External HD

It's been working fine on my Vista machine but suddenly it is no longer
recognized. After trying everything I could think of, I hooked it up to my
XP machine and it works without a problem. Anyone have an idea why this
happened?

I have seen this problem with the so called "self-powered" drives that
derive their power through the USB ports.

In my case I added a new USB device that broke the camels back. By
disconnecting all USB devices, except for the Maxtor Mini III, I was able to
again see (and use) the external drive. My M/B did not feed enough current
to the USB ports when everything was connected and being used.

It could also be that something aged on the M/B that decreased the amount of
power that was supplied to the various ports. In any event, when I installed
a new M/B the problem disappeared! The drive is now usable in any port or
combination of ports.

--

Regards,

Richard Urban
Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User


"Bob" <nowhere@nowhere.net> wrote in message
news:L8OdnZ2cx5utquXanZ2dnUVZ_qKgnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
> It's been working fine on my Vista machine but suddenly it is no longer
> recognized. After trying everything I could think of, I hooked it up to my
> XP machine and it works without a problem. Anyone have an idea why this
> happened?
>

Update: I reconnected the drive to the VISTA machine and now it works. Go
figure.



"Richard Urban" <richardurbanREMOVETHIS@hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:eX0PHE2SIHA.5164@TK2MSFTNGP03.phx.gbl...
>I have seen this problem with the so called "self-powered" drives that
>derive their power through the USB ports.
>
> In my case I added a new USB device that broke the camels back. By
> disconnecting all USB devices, except for the Maxtor Mini III, I was able
> to again see (and use) the external drive. My M/B did not feed enough
> current to the USB ports when everything was connected and being used.
>
> It could also be that something aged on the M/B that decreased the amount
> of power that was supplied to the various ports. In any event, when I
> installed a new M/B the problem disappeared! The drive is now usable in
> any port or combination of ports.
>
> --
>
> Regards,
>
> Richard Urban
> Microsoft MVP Windows Shell/User
>
>
> "Bob" <nowhere@nowhere.net> wrote in message
> news:L8OdnZ2cx5utquXanZ2dnUVZ_qKgnZ2d@comcast.com. ..
>> It's been working fine on my Vista machine but suddenly it is no longer
>> recognized. After trying everything I could think of, I hooked it up to
>> my XP machine and it works without a problem. Anyone have an idea why
>> this happened?
>>
>