XP freezes when external USB 2.0 hard drive is plugged in

[justme]

Greetings.

I have a USB 2.0 External Hard drive formatted as NTFS. This external
hard drive works great on my Win2K computer that I formatted it on,
but my Win XP (MCE) laptop simply freezes when I attach the device. I
think I installed some drivers that came with the external drive
enclosure, which I later found out were intended for Win98. I thought
I uninstalled these drivers, but I cannot guarantee it. I have tried
deleting every USB device in device manager, and letting WinXP
recognize everything when I plug it back in, but that doesn't work. I
have even purchased a powered USB 2.0 hub, thinking it may be a power
issue, but still no progress. Also, the result is the same regardless
of which USB port I use.

My guesses are:
* Could formatting and using the drive on my Win2K computer have
security implications (b/c of NTFS) that are preventing access to the
driver?
* Is there a way to re-install the original "USB Mass Storage Device"
drivers?
* Any ideas on how to make sure my old drivers are absent and not
interfering with XP's native support for USB Mass Storage Devices?

I am so frustrated, so any help is great!

Thanks,
Chris

 

[Robert]

Greetings.

I have a USB 2.0 External Hard drive formatted as NTFS. This external
hard drive works great on my Win2K computer that I formatted it on,
but my Win XP (MCE) laptop simply freezes when I attach the device. I
think I installed some drivers that came with the external drive
enclosure, which I later found out were intended for Win98. I thought
I uninstalled these drivers, but I cannot guarantee it. I have tried
deleting every USB device in device manager, and letting WinXP
recognize everything when I plug it back in, but that doesn't work. I
have even purchased a powered USB 2.0 hub, thinking it may be a power
issue, but still no progress. Also, the result is the same regardless
of which USB port I use.

My guesses are:
* Could formatting and using the drive on my Win2K computer have
security implications (b/c of NTFS) that are preventing access to the
driver?
* Is there a way to re-install the original "USB Mass Storage Device"
drivers?
* Any ideas on how to make sure my old drivers are absent and not
interfering with XP's native support for USB Mass Storage Devices?

I am so frustrated, so any help is great!

Thanks,
Chris

_______________
Hi, Chris!
Your HD might need formatting from XP.
This could be done by mounting it internally as a slave drive inside a
XP PC main unit. Then reinstalling as master in its USB 2.0 external
casing.

 

[justme]

Robert, thanks for the reply. Just curious, but why would this need
to be done?

I am not sure if I can do this b/c my XP machine is a laptop that I
havne't yet opened up (not sure about extra IDE cables etc.

Thanks

 

[Robert]

Robert, thanks for the reply. Just curious, but why would this need
to be done?

I am not sure if I can do this b/c my XP machine is a laptop that I
havne't yet opened up (not sure about extra IDE cables etc.

_______________
Hi, Chris!
I and a few other users on this newsgroup have had the same kind of
trouble. Basically the external HD is not properly recognized by XP
unless it has been previously formatted by XP, but internally. I just
could not format my external HD directly. Maybe this is because I have
NTFS XP but I am not sure at all.
The solution that I found naturally involved taking my external HD out
of its (FireWire) casing. Another user had to do the same with a USB
2.0 external casing.
Maybe there is a smarter solution but no one came up with it in this
newsgroup. So I had to play it by ear. But it worked for me and a few
others.
Honestly I don't know if it's applicable to your laptop.
What you could do is find a friend who would allow you to use his/her
XP PC to do your formatting. To mount a HD as additional slave drive is
quite easy in a PC. You only need the extra IDE cable. Once you have it
formatted internally, it should be OK as external HD on any PC with USB
connectors.

 

[Frank]

Could be a power problem. The formatted file system
should have no effect.

| Greetings.
|
| I have a USB 2.0 External Hard drive formatted as NTFS. This external
| hard drive works great on my Win2K computer that I formatted it on,
| but my Win XP (MCE) laptop simply freezes when I attach the device. I
| think I installed some drivers that came with the external drive
| enclosure, which I later found out were intended for Win98. I thought
| I uninstalled these drivers, but I cannot guarantee it. I have tried
| deleting every USB device in device manager, and letting WinXP
| recognize everything when I plug it back in, but that doesn't work. I
| have even purchased a powered USB 2.0 hub, thinking it may be a power
| issue, but still no progress. Also, the result is the same regardless
| of which USB port I use.
|
| My guesses are:
| * Could formatting and using the drive on my Win2K computer have
| security implications (b/c of NTFS) that are preventing access to the
| driver?
| * Is there a way to re-install the original "USB Mass Storage Device"
| drivers?
| * Any ideas on how to make sure my old drivers are absent and not
| interfering with XP's native support for USB Mass Storage Devices?
|
| I am so frustrated, so any help is great!
|
| Thanks,
| Chris

 

[justme]

Thanks for the suggestions.

The drive is read ok under XP in safe mode, so I am almost positive it
is something with drivers. Still freezes the system on bootup
though....