External Hard Drive not recognized?

Hello, Hopefully this is the right forum.

I have a 500GB Hi-Speed USB 2.0 External Hard Drive by SimpleTech. It is about 1 year old (I got it last year for Xmas). Last week on my toolbar I noticed the USB icon was flickering on and off, like the power was going in an out. Now it is not recognized at all. Power on, plugged in, and nothing. I click on "My Computer" and it doesnt show that it is there.

I have tried all the other USB ports and nothing. I brought it to my parents house and it worked.

I have Windows XP.

Not sure if anyone can help, let me know if you need anymore information. Thanks.

 

Have you tried any other USB devices on the PC where the drive doesn't work? The symptoms are textbook descriptions of a failed USB controller.

 

Did you use device manager to see if there is an issue there ?

 

I tried other USB devices and they worked fine.

As far as the Device Manager, Im not sure what to do, I checked it, and its the same type of thing, it shows up, then goes out, shows up, then out, like its just flickering on and off.


Like right now, its being recognized, but as soon as I go and click on a folder located on the external it shuts off.

 

So for the last hour or so its worked, I have a lot of music on there and it was up and running fine, then out of the blue, it shut down and wasnt recognized again. Really confused.

 

You said it worked on other computers.... does it work for extended amounts of time? Did you use the same cables when it was plugged in to other PCs? You could try some of the things I suggested in this thread. The problem in that thread was a general USB issue with all devices, but the suggestions I provided apply to your situation too.... good luck!

 

Sorry I havent been back, wasnt on the PC much over the holidays.

It did work for extended periods at my parents computer and I used the same cables.

I will check out the suggested thread now, thanks!

 

Hi dlb, so I went to check out that thread, and it says to make sure all USB devices are are unplugged, but my keyboard and mouse both use USB connections. Any other suggestions?