

 

[PZEROFGH]

why dont you try connecting it to a different computer and see if it works. maybe its the usb ports, or maybe its the harddrive. try putting the pcmcia card into a different slot. i think its the drivers for the card.

EDIT: i dont think im helping