thrillriderdan

Hello,

For some reason recently my external memory drive has failed to work on my computer. Whenever I plug it into my XP or Vista a message comes up saying

USB device not recognised

One of the USB devices attatched has malfunctioned and windows does not recoginise

Or similar to that message. What does this mean? Have I lost everything on my memory drive!?

Done_Fishin

is this a flash memory or a hard disk drive in an enclosure ?? If the latter it could be the power supply has failed or is failing .. please be a little bit more specific about what device we are talking about .. thanks

ps .. love the idea that you're using Widows XP my wife seems to think she is a "computing " widow .. she's left all alone like the wives of golfers ..

thrillriderdan

Yes the hard disk is in an enclosure, but I can get it out. Its is an external device, but I cannot tell you much about it other than it has 88Gb, as there is no brand name on it.

Thanks

Done_Fishin

if it's a IDE HDD (or Parallel ATA as they like to call them these days ) you could remove it from the casing and swap it with the Master Drive on your Secondary IDE .. using the power from your PC

IF it's Serial ATA .. you would have to be able to add it as an SATA drive and use a spare SATA power lead .. but you should get an indication as to whether it will be recognised on your PC .. another possibilty would be a USB adapter that would allow you to hook up either a 2.5", 3.5" or SATA drive using either a known good power supply or your PC power supply drive cable

thrillriderdan

I'm sorry but I really don't understand any of that, as I'm no expert. Is there a simpler way of explaining it please?

Thanks

Done_Fishin

open the case where your drive is housed .. look at the cables that are connecting to the back of the drive .. there should be two cables one will be attached to a power supply if you follow it back, probably has 4 wires and they will normally be coloured Red, Black, Black & Yellow . and the other will go to an adapter .. it's the one that goes to the adapter that is currently important .. I want to know if it is connected to a slim connector with a sort of L-shape plastic insert (Serial ATA drive) or whether it's connected to a long 40 pin connector (Parallel ATA drive)

By removing it from the enclosure you could add it to the inside of a PC using the correct connectors or get a USB adapter that will allow you to connect via a USB port for testing purposes .. and see whether your problem is the drive, the power supply or both ..

hope this helps .. ask if I am still too technical for you .. will try to find pictures

thrillriderdan

I believe it is the first one, as the power supply connects to a board, which looks to have 40 pins at the end. Also now I have opened it, I have found it is made by Maxtor.

Done_Fishin

how many drives (HDD's, CD's & or DVD's) do you have total in your Desktop ?

do you have a fast Internet connection to download UBCD and burn it to a CD ..


can you remove the cables to master drive on the Primary IDE cable and connect the Maxtor drive in it's place .. just use a few books or something to support it whilst leaving it hanging outside the PC case don't remove the other drive just unhook the cables

boot from the CD Rom with UBCD inside select the hard disk tools then look for Maxtor Drive diagnostics and run it .. if you get a warning about it destroying your files .. DON'T RUN IT!!

It shouldn't damage or change anything, just check to see whether your drive is working properly ..

thrillriderdan

I can do the rest of it, but I'm sorry I don't understand this part

can you remove the cables to master drive on the Primary IDE cable and connect the Maxtor drive in it's place .. just use a few books or something to support it whilst leaving it hanging outside the PC case don't remove the other drive just unhook the cables

Done_Fishin

power down your PC

unhook the leads / cables to the master drive in your PC
leave the drive inside the PC ..

attach the cables you removed from the drive inside your PC to the drive that is outside your PC
Place a few thick books or something under the drive to keep it from falling or touching any metal parts of the case .. for support purposes only ..

heres what I do .

thrillriderdan

Thanks for your great help!!! I will get onto doing that, and once agin thanks for your expert help.

Done_Fishin

you're welcome just keep in touch and let us know how things are going .. or in the worst case ask advice about anything you find you don't understand as you proceed

thrillriderdan

Hello again,

Just out of interest before I did the complicated stuff, I tried a different power lead, and it suddenly started working again!

Thanks again, Danny

Done_Fishin

well that's just great .. glad you didn't have to go too deep .. unusual to find that the power leads are to blame .. usually the power supplies .. but sometimes the power leads don't seat properly so they don't get power ..