A little info first -- question is about a home computer. Installed
XP Upgrade package to machine, which was running Win2000 previously.

I have an external Seagate hard drive which is usually turned off, but
I turn it on to backup info every now and then.

With XP now installed on the computer, when I turn on the external
hard drive (HD), the main computer begins "Auto Scan" of the external
HD. After 30-60 seconds, it prompts me with a "write fail" message to
the effect that not all of the data could be retrieved and that the
problem may be with the HD or the network.

But in reality, this is not the case.

Next time "Auto Scan" appeared when I turned back on the external HD,
I hit "CANCEL" button of "Auto Scan" pop-up window, and then I am able
to access the external hard drive and I can see that all the files are
clearly there via Windows Explorer.

Another thing - I don't know if "Auto Scan" is a function of Windows
X, or am wondering if it is a function/feature of my System Suite AV
program/firewall software (?)

So, the basic question is, if it can be done and if it is a feature of
Win XP: How do you disable the "Auto Scan" feature?

Another thing I'm noticing is that even when I cancel the "Auto Scan"
operation and access the external drive via Windows Explorer, the
connection to the external drive seems to be unstable in that after a
certain amount of time, I no longer see the external drive letter in
Windows Explorer - it's as though the connection gets lost.

The external hard drive is only about 3 years old and has probably
been turned on for no longer than 2 or 3 hours in it's entirety.

Windows is attempting to "AutoPlay" the drive. It will examine the
volume and present the "Action to Take" box. You can disable the
Autoplay function with Tweak-UI Powertoy.

USB external drives have an average throughput of ~23 Megabytes.
The default Policy is for "Optimize for Quick Removal". If the policy
is changed to "Optimize for Performance" XP will attempt to enabled
the Write Behind caching on the drive. Depending on how heavily
your USB root Hub is loaded you may have problems with the USB
drive in Windows and shouldn't enable the Caching mode.

"HKL" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:7ae5767d-42ed-4847-95d4-(E-Mail Removed)...
>A little info first -- question is about a home computer. Installed
> XP Upgrade package to machine, which was running Win2000 previously.
>
> I have an external Seagate hard drive which is usually turned off, but
> I turn it on to backup info every now and then.
>
> With XP now installed on the computer, when I turn on the external
> hard drive (HD), the main computer begins "Auto Scan" of the external
> HD. After 30-60 seconds, it prompts me with a "write fail" message to
> the effect that not all of the data could be retrieved and that the
> problem may be with the HD or the network.
>
> But in reality, this is not the case.
>
> Next time "Auto Scan" appeared when I turned back on the external HD,
> I hit "CANCEL" button of "Auto Scan" pop-up window, and then I am able
> to access the external hard drive and I can see that all the files are
> clearly there via Windows Explorer.
>
> Another thing - I don't know if "Auto Scan" is a function of Windows
> X, or am wondering if it is a function/feature of my System Suite AV
> program/firewall software (?)
>
> So, the basic question is, if it can be done and if it is a feature of
> Win XP: How do you disable the "Auto Scan" feature?
>
> Another thing I'm noticing is that even when I cancel the "Auto Scan"
> operation and access the external drive via Windows Explorer, the
> connection to the external drive seems to be unstable in that after a
> certain amount of time, I no longer see the external drive letter in
> Windows Explorer - it's as though the connection gets lost.
>
> The external hard drive is only about 3 years old and has probably
> been turned on for no longer than 2 or 3 hours in it's entirety.