"Because a USB device was drawing too much power from your computer ..."

I have a WD passport (1T) that I connect to my MacBook Pro OS 10.7.3 - and I have had the hard drive for a year or two and have taken good care of it.  I’ve never had any problems until recently.  If I barely move my hard drive on my desk (it IS portable, after all, right?) - I get the following message:

"Because a USB device was drawing too much power from your computer, one or more of your USB devices have been disabled.
To prevent damaing your computer, the USB device drawing too mcuh power has ben dsiabled.  Other devices may have also been disabled.  When you disconnect the device drawing too much power, your other USB devices will be enabled again."

Nothing else is ever connected to my computer, and it doesn’t matter if my computer is plugged into a power source or not - the battery is usually fully charged - and I never had the message pop up so frequently until now.

Is it the beginning of the end for my hard drive or is there a way to stop it from disconnecting because it’s apparently “drawing too much power”?

nope…

it just means the computer power settings needs to be adjusted

you can also get a power booster cable

the cable is a Y type cord … two usb’s connect to the pc and one to the drive

since the power will be split in both usb’s the message will go away 

Thank you for your response, however … I never altered any of my comptuer’s power settings - and I’m running on a Mac - I have searched for “power settings” and can’t find anything.  I had been using the hard drive for almost two years before this issue came up … not sure if it has someting to do with an OS update or not … any idea?

well… I’ve also suggested getting a power booster cable

did you consider that option? 

hi,im having a similar problem. have you found a resolution yet?

I’m not sure if this would help, but the USB closest to the screen is independently powered as the second USB is shared with the keyboard.  So the first port has higher current.  

Problem solved!

After I kept getting the message about the power supply - eventually my hard drive just stopped responding all together.  I thought I had lost everything.

I took the risk and just bought a new cord - I went to Best Buy and the sales guy recommended the closest thing - a Kindle charging cord - and it worked!!!  Thank goodness it was only the cord!

Hope your situation is the same!  I’ll be backing up more often now!!!