USB device randomly resets

It's not a life-threatening problem, but a major annoyance.

My WD external hard drive is plugged into one of the normal USB ports on the back of my HP pavilion desktop, along with other things like my iPod, mouse, and others. Randomly, I will hear the sound for disconnected device, then connected device, as if I had unplugged and replugged the hard drive. It will say in my system tray that "this device can run faster", saying I should put it in a high speed port. It's a new computer, too, so I'm running USB 2. What exactly is the problem here?

 

If it is running from a usb hub, it might not be getting enough share of the power, unless it is a seperately powered hub.
Otherwise, is your computer equipted for usb 1, and usb2, (SOME HAVE BOTH),try changing the ports.