More Usb Troubles.... Grrrrrr...

[Ijustwannateach]

After having my troubles with the external DVD, I decided I have serious system problems and need to backup my files on an external Hard drive so I can reformat and reinstall everything... when I first installed the external hard drive, it seemed to work but the speed was inconsistent and sometimes I would get strange copying errors. Again, the hard drive worked fine on OTHER computers.

A friend suggested that sometimes toggling USB 2 off/on would help. So I went into BIOS and toggled USB 2 from ON to OFF. The drive worked, but even slower... I decided to try toggling it back to ON. Now the drive doesn't even show up in windows at all!

I checked the USB ports under device manager- the drive is recognized there- I get the little green icon on the lower right showing that a device is attached, and I can "stop" the device to remove it, and it is recognized as USB mass storage- but I can't see a new drive anymore when I open "My Computer" (I did before).

Sigh. Any suggestions before I throw the thing out the window?

"S"

[Grover]

After having my troubles with the external DVD, I decided I have serious system problems and need to backup my files on an external Hard drive so I can reformat and reinstall everything... when I first installed the external hard drive, it seemed to work but the speed was inconsistent and sometimes I would get strange copying errors. Again, the hard drive worked fine on OTHER computers.

A friend suggested that sometimes toggling USB 2 off/on would help. So I went into BIOS and toggled USB 2 from ON to OFF. The drive worked, but even slower... I decided to try toggling it back to ON. Now the drive doesn't even show up in windows at all!

I checked the USB ports under device manager- the drive is recognized there- I get the little green icon on the lower right showing that a device is attached, and I can "stop" the device to remove it, and it is recognized as USB mass storage- but I can't see a new drive anymore when I open "My Computer" (I did before).

Sigh. Any suggestions before I throw the thing out the window?

"S"

Try uninstalling the USB controller in the device manager, then rebooting the pc. The original drivers should be detected. This might work if the drivers have been corrupted.

[penguin]

I'll assume you worked your way through the earlier suggestions when you has problems with your LG dvd.

In BIOS if all else fails set it to the default settings.

The only times l've had a problem like you described with an external drive not showing up in My Computer was when the connecting cable was not a USB 2.0 cable and another time when the USB ports had some kind of corrosion. Seeing how you've used it in other computers we will assume it's not a cable problem.

If Grovers suggestion doesn't work then why not try this.

At any big computer centre like Pantip you will see many small shops with boxes of computer parts on the floor. Have a look around those shops and get yourself a PCI card with USB ports on it. You should have no trouble at all finding a new 4 or 4+1 port USB 2.0 card for under 300 baht. Pop that in your computer. When you start it up let Windows install the generic drivers. Then connect your external hard drive and see how you go. You can always use some extra USB ports so they won't go to waste.

[Ijustwannateach]

A belated thanks to both of you for replying here. I just wanted to report that I have finally had to take my computer in to a repair place, and the solution (oddly and unexpectedly) was that the power supply was somehow at fault- which would possibly explain the inconsistency of the other problems. Replaced the supply, reinstalled everything- they STILL couldn't get the old DVD to work!!!- bought a new internal DVD and installed the external DVD, and now everything's working as well as I could hope- faster, too, since I also got a RAM upgrade.

"S"