Power Issues

Hey there. I am new here because I have a very confusing problem.

I am currently using a 500Gb Western Digital External HD to store pretty much everything on my PC. This is because the two 30Gb internals are going to die very soon. Anyway my problem is this...

When I fully unplug the hard drive from mains power it will not turn back on. If I just plug the transformer in it works fine, but as soon as I plug the next cable into the back of the hard drive the power seems to just cut out. I have no idea why it is doing this. It has happened once before, again when I unplugged it from the mains. Eventually it worked again, but I have no idea what I did. Does anyone know what is wrong with it, because it is very annoying having to keep my PC plugged in just so the hard drive doesn't poop itself.

 

Hi and welcome to the BBS,

Just from your description...
Connect any cables to the external drive, then power it up. You can then plug the USB cable into the PC and the system should identify it using Plug and Play.

Alternatively, I might connect all the cables including connecting it to the PC, then power up the the external drive, but I prefer the first method.

Do any of the cables seem loose?

Matt
PS: Keep any precious data in two places at once (backup).