Windows 7: Hard drive lose connection on widows 7 but works under XP

Hi,

I have a 2.5 inch SATA external hard drive (100GB) in a "NexStar CX" case it works fine under XP machines but lose connection on widows 7 computers!

If I try to use it on a computer that has windows 7 installed it loads but when I browse inside of it the hard drive it makes a clicking noise and just lose connection after about a second or 2 it is running again(Almost like the HDD was unpledged and plugged back in).

3.5-inch SATA and IDE External hard drives work fine on my windows 7(x64) machine, It’s just my 2.5-inch SATA that is giving problems.

The hard drive works fine on XP, right now I have it plugged into an XP machine and shared over the network and everything works fine but if I try to plug it into my windows 7 computer directly it just keeps loosing connection (Had the same problem on other Windows 7 machines)

I have tried going to Power Options >> Advanced Settings and disabled “USB selective suspend settings”. This helped make the hard drive run longer before losing connection but the hard drive still randomly loses connection!


Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

Did the hard drive come with any software? Did you install a driver for it or let windows find and install one automatically?

I had similar issues with a Seagate freeagent not operating on Windows 7. The only way I was able to fix the issue was to disable automatic updates for drivers, uninstall the drivers 7 installed, install the driver for the external from the manufacture's website and rebooted. After that I plugged it in and it worked perfectly.

Also, not to sound redundant or doubt your expertise, but did you try all of the usb ports on the computer? And since it's a 2.5", did it come with a two-usb cable to provide extra power to the drive. Don't ask me why, but Windows 7 for me always seemed to have trouble with big devices requiring more power than normal being plugged into one slot.

Keep me updated. I'm happy to help!

Thanks for the reply,

yes I have plugged it into every usb port on my computer all 10 including back and side panel. It has 2 usb plugs on the cables, I plug them both in when using the drive also I just let windows install it for me and it didn’t come with any drivers.

I feel like an idiot for not thinking of trying different drivers. I have download some and will give it a try tomorrow when I get the hard drive back from a friend.

Thank you very much for the idea, hope it works

You do not need to disable Automatic Updates to avoid a Windows 7 driver. They are always delivered in Optional Windows Updates.

You should use them unless they cause a problem, then roll them back on the Device Driver tab, or Update them there to something newer or different.

Look up your model on Windows 7 compatable website.

It might have non compatable sata/usb-drive electronics?

My Hard drive case is windows 7 compatible at least that what the site says.
Unfortunately I cannot find windows 7 64 bit drivers, the ones I found were 32 bit.

Vantec – Vantec NexStar CX - NST-200S2-BK - 2.5" SATA to USB 2.0 External Hard Drive Enclosure

Not to question your knowledge by any means, but in my store there were several clients we've had since 7's release that have tried to use internal or external hardware and 7 will automatically try to install a Microsoft driver for the product. Even when updating the driver to the manufacturer's driver, a simple reboot would result in 7 replacing it with its own.

This has also happened to me with my video card on my own computer. Although the latest driver from the card's company was created on 5/29/2010, almost immediately after the driver installation and a reboot 7 would replace the driver with one created by Microsoft and their driver states it was created on 11/03/2009.

So the point being is that at least for several customers, 7 is automatically installing drivers it thinks will work well for the system, regardless of whether the device will operate properly with it. The only solution I've seen to stopping windows from doing this is to disable the automatic updates for drivers specifically, or to disconnect from the internet, install the driver, reboot, and then reconnect to the internet.

Yeah unfortunately I'm not seeing any 64-bit drivers for the enclosure.

These work in 64bit systems - according to others!

Try jumpering the drive/motherboard to force 1.5 Sata speed
unplug reboot plug in.

Next to try, is make sure AHCI is set in bios (not ide)

See if there are any Sata driver updates

Many say problem was sorted trying a different cable too

Thanks,
I tried different cables (3 of them) and no luck.
The Hard drive is an external USB (not internal) will changing the AHCI settings in bios still help?



I have no problems with normal 3.5" external hard drives so I think that windows might not be giving the drive enough power to it as it is powered by the 2 USB plugs on the y-cable.

I also formatted and installed windows XP x32 as a test and the HDD worked fine then I formatted and installed windows 7 x64 and the problem is back and since nothing was installed except windows I’m sure it’s not some 3rd party software conflict

If I take the 2.5" and connected directly to computer and boot in windows 7 everything works fine. It just does not like USB powered hard drives

Any ideas or know where a can download 64 bit drivers for my case, anyone?