I recently purchased a LaCie external hard disk .. It's a 1TB drive, and has Firewire (both types) and USB 2.x ... When I connect the external drive, my computer becomes unusable. It recognizes that it's a LaCie, but in the device manager, shows it with a red little "x" on it. I can not enable the drive. Upon using my computer requiring any data access, the computer will simply freeze up, requiring me to press the power button until it shuts off. I have tried using both the USB port as well as the Firewire port on the laptop (since the drive has both types). I called Dell Tech Support (in Bangalore India) and they said after about a 2 hour conversation, that it's probably that the drive is drawing up too much power and I should get an external USB hub that is powered. So I went to CircuitCity and bought a 4-port USB 2.x hub .. (about $20). To my surprise (or maybe not to yours), I still have the same exact problem. So now, I have a $2800 brand new inspiron laptop, a $900 external 1TB hard drive, which I can not use together. What should I do? I have other external devices, like DVD Burner, Palm Pilot, Microsoft Optical Mouse, Scanner, and Printer, all of which work fine, so I know my USB port works ... help!