Be sure that your disk has enough power to operate.
Connect external power supply. If you drive came with USB "Y" cable,
try this cable.
--PA
"Mattla" <Mattla@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news
060164F-451F-4976-8D9D-4412059847D2@microsoft.com...
> Having connected an external/portable HDD to my XP PC via a USB 2.0
> connection, I receive the expected "new hardware connected" bubble at the
> bottom of the screen and the Hardware Manager tells me that the device is
> working properly and that the drivers are ok but I cannot see the device
> anywhere (for example in Windows Explorer) in order that I can use the
> device. I have tried this same procedure on 3 seperate pcs. I suspect the
> device requires formatting. Anyone any ideas?