Recently i got 160GB external USB hard disk (WD company).
But it is not detecting in my PC.

I am using P4 intel 1.7 Ghz processor with windows XP SP2.

I think the windows 137GB barrier is opposing that.
If yes, how do i solve the problem.


Plz help.

The 137GB barrier problem was resolved in XP SP1, and the symptom was that Windows reported a disk as 137GB instead of its true size.

If your disk does not appear at all then a few things need to be checked:
- have you tested it in every USB port on the machine, NOT connected to a hub?
- do other USB devices work in those same ports?
- does the disk work in another PC without a problem?

When you connect a USB device, a PnP event is triggered which makes the OS query the device to find out what it is and what driver to install - or prompt the user to provide.
Are you getting any local disk activity when the USB disk is connected, even very briefly?

hi.. here are the findings..
1.yes i connected to USB port.it says new hardware found.
2.yes other pen drives are working in the port
3.yes the disk is working properly in other system.i checked it with my friend PC(intel dual core system 2.4GHz)
4.its says new hardware found.install the driver from the receommended or through disk.

plz help me how to use this device...

regards,

The CPU is irrelevant, this issue is that the device does not have an in-box driver for XP SP2.

From what you have said so far, we know the device works and the OS can see "something"... what is the motherboard on this computer, does it support USB 2.0 and is the drive USB 2.0 only?
Was there a CD provided with the USB drive?

my motherboard is PentiumR 4 socket 478 motherboard.
it is having USB1.0 not the latest 2.0.

but my external usb hard disk is 2.0. there is no cd provided by the vendor.
but as per the information from the vendor this drive supports both USB 1.0 and 2.0.It works
with 1.0 at lower speeds. for high speeds we need to connect it to 2.0.

kindly provide me a solution because i cannot through this drive(costly) or keep it..
plz help me.

regards,

some usb drive makers don't even supply drivers since xp has native support for usb mass storage devices.

here are a few things you can try:
1) go to the manufacturer site and see if they have drivers you can download. usually found in downloads or support section of their site.

2) If you don't find drivers on their website, try googling for drivers from the model number.

3) If still no go, then you may need to purchase a USB 2.0 PCI card.

Does this drive has it's own power supply? If not, it's possible that your usb port just doesn't have enough juice to power the drive. In that case it can help to connect it to a powered hub.

excellent point. i thought about that but thought since it's 160 gb, it's probably in an enclosure with an external power supply and certainly he has it plugged in since it's working on other computers.

however, i'm unsure if usb 2.0 provides more power than usb 1.0.

A 3.5" hard drive requires both +5vdc and +12vdc to operate.....NO usb port can drive that HD. It must have an external power supply. The fact that he's had it working on another PC eliminates that problem.

Only the little 2.5" drives will run on just +5vdc as is supplied by most USB ports, but not all.

Windows will see only what the motherboard sees. If the drive is not being seen by the motherboard, for whatever reason, then Windows will not see it either.

An older mobo that is USB 1 only, may not be able to see that USB2 drive.

just a thought......

i will try by purchasing usb 2.0 pci card...

but why the hell the manufacturers will not provide backward compatibility?????????

USB 2.0 devices work with USB 1.0 and 1.1.

Since it´s detecting the device, does the name show up under the device list?

It looks more that the drive is NOT partitioned and needs to be made active BEFORE usage.

Are there any services disabled in that OS?

What chipset are we talking about?

All USB ports provide 5 volt.

It will see the drive but will give a message like "This device could operate faster".

USB 1.0 was never integrated on motherboards, Version 1.1 and up were...

Sure, but a few simply do not have enough current to drive a 2.5" hard disk, Specs are not below +4.75V and up to 500 mA, but there are reported cases where the actual current you can draw from the port is less than that.

However, this appears not to be the case, I suspect more that, though being perfactly compatible with Windows XP "internal" drivers, the USB Vid/Pid is not "recognized" properly, a chack with DEVCON would be useful:
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/311272/en-us
http://www.robvanderwoude.com/devcon.html

Renew USB:
http://www.robvanderwoude.com/files/renewusb_2k.txt

jaclaz

... "the disk is working properly in other system".

Portable Western Digital 250GB here. Just not seen by Asus S200 with XP Professional. Has some info on and works perfect on other new notebooks.

Do you have the model number of the hard disk or a URL to the product on Western Digital's site?

Does it definitely state 1.0 is supported, not 1.1?
USB 1.0 = "Low Speed" = 1.5Mbps
USB 1.1 = "Full Speed" = 1.5Mbps / 12Mbps
USB 2.0 = "High Speed" = 1.5Mbps / 12Mbps / 480Mbps

1.5Mbps would be a very, very slow hard disk, which it would have to be running at if your USB port is indeed 1.0...

Not always. I stumbled upon a couple of external hard disks which were targeted for USB 2.0 only and refused to work with anything lower. It all depends from the manufacturer electronics.

I even have a USB key which refuses to work if it is not directly connected to the USB port. If I use any cable, XP sees it as an USB device, but it doesn't recognize it as a disk unit.

Oh, well.....

This post has been edited by chandragor: Jul 7 2008, 06:27 AM

model number of the disk is western digital my passport essential 160GB external USB hard disk.