Ext. hard drives no longer recognised

[epoxpro]

Hi there
I'm running XP Pro SP3 and up till about 4 weeks ago both my external hard
drives were recognised by this system after plugging the USB cable into a
front port on the case.

The 2nd ext. HDD is a Seagate 1TB drive which is only a few weeks old and
after purchase brought it home plugged in the power and the USB cable in the
front port and it was immediately identified by the OS as new hardware and
was up and running in a matter of seconds. What happens now is I plug in the
cable in the port and the icon comes up in the systray, but no screen asking
what I want to do like explore the files etc.

The drive does not show up in disk management and when I click
Action->Refresh the system freezes so I need to power down the drive unplug
the cable and reset the system and it boots to a desktop normally. They also
don't show up in My Computer or Windows Explorer. Both the ext. HDD's work
perfectly in my other system.Also my flash drives work perfectly in that
port and all other ports. I've tried both ext HDD's and the same thing
happens. I've un-installed the USB controllers in Device Manager and after a
restart were all found and re-installed correctly.

Also I have swapped my HDD (have removable racks) with the other and the
ext. HDD is recognised which means (I think) that its something to do with
the OS on my number 1 drive? And if I boot my system with the USB cable
installed the system finds it and the drive is accessible. Safely remove it
and plug it back in and I have the same problem?

They were working perfectly last time I did an image backup on them from
this system and to the best of my knowledge nothing has changed.

This has me stumped and I have run out of ideas. Does anyone have any idea
what might be happening and how I can get them to work again.

Cheers

 

[epoxpro]

Hi there

Is there anyone out there who can offer me any type of help in this matter.
It would be greatrly appreciated. Or any leads to investigate at least.

Cheers

 

[Anna]

epoxpro...
1. If I correctly understand your post the problem you're experiencing re
the non-recognition of both your USB external HDDs occurs with only *one* of
your internal (removable) HDDs. I take it both of your removable HDDs
contain a bootable OS.

2. And can we assume the problem you describe involves any USB port (front
or rear) on your system, not solely the front USB port on your desktop PC
case? Or is the problem you describe confined *only* to the front USB port?

3. So there's no USB connectivity problem when you've booted to the HDD
which we'll call HDD #1. Both USBEHDs function normally in all respects at
that time. Do I have this right?

4. So the problem you've described is *only* experienced with HDD #2, yes?
And you say your USB-connected flash drives function just fine in any front
or rear USB port when you've booted to that HDD? So that the problem
involves only the two USBEHDs re their connection to HDD #2, right?

5. I take it the two removable HDDs, while they contain the XP OS (or do
they contain different OSs?) contain substantially different data and/or
user configurations. They're not clones of each other, right?

6. Assuming I correctly understand the basics of the problem you're
describing, have you invoked the sfc /scannow and chkdsk commands re the HDD
that experiences this problem?

7. Think it might be a good idea to check out that HDD with the HDD
diagnostic utility available from the disk's manufacturer, notwithstanding
the fact that there are (apparently) no other problems with the system? Or
are there other problems?

8. Again, assuming I correctly understand the problem, have you given any
consideration to undertaking a Repair install of the XP OS on the HDD
experiencing this problem?
Anna

 

[epoxpro]

Hi there
I think you have it right both removable HDD's have XP Pro installed but
with different configurations.

And yes the problem with non recognition of the ext. HDD's happens on any
USB port front or back.

My 2 removable drives are #1 and #2. Problem exists on #1. Flash drives work
perfectly on any port on the #1 drive.

The system WILL recognise an ext HDD when I boot (cold) with that ext HDD
plugged into a port. It then appears normally in My Computer and Windows
Explorer and I can copy and paste files as per normal.
If I "safely remove" it and then plug it back in the USB icon appears almost
immediately in the systray but it does not appear in My Computer etc in
other words it's not recognised.

No I haven't considered a repair install but I think it will be the only way
to regain the connectivity. The system otherwise is stable as a rock and
exhibits no other symproms that lead me to beleive the HDD is faulty in any
way.

Many thanks for your reply.
Cheers.