i installed the chipset driver and its still no go:cry:

been at this all evening!!

one thing that was on the drive sticker after connecting th data cables, to
run the BIOS/system setup program, then select the auto-detect option, and then LBA , and then save and exit start up.

i tried to do this by pressing F2 when the pc was starting up..but i couldnt see any autodetect option???

I don't have an external HD but i don't think an usb HD will show up in youre bios. But lets see what the others have to say about that.

Have you tried Hoster and the options in the link i posted to get Winupdate working?

Some Bios's do allow you to boot from USB mass storage.

Your problem could be related to your power supply as there is a finite amount that USB devices can take from the PSU. Have you tried disconnecting all of your other USB devices and just plugging in the drive?

Also, try using a USB port that you know currently works with another USB device.

no i didnt run the hoster program, i thought that dell link was the alternative to that. i dont really understand the hoster screen..how does it work, and also what will it change on my system. i tweaked my pc to run more efficiently as an music production tool, so would this change or affect any of these..or would it affect any settings to allow it to run on my home network?? (sorry might be obvious, but im not sure how easy it would be for me to undo anything)

im not running anything else of usb here, no printer or anything...but my firend brought his external storage device round a couple months back, and it worked, (2x USB plugs) so i know they work.

Only thing you have to do with hoster is press "Restore Original Hosts" and press "OK". Exit Program. This will restore the original Hosts

It won't effect any tweaks or anything , it will only restore youre "Host' file.
One of the causes for the update error that you get is wrong/nasty entry's in youre host file indicated on that page i posted among other possible solutions.

Some info:


What it does ...
The Hosts file contains the mappings of IP addresses to host names. This file is loaded into memory (cache) at startup, then Windows checks the Hosts file before it queries any DNS servers, which enables it to override addresses in the DNS. This prevents access to the listed sites by redirecting any connection attempts back to the local machine. Another feature of the HOSTS file is its ability to block other applications from connecting to the Internet, providing the entry exists.
You can use a HOSTS file to block ads, banners, 3rd party Cookies, 3rd party page counters, web bugs, and even most hijackers. This is accomplished by blocking the Server that supplies these little gems. Example - the following entry 127.0.0.1 ad.doubleclick.net blocks all files supplied by that DoubleClick Server to the web page you are viewing. This also prevents the server from tracking your movements. Why? ... because in most cases "Ad Servers" like Doubleclick will open a separate connection on the webpage you are viewing.

Only if you added things to the host file youre self then you would want to manually look trough the host file for bad entry's.