problem with external Plextor CD/DVDRW connected w/ USB to SX280 PC

Greetings to all.

 

I have a Plextor PX-716UF CD/DVDRW drive that I had installed on a Dell Optiplex SX280.  The drive connects via a USB cable.   The SX280 is running Windows 2000 Professional with the most current (as of July 12) updates installed. 

 

For the most part, the drive works perfectly.  However when the machine is rebooted Windows no longer recognizes the device.  When I open the "Unplug or Eject Hardware" utility, there is a device listed as "USB Mass Storage Device" with a yellow question mark next to it.  When I open the properties page, it says "The device cannot start until you restart the compuer" with error code 14.  Restarting the computer does not fix this problem, everything remains the same.   I get the same information from the Device Manager.   Also, there is no drive E: in the explorer or in MyComputer.

 

 In order to make the PC recognize the external drive, I have to turn the drive off, and turn it back on again.  Then, within a few seconds drive E: pops up in MyComputer and Windows recognizes the device. 

 

I was instructed by a dell tech to flash the bios and update it to the latest version.  I updated the bios from A02 to A05, but that didn't help.  I also configured the USB controller in the bios to not recognize any USB devices as boot devices

 

 

Any suggestions?

 

Thanks,

 

Jake