USB 2.0/external HD problem

[JustPickin]

Hi group

I have a Maxtor 250GB USB 2.0 external hard drive attached to my laptop -
everything was performing fine up until a few days ago, then XP began
starting the 'Found New Hardware' (removable storage) wizard every time I
booted up. The drive seems on the surface of things to be working OK, and is
reported properly in Explorer. I can't pinpoint anything I did/changed that
could have screwed things up.

However, device manager shows 'Removable Storage' with a yellow ? and !
under 'Other Devices'. Running the 'Troubleshooter' just brings up the
'search for new drivers' wizard, and this comes up with nothing. Rolling
back the driver doesn't work, as drivers are either 'not needed' or 'haven't
been stored' according to the wizard.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the Maxtor drivers - but with no effect. I
disconnected the drive and the wizard still finds 'new hardware' (external
storage) at bootup! So I think this must be a Windows problem? I have SP1
installed, and have updated the USB drivers at the Microsoft site. Still no
good. Maxtor advised me to check the hard drive - but everything is fine
diagnostic-wise.

Has anyone any idea how to fix this? I can't find any info on MS's knowledge
base and its driving me nuts.

TIA

Ian

 

[JustPickin]

Hi group

I have a Maxtor 250GB USB 2.0 external hard drive attached to my laptop -
everything was performing fine up until a few days ago, then XP began
starting the 'Found New Hardware' (removable storage) wizard every time I
booted up. The drive seems on the surface of things to be working OK, and
is reported properly in Explorer. I can't pinpoint anything I did/changed
that could have screwed things up.

However, device manager shows 'Removable Storage' with a yellow ? and !
under 'Other Devices'. Running the 'Troubleshooter' just brings up the
'search for new drivers' wizard, and this comes up with nothing. Rolling
back the driver doesn't work, as drivers are either 'not needed' or
'haven't been stored' according to the wizard.

I uninstalled and reinstalled the Maxtor drivers - but with no effect. I
disconnected the drive and the wizard still finds 'new hardware' (external
storage) at bootup! So I think this must be a Windows problem? I have SP1
installed, and have updated the USB drivers at the Microsoft site. Still
no good. Maxtor advised me to check the hard drive - but everything is
fine diagnostic-wise.

Has anyone any idea how to fix this? I can't find any info on MS's
knowledge base and its driving me nuts.

TIA

Ian

5 minutes after I posted this, I decided to simply uninstall the external HD
from within device manager. That seems to have fixed the problem! (for now,
anyway). Ian