External Harddrives

why wont this new one work with xp? should i format it again? but it works with windows 7

 

What is the exact brand name and model number of the drive in question.

 

wd western digital? my passport ultra and the model number 10 i think

 

Probably too large in size would be my guess.

I have 7 WesternDigital external hard drives. My two largest are 2TB. I haven't purchased anything larger because I'm not sure all the computers would see something larger.

 

WDBGPU0010BBK 08

http://www.amazon.com/Western-Digital-Passport-Portable-WDBGPU0010BBK-NESN/dp/B00W8XXRPM

 

so i should give up idea it will work on xp?

 

If you read on their website it does not show compatibility with Windows XP. Always best to check that first.

 

one would think as with most products it would say system requirements windows 10 or 7 or whatever but i couldnt find it

 

It does - it says Vista, 7, 8 and 10. That's where I read it.

 

i mean on the box

 

If you wanted it for an XP machine you should have checked that before you bought it.

 

I own a WD 1TB My Passport Black with USB 3 and it is seen on my XP computers.

So what happens when you plug it into your XP computer?

Did you do something to the drive that you ask should I format it again?

 

Many of the newer external drives have GPT/EFI partitions and XP doesn't know what to do with it as it only works with MBR partitions.
Get this ( http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/active_killdisk.html ), use it to wipe that drive (be careful(!!!) to select the correct drive; but, you only need to get the first 1%), and then reboot. Go to disk management, select the drive, initialize it when prompted, and then create a partition for you to use.
Problem solved!

 

Here is a 2TB WesternDigital Ultra external hard drive that I purchased 13 days ago. It is attached and seen on an XP computer. I made one change to the image, I erased a name that was under one of the file folders.

First when it says it wants to look for drivers, just cancel that out. I attached it to a computer that is not connected to the internet and the computers in our home do not share with each other.

Second when it posts the warning that the device might not operate properly, you can ignore that too. This is for some WD junk on the drive that I have NEVER used on any computer. In fact, when I see the extra WD files, I move them off the hard drive and the error disappears. I just haven't gotten the chance to clear the extras off that drive yet.

 

plodr,
Not all of the portable/external drives are GPT; but, if you have one and want to use it on an XP system, it needs to be converted to MBR. Disk management will show this; but, the only easy way to change it is to overwrite the partition table and XP won't natively let you do it.

 

Since I own 7 WD hard drives and three of the drives say My Passport Ultra on the case, the same as the OP, I find it hard to believe that my three Ultra drives would be different than his. Particularly since I just got the latest drive less than 2 weeks ago.

Two of the drives are 2TB and one is 1TB and all are recognized on an XP computer. The XP computer I tried it on is a Dell Dimension 2400 circa 2004.

The WD drive had 6 files on it that I removed this morning. If they remain, the OP might get confused because the drive shoots up a box wanting to look for drivers. If you refuse or it doesn't find a driver for XP, then you get an error that the drive doesn't work properly. That is not true and can be confusing. Remove the 6 files and use Windows Explorer to move files back and forth on the drive.

 

plodr,
I have personally seen a WD Passport that was, brand new (I removed it from the box), formatted as a GPT partition. It will show in disk management as such; but, XP can't mount it so it never gets assigned as a drive letter. Windows 7 will mount a GPT partition; read the askers original post.
http://support.wdc.com/KnowledgeBase/answer.aspx?ID=1695

 

I guess that was the OP's first mistake - using it in Windows 7. I attached it to an XP computer.

 

I had the same problem as the OP with a slightly different WD drive, it worked on a Win 7 machine but not on my XP desktop. I called WD support, got a tech on the line with NO hold time, he talked me through the reformat, and that fixed it for me.

 

I had the same problem as the OP with a slightly different WD drive, it worked on a Win 7 machine but not on my XP desktop. I called WD support, got a tech on the line with NO hold time, he talked me through the reformat, and that fixed it for me.

 

im sort of exhausted about tech stuff maybe ill figure this out later--i can use it on other computers

saw some old email that u were breached so i need to change password?

 

Yes. That is what the email would have told you to do.