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Locks up with WD5000 USB MyBook External drive connected - Dimension 8200
My Dimension 8200, 2GHz. machine, about 8 years old, suddenly started locking up when I connect my Western Digital WD5000 MyBook, 500GB external backup drive to any USB 1.0 port. The computer immediately unlocks when I remove the USB connection to the drive. The USB ports work fine on other devices. This happened while I was running the computer, and the WD drive worked fine before, usually assigned to drive letter F:. The WD drive also works fine on my laptop, and I have run the Data Lifeguard quick test, plus DOS CHKDSK, and it passes all the tests. I can run the extended test on Data Lifeguard on the laptop later, but don't want to tie it up for several hours today. I must run it at night. Does anyone have a suggestion about how I might find the problem with my Dell? Thanks. - Old Tech-
speedstep
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July 16th, 2011 15:00
'Get a USB 2.0 card
IOGEAR 5-Port USB 2.0 GIC251U PCI Card : Desktop Accessories | Dell
Manufacturer Part# : GIC251U
Dell Part# : A0454665
Old Tech
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July 12th, 2011 10:00
I have tried the ports on the back and on the front, but it locks up either way. Thanks for your idea. - Old Tech -
speedstep
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July 12th, 2011 10:00
Use a port on the back. Then what happens?
speedstep
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July 12th, 2011 11:00
My experience with those devices is that they take too much power and therefore require a USB Y cable to tap another port for extra power.
speedstep
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July 12th, 2011 11:00
You can also try a Powered USB Hub.
RoHe
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July 12th, 2011 12:00
Always include the version of Windows in your posts.
You could manually set a System Restore point, just to be safe, and then open Device Manager and uninstall the entries listed under USB. When you reboot, Windows should reinstall the USB drivers.
Or, if this just started, do a System Restore to latest date available before the problem started. Personal files will be ok, but you will have to reinstall any updates/hotfixes that were originally installed after the date used for the Restore.
Ron
Old Tech
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July 12th, 2011 16:00
I rebooted the Dell with the MyBook disk drive already connected. The drive ran fine. However, I did a "Safe to Remove USB device "disconnect, and tried to reconnect the drive, but it caused the same lock-up problem. I am still working on this.Thanks. -Old Tech_
RoHe
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July 12th, 2011 18:00
With MyBook drive connected and working ok, double-click My Computer
Right-click MyBook icon and select Properties
Click Hardware tab
Select MyBook drive from the list and click Properties button
Click Policies tab
Select "Optmize for quick removal"
Click OK back to desktop and reboot
You shouldn't ever have to use that Safely Remove Hardware icon again before disconnecting that drive. This might fix it the problem you're having.
If not, then I suggest you reinstall the USB drivers, as outlined in my earlier post.
Ron
Old Tech
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July 16th, 2011 14:00
Thank you for your idea. I checked the WD5000 drive for the "Optimize for quick removal" setting, but it was already set this way. I ran the Western Digital Data Lifeguard Extended test (about 6 hours duration) from my other computer, which the drive "Passed". I reconnected to the Dell while it was running (Plug and Play), and after a very long delay the Dell read the drive. During this time, the computer did freeze up for a bit, then resumed. I can open all the files, but it takes about a 30 second delay before opening one. I am glad to have this running again, and not sure why the problem happened. If I restart the Dell, it will immediately read the WD drive, and access to the files is very quick. I can live with this until later. Maybe I just need to upgrade to a USB 2.0 card. Thanks also to all others who contributed ideas, and I will consider this issue closed -Old Tech-