External hardrive issues

hey guys, not a serious thread but just wondering if anyone else has had problems connecting their ext hardrives to their computer?
the problem i have is when i connect my ext hardrive to my comp via a usb port it searches for the hardrive but nothing happens, also if i try opening another window or any other application my comp freezes and i have to restart it from the on/off button as it freezes if i try closing the comp down from the start menu.
i recently had some virus issues with the xp defender pro virus but managed to fix that, maybe this has something to do with that, can anyone offer any assistance please?

 

Hi Askanison, is your external Hard drive powered separately or through the USB?
I just connected my IBM 6 GB HD through USB, and my PC found the Hardware and set it up and I transferred a file with out any problem. This drive is powered through the USB and of course you have to ensure the HD is in it's correct horizontal state. The LED on the external drive lights up green and changes to Red when info is starting to flow then back to green.
USB 2.0 is the connector I have. Neil.

 

Hi Neil,
my ext hardrive has its own power supply, i only started having this problem a few days ago, the problem is when i connect it via usb it just searches for the drive but nothing happens i try opening the my computer tab and its not showing in there, after a while if i try opening another window or try safely removing the ext hardrive the computer freezes i can even open up the task manager and i have to resort to manually restart the computer from the on/off switch, when the computer loads back up again the ext hardrive is now showing in the my computer tab, but obviously i dont want to keep restarting the computer every time i want to connect the ext hardrive.
i think i saw a thread somewhere that said you could change the spare hardrive names that could help with the loading issue? not sure if that works, although i havent tried it.

 

I found this in the Posts shown at the bottom of this page:

If there is anything to Mattman's idea, you can permanently assign a drive letter to an external drive or flash drive, through Control Panel|Administrative Tools|Computer Management|Disk Management. When all the externals are plugged in and on, assign a Drive Letter. This will be remembered the next time you connect the peripheral and Windows will not be constantly juggling drive letters depending on what is plugged in. Start with the end of the alphabet (like Z:\), further avoiding conflict with A:, C:, D:, etc,, which probably are already assigned.

Have you tried another USB connector? I have two on the backplate and two in a side compartment and four on a card in PCI slot. Neil.

 

I'm watching

I was going to suggest allocating a drive letter if none was showing.

One basic thing I would suggest is that the drive be tested by connecting to another computer (and running an antivirus check on it if it works).

Matt