I have been trying to resolve this problem with a new external hard drive I bought. When i plug it in to a USB port(they work)the window with windows sensing a new device does not open. I try and manually do it and still nothing!I look in the windows disk manager and the device isn't seen. I have a cd rom that came with the drive with drivers(assuming it is a driver issue) but where woul I copy it to since that window will not open. In a further not, I did get this drive to work on Friday night, formatted it, copied my photos to it, changed the volume from new volume to "R". Next day turned it on, it has disappeared! I am back to square one. Could it be a Hrad drive issue or is ther a bug in XP taht will not let me recognize external drives. The drive is 160 gb purchased from narro company.I am hoping some one can help me as I have devoted hours to this problem. I did try it on my wifes laptop and still the same issue. Ray

http://www.computing.net/windowsxp/wwwboard/forum/152288.html To add to your last post, I would register your new drive with the manufacturer's website, then communicate with them about the problem.

Just a possibility! I think WinXP needs SP1 or later to use drives over 137gb. You might consider trying 'fixmbr' from the recovery console. I've seen posts similar to yours where it was claimed that 'Partition Doctor' fixed it. Do yourself a favor BACKUP! Sorry, I do not check for private messages

Thanks for all the advice. I have XP 1 installed. I am convinced that the hard drive is screwed up. The manufacturer still hasn't replied and it will be a cold day in you know where before I purchase another one from them. Zero support! Ray

If the USB 2.0 ports are OK on both computers, the problem would be somewhere in the chain from your computer to the HDD platter. It could be a bad cable, bad USB/IDE convertor, or bad HDD inside the enclosure. The cable you can swap. If that doesn't solve this, then you should return the drive and replace it.

Thanks, I think you are right so I am going to attempt to get a refund on this drive. Ray

Hi, From what I have seen on other forums, I would try using a "powered USB hub" as the normal USB port does not deliver enough voltage to power a HDD device over approx 40gig, whereas the powered hub can supply enough Chappie