I have just purchased a laCie, design by F.A.Porsche USB 2.0 250GB external HDD. When I first pluged it in everything was fine. I copied some files over to test it and it worked. The drive was formatted in FAT32 but it could be changed to NTFS. I decided to do this and went into Computer Management > Disk Management and did it through there.

After about 10% it speeded up and completed in about 2 minutes but said that the format had failed. I tried to do it again but the device dissapered from the drive list. The only way to get it to appear again was to turned it off for about 2-3 minutes and on again.

I tried it again but the same thing happened. I decided to delete the partition and create it again but that made no difference. I've tried the drive on 3 different computers with different USB 2.0 cables too and the same thing happens on all of them.

All I can do now is create a partition that can't be formatted. The HDD appears in the drive list but is RAW and can't be used. I thought the drive overheating but it doesn't seem to get very hot.

Did it come with a warranty?

I used to have a signature but it disappeared and I just couldn't be bothered writing another so please feel free to ingore this.

Do you have SP2?

"Did it come with a warranty?"

As far as I know, it doesn't, but I only purchased it today so I can easily return it if I want.

"Do you have SP2?"

When I first installed it I didn't but I installed it while trying to fix the problem. It didn't make any difference though.

I have actually managed to format it now (quick format seemed to work but no other method does). While it works now, it still has some problems. If I restart the computer leaving the external drive on it won't work again at startup unless I turn it off for a few minutes and back on again. If I try and turn it on a few seconds after turning it off Windows says that the device has malfucntioned and needs to be reconnected. If I do the opposite and turn it off and then turn the restart the computer, wait for it start up and then turn it on, then it works (although it did have an I/O problem while trying this once).

Are you running it through a hub or through the front USB port of your computer?

USB port in the computer.

After doing some more looking around on Google I found 2 things that might be causing it.

1. Apparently, Win XP has some problems with USB mass storage devices. They install fine the first time but if you unplug and re-attach the "USB Device Not Recognized" pop-up will appear. Only way I can get mine to work again is to turn if off for a few minutes and then back on again and it'll work.

2. My Motherboard (P4C800-E Deluxe) has some issues with USB2. This might expand the weird behaviour such as drive disappearing, I/O problems and the drive just turning off. I tested in on my laptop again and I don't seem to experience these problems other than what I described in #1.

The format problems were the same for both computers but I don't know why. It might be because of the XP issue. I guess I'll have to wait and see if they release a fix. :(

External HDDs really should be FAT32 as NTFS keeps a log file which can mess up if you accidently disconnect the device.

SP-2 provided the USB2.0 correct drivers. Try deleting the drive in Device Manager. Shutdown and do a cold start. Now when in windows plug the external drive in a different USB port, and you should see "Found New Hardware"; now go into Disk Management and select "format". I have nine different USB hard drives all in NTFS format. I can turn on/off any of these or all at one time and never have a problem. Sometimes if I select one that was drive letter "T", it may come up as "I", but who cares? You can also download Seagate's "Disk Wizard" which makes two floppies and format it using this dos program (don't forget to have the external drive "on" when booting to this Seagate program).