Western Digital Passport Portable locks up computer

T

texmaster

[H]ard|Gawd
Joined
Apr 30, 2007
Messages
1,271
Can't figure this out.

It worked the first time, backed up my files, then I tried to plug it in later, locks computer, unplug the usb, computer is back.

tried rebooting, turning off and rebooting, tried plugging in then turning on computer, same result.

its directly plugged into the computer's usb, no hub.


happens on both my computers

any ideas?
 
Now, does your whole computer just lock up, or does explorer.exe just not respond and you have to end task it? If you have the second problem, then its the same as mine, and I'm going to make my own thread on it later, but I did a bunch of research on the first problem, and it sounds like your external is not receiving enough power. I'm not completely sure, but hopefully your passport came with a wire that has two usb ports you could connect to your computer. Try to put it in two different usb slots on different locations on your computer. What I mean is don't put it in the two usb slots that are next to each other, as those two slots probably split the same power source. Hopefully you'll be ok then. I vaguely remembered this from a forum I read a few weeks ago, so don't regard this as completely correct, but hopefully this solves your problem. If someone could come clarify that would be great.

edit: oh, didn't read the first part about it working the first time. Then it seems like you have the same problem as I do.

Here's my situation:

I have a vantec nexstar 2.5" external with a 160gb 5400rpm samsung drive and it starting freezing my computer, specifically causing explorer.exe to become unresponsive. Then I would have to end task, and since there wouldn't be anything onscreen, i would have to restart my computer. I purchased these 2 items a little over a month ago and assembled it myself. The freezing actually happened gradually; sometimes it would freeze up, sometimes there would be no problem. Before my external became a paperweight, I noticed that one of my folders was missing files. I checked the Properties settings, and it seemed like the missing data was still taking up space. I made sure the files weren't just in hidden mode. So, I assumed some bad sectors or something, and pulled the rest of the data out onto my laptop's harddrive, and fully formated it (not the quick format option). Everything seemed well, in my computer, it showed the new name of my drive, and there were no errors in the formating process. I copied my backup files back into the external and disconnected it. Unfortunately, the next time I tried to access my external there was no autoplay, so I tried to open up "My Computer" but it would cause my explorer.exe to freeze. I would have to restart my computer, and if I was able to access "My Computer," the drive would not be listed under the Hard Disk Drives, even though I formated it the same way the first time I assembled it. The computer does recognize that a usb device has been connected since the "Safely Remove Usb" icon appears in the taskbar. Now when I try to get into the "Computer Management" program explorer.exe freezes, so I can't attempt another format.

Is this your situation too? I've done some research, but I only thing I remember that was remotely related to my problem was what I typed above.

Well, there are only 3 parts that may be malfunctioning, the enclosure, the harddrive, or the cable. I've ruled out the cable since there are no cuts, dents or any other indentation on mine. The cable is a y-cable, one end is a male mini usb that jacks into the enclosure, the other end is 2 male usb cables. I used both so power may not be an issue. The harddrive seems to be ok, since it hum's softly when plugged into the computer. No clicking sounds of a normally dying harddrive. Hopefully a drive wouldn't fail in a month. But since I did get this drive OEM from newegg, It was only rapped in bubble wrap when sent... hmmm. The enclosure might be the culprit. Maybe a resistor on the circuit burned out somehow. I am not smart enough to check for that.

Unfortunately, I don't know of anyone that has an enclosure or extra hd to lend to me to test my equipment. I hope that someone here has experienced this same problem and has solved it.

Oh, some extra information just in case it may be useful: I tried to error check my external before i formated it. The check failed, saying windows was unable to complete it, and that was the reason why I decided to format it. I also was torrenting/seeding directly into the external, which may have been bad, causing corrupt/incomplete files or bad sectors somehow. Actually, the folder that was missing files was the folder i was torrenting/seeding (all my anime this fall disappeared.) Most importantly, I think it should be stressed that my and texmaster's drives were functioning normally before the lock ups started, so this rules out any problems of installation, i hope.

Sorry for partly hijacking your thread texmaster, but since our situations are very similar, I hope someone here can help us both.
 
I've had this happen with my Nexstar enclosure and my WD Scorpio 160GB, its really strange how it locks up explorer. Good to know its not only me.
 
jointhedarkside said:
if everything is frozen, it sounds like a power issue. Have you addressed that problem already?
Click to expand...

Well all the power is supposed to come from the USB. I bought their "extension" for it that actually uses 2 usb connections to give it enough power.

Hopefully you're right.
 
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