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Do I need to get worried if my external HD keeps getting undetected?

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Paul Keith:
Not sure if this is a hardware or a software problem but I've had two XPs experience this already when the external Hard Disk would be detected and then undetected and then redetected again.

mouser:
this happens to me sometimes -- im not sure why but sometimes i think because i need to power it up BEFORE connecting the usb.
i wouldn't worry about it.

the real worry would be if your drive is detected but windows has errors reading the contents.

Paul Keith:
I don't think that's the problem mouser. I've had 3 power switch requiring external HD and one mini-one that doesn't have it and it happens.

The problem with ignoring this is that it happens quite a lot. Ex. I just have this happen 5 times now just right now so I can't access the disk.

Darwin:
What kind of enclosure are you using (Firewire or USB or other)? What kind of interface is/are the drive(s)? I have found that perfectly fine SATA drives in USB enclosures pretty much WILL NOT WORK with XP. I suspect that I've had a couple of cheap and nasty enclosures - can you swap the affected drive into an enclosure that you don't have this problem with? OK, I'm rambling now  :-[

Shades:
I assume you have an external harddisk enclosure with separate power supply? When the harddisk enclosure houses a 3,5 inch harddisk that is very likely the case.

First, check if the power supply plug is correctly seated. Then check the USB cable between the harddisk enclosure and the PC it is attached to.

Sometimes a plug on either end is not seated correctly. If that is not the problem, try a different cable. When the external harddisk works without problems with the different USB cable, it is very likely that one or more of the lines in the old cable is broken and should be replaced.

If that is also not the case, open the harddisk enclosure and check if the cables between the harddisk and the internal controller are seated correctly. When they are seated correctly as well, the possible points of error are its power supply, harddisk or controller.

To be sure, remove the harddisk from the enclosure and connect it to a free SATA or IDE port on your PC. Test the harddisk by copying from this disk to your regular harddisk (saving your important data!) and writing to this disk, read out its S.M.A.R.T. information etc. If this goes ok, then your harddisk is not the problem.

At this point you can still try to exchange your power supply with one from the same type that you know works well and test the harddisk again in its enclosure.

If this also not works then it is very likely that the controller is broken and you should consider buying a replacement enclosure.

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