External Hard Drive

[Bob]

I have a Western Digital external HD that I've used for sometime with my XP
machine without problem. When I connect it to my Vista Home Premium machine
it works fine for a couple of weeks then it becomes unrecognized. I get a
message that "the device needs to be replaced". I then connect it to my XP
machine where it works fine. Then I move it back to the Vista machine where
once again it work fine. Then the cycle begins again. Thinking it might need
a Vista specific driver I find there is none. It's doesn't require a driver
because the drive is "plug and play". Anyone know what the deal is with
this?

 

[AlexB]

Make sure your external HD is NTFS formatted. Vista does not like FAT32.

 

[Daddy Tadpole]

That shows yet again that Vista designers need their brains examined.
Whatever its faults, it's a very common format, and the World's
user-friendliest OS should know how to live with it, whether it likes it or
not.

It's totally unacceptable that Vista can't format a device the way the
*user* decides.

Regards

 

[Frank]

I have a Western Digital external HD that I've used for sometime with my
XP machine without problem. When I connect it to my Vista Home Premium
machine it works fine for a couple of weeks then it becomes
unrecognized. I get a message that "the device needs to be replaced". I
then connect it to my XP machine where it works fine. Then I move it
back to the Vista machine where once again it work fine. Then the cycle
begins again. Thinking it might need a Vista specific driver I find
there is none. It's doesn't require a driver because the drive is "plug
and play". Anyone know what the deal is with this?

It may be that you have S.M.A.R.T. technology enabled in your Vista BIOS
and it is telling you something about your external HDD.

"Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology, or S.M.A.R.T., is
a monitoring system for computer hard disks to detect and report on
various indicators of reliability, in the hope of anticipating failures."

Frank

 

[NoStop]

That shows yet again that Vista designers need their brains examined.
Whatever its faults, it's a very common format, and the World's
user-friendliest OS should know how to live with it, whether it likes it
or not.

Especially for external drives that a made to be plugged into all sorts of
other computers and devices.

It's totally unacceptable that Vista can't format a device the way the
*user* decides.

Since when does Microsoft give a shit about users? If they did, they
wouldn't have put out this toy operating system to the world.

Regards
Cheers.

--
Frank's Brain Activity Plotted (watch the red line):
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i4/Astronomy2/PreformanceMonitor.jpg

How a Windows Firewall protects your computer:
http://tinyurl.com/2z9qdn

AlexB (another Vista expert): "I ruined at least 5 or 6 installations of
Vista
before I realized what was going on."

 

[AlexB]

That shows that you are an IDIOT. He should format the disk with NTFS. Vista
does not like your idiotic FAT32.

The world most common format is on the way out for security reason. It will
be outgrown into FAT32ext for memory cards but that also may have additional
bits for security flags.

If you hate everything new, go back to DOS. Don't troll around here showing
your cretinism.

 

[forty-nine]

Especially for external drives that a made to be plugged into all sorts of
other computers and devices.

Since when does Microsoft give a shit about users? If they did, they
wouldn't have put out this toy operating system to the world.

I can format ext. drives and thumb drives as FAT or FAT32 with Vista.

 

[NoStop]

I can format ext. drives and thumb drives as FAT or FAT32 with Vista.

Good for you. Just don't tell AlexB. You know that FAT32 is "on the way
out".

Cheers.

--
Frank's Brain Activity Plotted (watch the red line):
http://i68.photobucket.com/albums/i4/Astronomy2/PreformanceMonitor.jpg

How a Windows Firewall protects your computer:
http://tinyurl.com/2z9qdn

AlexB (another Vista expert): "I ruined at least 5 or 6 installations of
Vista before I realized what was going on."

Contact AlexB to find out how to "delouse" your Vista system.

 

[C.B.]

I have a Western Digital external HD that I've used for sometime with my
XP machine without problem. When I connect it to my Vista Home Premium
machine it works fine for a couple of weeks then it becomes unrecognized.
I get a message that "the device needs to be replaced". I then connect it
to my XP machine where it works fine. Then I move it back to the Vista
machine where once again it work fine. Then the cycle begins again.
Thinking it might need a Vista specific driver I find there is none. It's
doesn't require a driver because the drive is "plug and play". Anyone know
what the deal is with this?

Bob,

I am using two WD My Book Premium 500GB external drives. They came
formatted in Fat32. I used the drives for awhile before I reformatted them
to NTFS. They worked perfectly well with the Fat32 file system but I changed
to NTFS due to the limitation of file size in Fat32.
It's possible you need a firmware update to the hard drive. You should
be able to find it at WD's website in the support section. I assume you have
a driver for the WD external or Windows would not know how to communicate
with it. You need to go to WD's website and search for the drivers, don't
just try to update them in Device Manager. I needed additional drivers for
mine because I use firewire connections.
In any event, if you are going to purchase another hard drive I would
suggest the My Book Premium edition. You can leave them connected at all
times. The drives will sleep when not in use and they will automatically
configure themselves to shutdown safely with Windows. However, you must be
sure to backup your important files and data to more than one external drive
or DVDs if you desire to leave the externals connected at all times as I do.
Also, please keep in mind that any connected external drive can suffer
the same damage as internal drives in the event of a lightning strike or any
other type of electrical surge or fluctuation. I use an APC UPS for surge
protection and also to assure myself that my system will shut down properly
in the event I suffer from a power outage. An outage itself sometimes is all
that is necessary to toast your motherboard and hard drive. It doesn't have
to be a surge.

C.B.