Hello,
I have my lap top connected to the external but all of a sudden the computer does not "see" or open a new drive. I go to my computer and the external is not recognized. I have checked device mgr and the drive is there and there are no problems.

I just connected the external to another pc and it is recognized.

I have a feeling it is not the external but actually an issue with the laptop.

Any help with this would be much appreciated?

Thanks.

Hi welcome to PCHF



I would go to device manager-- for this drive
right-click the Icon-- and find uninstall. ignore the warning.reboot.
Then plug in the usb again -- it should see it now.
What this does is forces Windows to reload all the driver files--- and re-recognize the device.
These drivers are built-in to XP-- but sometimes it "forgets" them for some unknown reason.

Part of it may be that USB devices are supposed to have digital serial numbers to
help with recognition-- trouble is... not all makers use them.

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Thanks very much, ill give it a go and let you know how i get on