External HDD

  • Thread starter Thread starter Guest
  • Start date Start date
G

Guest

I have an external 160Gb USB hard drive which I have had for some time.
Connected direct to PC not through a hub.

This morning on booting up straight after the initial Windows splash screen
with the moving bars the screen went black and for a good 3 minutes the light
on the front of the external drive was flashing and the internal C: drive was
completely inactive. After this time the C:drive light came into action and
the PC continued to boot as normal. Just to make sure this wasn't a one off I
rebooted and the same thing happened.

Any ideas what might be happening? I was under the impression that external
drives via USB were not recognised by XP at this stage of boot up. And why is
it happening now? I must have had the drive for more than a year. It is used
for backups and TV recordings. I have not tried to use it for alternative
boot up.
 
If your BIOS supports Legacy USB mode, then prior to XP entering
the GUI phase it will attempt to mount the external USB. Some drives
will work fine with this, others do not. I have an older Maxtor 1-touch
that doesn't really function well with Legacy USB enabled. It (Boot lag)
could also be the result of the USB external being in the boot sequence.
Either way, it sounds like a BIOS setting that is responsible.
 
R. McCarty said:
If your BIOS supports Legacy USB mode, then prior to XP entering
the GUI phase it will attempt to mount the external USB. Some drives
will work fine with this, others do not. I have an older Maxtor 1-touch
that doesn't really function well with Legacy USB enabled. It (Boot lag)
could also be the result of the USB external being in the boot sequence.
Either way, it sounds like a BIOS setting that is responsible.




I have looked at my BIOS settings but as I suspected there are no references in the boot sequence for external USB drives. I suppose my only aternative is to ensure the drive is switched off when I boot?
Click to expand...
 
Back
Top