Posts by Alexander Brown48

Alexander Brown48 said:...The headaches aren't stopping. When I fired it up again today, the drive would show up for maybe ten seconds and then just vanish. Windows keeps throwing that error message saying new hardware was detected but it's acting up. It’s just constant—on, off, on, off every ten seconds. Tried switching to a different port, same garbage. Then I plugged it into a USB 2.0 port and things actually stabilized, so I went ahead and formatted it through Disk Management... fine. But then I used Sally to remove the hardware, swapped it over to a USB 3.0 port, and we're right back to square one—it keeps disappearing on me. Just a total mess...

Anyway, here's an update for everyone who wasted their time giving me advice:
I finally sorted this mess out. Work has been absolute chaos lately so I couldn't deal with it until now. Turns out the connector on the USB 3.0 controller power cable was damaged (it was shoved way too close to the GPU heatsink). Fixed the connection, put in a new one, and now the damn thing works perfectly. 👍

Yeah, honestly, the GPU cooler was my biggest headache because it kept getting in the way of the power supply. But I finally sorted that out.

This controller
I've got this older PC sitting around, but I’m worried the motherboard might be way too ancient to handle compatibility. It's been sitting there for... maybe 7 or 8 years

Clearly, I forgot to check the Quick format box before I started formatting.
I installed the driver for the USB 3.0 controller using the CD that came with it. It’s possible I missed a step during the process because the CD doesn't have an auto-run feature. You had to manually trigger something—probably the driver installation—inside one of several folders. The instructions mentioned an "autorun," but there wasn't one, just an "install" file.
Should I try hunting down a fresh driver online and see if that works? And what do you mean when you say "Device Manager is clean"? If that's what you're getting at, the only thing on my list is the "VIA USB 3.0 Root Hub," and there isn't a single yellow exclamation mark. Double-clicking it shows the device is working perfectly, though the driver is from 2011.
Could the issue be that I'm running 32-bit Windows XP?

Dennis Taylor82, thanks for the tip.
The issues aren't going away. When I fired it up again today, the drive would show up, stay for maybe ten seconds, and then just vanish. I keep getting that message saying new hardware was detected but it’s not working right. It's constant—it pops in and out every ten seconds like clockwork. Tried switching to a different USB port, same exact nonsense. Eventually, I plugged it into a USB 2.0 port and things finally stabilized. I went ahead and formatted it through Disk Management, which took a grueling 4 or 5 hours. Once that was done, I used Safely Remove Hardware, moved it over to a USB 3.0 port, and yep—back to square one. It's there, then it isn't. For a split second while it was actually visible, I managed to create a folder and start copying some files, but ten seconds later the drive "disappeared" and killed my data transfer mid-stream. Had to move it back to USB 2.0 just to get it to work. Now I'm running backups on it there. Interestingly, the card reader on the USB 3.0 port works perfectly fine and doesn't cut out. But when I plug an external 2.5'' HDD into that same USB 3.0 port, the system says new hardware is ready to use, yet the drive won't show up in the list of drives or even in Disk Management. I used to run backups to it on USB 2.0 without any drama. To make matters worse, it won't even recognize a standard USB flash drive now. Is it possible the USB 3.0 controller is just junk, or is there some weird incompatibility with the motherboard? Or am I looking at some messed up OS or BIOS settings?

I’ve definitely got a problem here. Here’s the deal: the HDD is mounted properly in the enclosure, power is connected, and I've got the USB 3.0 cable plugged in. When I hit the switch on the case, the blue power light comes on and the red data light kicks in too. A notification pops up saying new hardware was detected, it spins for a few seconds, and then says it's ready to go. But here's the kicker—when I open My Computer, the new drive just isn't there. It should be showing up right there. Everything else works fine instantly; my other external drive (a 2.5'' 250 GB one), card readers, thumb drives, cameras, GPS units—they all show up immediately as extra drives. Even Device Manager recognizes this thing by its full name and claims it's working perfectly. So, how do I force it to actually show up as a drive in My Computer?? I've already tried restarting Windows a few times, toggling the HDD on and off, wiggling the USB cable, even clicking update driver... I haven't exactly started dancing for it yet, but I highly doubt that would help.
The OS is Windows XP, Service Pack 3, 32-bit.
Oh, one more thing. Along with the motherboard, there's this software, XFast USB, that reacts to basically anything you plug into a USB port and offers "normal" or "turbo" data transfer modes. It recognizes this drive too, and it hasn't given me any trouble until now.

Alright, regarding the first phase of the job—installing the USB 3.0 controller—it’s a success. I don't want to clutter this thread with a massive wall of text, so here's the gist: I had to trim a little bit off the GPU heatsink to make everything fit, but once that was done, I got it all seated, installed the driver, and tested it out with a USB 3.0 card reader. It works perfectly. I've got a few photos of the setup if anyone actually cares to see it. Once I get back home, I'll get the HDD sorted and run my first backup, then I'll let you know how it holds up.

Alright, everything’s been bought. I grabbed a Chieftec case, and regarding the HDD, they told me they haven't even had one come back for a warranty claim in three years—considering how many of those things they move. As for the graphics card, I'm pulling it out first, and honestly, looking at it, I might actually be able to save it. It looks like maybe two or three fins on the heatsink are just getting in the way, and not even all of them. I’m going to take a closer look and try to "surgically" remove them if I think it won't mess with the GPU temps too much. I'll let you know how it goes once I finish cleaning up this mess and test everything out. 👍

Yeah, that GPU cooler is definitely in the way. Is there some kind of adapter or cable I could use to fix this? I’d rather just mount it up front; that actually works better for my setup. And honestly, I'm leaning toward the one with four ports. It’s the smart move—everything is moving toward USB 3.0 anyway.
Are you talking about this specific case?
Worst case scenario, I can just ditch the GPU cooler since the motherboard already comes with its own...

What do you guys think about this setup?
The case.
HDD
Don't forget to check the warranty—it's a solid 60 months.
Would the transfer speeds be compatible between an HDD and this enclosure?
It looks like you might have cut off your message there. What were you trying to say? If you've got a question or a rant ready to go, lay it on me. I'm listening. USB3 controller. That's all I want to talk about.
Can I actually mount this on my current motherboard? And more importantly, am I going to need some specific cable to hook the damn thing up? The motherboard is...
The ASROCK H55M-LE. Honestly, what even is this thing? It’s like looking at a relic from a different era. I don't know why people are still digging through junk drawers for these old boards, but here we are. It's basic, it's dated, and quite frankly, it’s barely holding on by a thread. If you're thinking about trying to build something decent with this, just stop. Save your money. You're better off buying something that wasn't obsolete before the last decade ended.
Those two white ports on the far left—which end up at the very bottom of my PC case—are wide open. Same goes for those two red SATA II connections down on the left side of the photo, just like the ones on the right.

Thanks for clearing that up. It makes things a bit more obvious now. I guess it’s time to actually sit down and think this through before I go making any big moves or opening my wallet.

The price seems fine, but what’s the deal with Seagate's reputation lately? They’re offering a 2-year warranty, but then I look at the manufacturer's site and it says only one year. That’s pretty confusing.

Dennis Taylor82 said:...do you want something ready to go, or are you looking to build it yourself (case + 3.5" HDD)? The upside to building it is that later on, you can just pop any internal HDD into that same external case—maybe something with more capacity, or just swap it out if, God forbid, one dies... etc. ...if your motherboard has USB3 and you grab an external case with USB3, you won't have any speed issues during transfers (just make sure you get a USB3 cable to connect the drive to your PC, unless it comes in the box)....

If I’m following you correctly, you're suggesting using an internal HDD mounted inside its own separate enclosure for backups. I'm not exactly an expert here, but I assume that means the enclosure needs its own power supply and some kind of controller or whatever is required to plug the drive (or drives?) into a USB3 port that's also sitting inside that case? That part doesn't quite click for me... I have this old PC lying around; the case and the power supply are fine, so maybe I could repurpose it, but how do I even factor USB3 into that setup?

🤷 Is ignoring questions from new users just standard procedure around here, or am I somehow special enough to be ignored too? 😉

Justin Gray81 said:Honestly, I feel like you just picked this username for one or two posts you're gonna drop here and then vanish 😬

Think whatever you want. Every other name I tried was already taken 🤷 This one is just what happened when my imagination ran dry and my nerves were shot 🙂
😉

Hey,

I'm looking to pick up a 1TB external drive to back up my photo and video archives. It’ll mostly sit with my desktop PC, though I might occasionally plug it into the TV to watch stuff on the big screen. I'm leaning toward a 3.5'' USB3 drive—if spending a bit more actually means faster transfer speeds for large files (video clips around 400MB) in that $50 $110 range... that's fine by me. I did some digging and crossed Western Digital and Verbatim off my list; looks like everyone swears by Adata. At the end of the day, I just want whatever has the best ratings, even if nothing is 100% foolproof.
I couldn't find any Adata options in the 3.5'' size (only 2.5''), but I found these. I need your take or better suggestions:
http://www.dell.com/external-drive-link-example
(No cache info provided)
http://www.bestbuy.com/toshiba-1tb-drive-example
(Warranty isn't listed)
Western Digital seems to be everywhere. Is it really that bad, or does it just look like it fails more because it's the most common thing on the market?
For example, this one:
http://www.amazon.com/wd-external-drive-example

If I can't find a 3.5'' drive, what should I grab instead for my setup? Which of these two would you pick:

Besides price and how they look, what's the actual difference in speed and quality between them?