jimrich Posted March 2, 2012 Report Share Posted March 2, 2012 My OS is Win xp, sp3, home ed.I have a Toshiba 320 GB USB external hard drive which has been performing very well until lately. The Toshiba drive starts out by turning on and off or running the Auto-play mode. An Autoplay box opens to tell me the device has mixed content and gives me a set of options so I pick “No action”. Somehow the computer sees the Toshiba drive as a CD! The Toshiba turns on and off for a long time (5-10 min) then it settles down, stays on and I can go in and out of it to enter or retrieve info normally. I have gone into the Device manager and other places and re-set all the Defaults where I can. This is a disturbing issue as I wish to have a dependable External drive instead of this “shaky” Drive but I believe the issue is in Windows Explorer and not the Toshiba drive. My latest effort was to re set the Defaults in Auto-play and restart computer. Toshiba did it's on/off thing for a few minutes but no Auto-play thing and now it allows me to use it (Toshiba) normally! It's a little disturbing but I can live with it so long as the stored material is safe. Why does win. explorer see the storage drive as a CD? Is this a Services issue? Thanks for your feedback and help in this matter,Jim :D Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimrich Posted March 3, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Meanwhile......... I have run several scanning apps to examine the Toshiba HD and they all show it to be OK so I assume it's something within the computer causing the issues. Any thoughts? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Have you checked for intermittent connections (dodgy plugs, damaged cables, dry joints on soldered connections and suchlike)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bludgard Posted March 3, 2012 Report Share Posted March 3, 2012 Have you checked for intermittent connections (dodgy plugs, damaged cables, dry joints on soldered connections and suchlike)?Also : Is there any virtual drive software installed on the macine? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimrich Posted March 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 Have you checked for intermittent connections (dodgy plugs, damaged cables, dry joints on soldered connections and suchlike)?All the connections seem good as I have connected the External drive to several different ports and with 2 different connecting wires. The unit is new so I don't suspect anything within the Drive itself. re: Also : Is there any virtual drive software installed on the macine?...... No virtual drive software. I also uninstalled all USB controllers and Root hubs then rebooted - no change in the strange performance of the Toshiba drive! thanks for the feedback Jim :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted March 4, 2012 Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 The intermittent and variable nature of the fault does suggest something physical (as per my previous suggestions) is amiss with the drive. Try testing the drive on another computer to check if the drive itself is faulty. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimrich Posted March 4, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 Hi: thanks for the reply. It's morning and I went at that drive again. In some forum someone mentioned trying the drive in Safe Mode. It (Toshiba) works PERFECTLY in Safe Mode! I did all kinds of moves in there. Then back to regular mode and the Toshiba is working PERFECTLY now!!! I have no idea what changed or how or even if my wonderful Maintenance app. did the trick but the Toshiba is working just as good as it did from the beginning. Of course I have moved some very important files to CDs but I like the external drive for convenience. Yes, I won't be depending on it as a main or permanent back up system any more - WHEW!Thanks again for your responses and help. If anyone can explain why the Toshiba is working so well again, I'd like to read about it.Jim :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted March 4, 2012 Report Share Posted March 4, 2012 I still think you had a dodgy connection somewhere. :) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimrich Posted March 6, 2012 Author Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 I still think you had a dodgy connection somewhere. :) Please define the term "dodgy" for me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
-pops- Posted March 6, 2012 Report Share Posted March 6, 2012 My definition of dodgy here = poor quality or damaged or broken and poorly repaired, worn out or suchlike and any combination of these. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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