My Book Essential 3.0TB prevents Windows 7 from booting 2

WD External Drives External Drives for PC
1

I doubled the messages title because i have the exact same problem as described in the threads here:

http://community.wdc.com/t5/Other-Externals/Computer-won-t-boot-unless-I-unplug-WD-Elements-from-USB-port/m-p/105634/highlight/true#M1471

http://community.wdc.com/t5/My-Book-for-PC/My-Book-Essential-3-0TB-prevents-Windows-7-from-booting/td-p/109888

my Setup:

HP EliteBook8540w , Win7Pro 64bit

totally new install/setup of windows

Mybook essential 3T USB 3/2   (==A)

Mybook Mirroredition 2T USB 2 (==B)

The fixes proposed in the previous threads lead me to disable ‘USB device Boot’ and move ‘USB Hard Drive’ at the bottom of the Legacy Boot Order List. No effect at all.

Its Booting with B

It is stuck in the first screen with A forever. (max time i waited ~20-30min)

WHY? Wheres the difference between a WD2T mirror and a WD3T essential??

I want this newly bought 3Tdrive to work properly with my new PC! Any help and advice welcome!

2

Assuming you have disabled Legacy USB support in your BIOS, then the problem may be the Smartware firmware.

I believe the My Book Mirror drives are not Smartware enabled wheras the My Book Essentials are.

The firmware in a Smartware enabled drive is always active and will interfere with the booting process, depending on the  BIOS of your computer.

3

Are you sure that you don’t have Boot to USB Device enabled in your Bios?

4

I am having the same issue with the same unit.  I am running Window 7 64-bit and have disabled the “boot from USB” option in the bios.  With the unit plugged into the computer, the boot hangs at the Windows logo screen and will sit there as long as the unit is attached.  If I unplug the USB, the boot continues as normal. 

5

Lisa go into Bios and disable Legacy USB support and see if that does anything.

Joe

6

I’ll second Bill’s suggestion on disabling Boot from USB. 

If you disable Legacy Usb and you have an USB  keyboard/mouse it will not work afterwards.

7

I will see if I can locate a PS2 mouse and keyboard and then disable the Legacy USB settings.  I will report back here as to whether this works or not.

8

@ wmetmw

That could be a way to go.

Is there a way i can disable this behaviour?

Any kind of settings or preferences on the WD essential drive?

9

No, if the firmware is the problem, WD refuses to give an update to turn it off.  It is always active even if you hide the virtual CD.

Some computer BIOSs seem to handle the boot with the drives connected and others have trouble.

10

UPDATE:

It only happens when the essential drive is connected to the USB 3 ports of my pc.

If it is connected to USB 2 it boots just fine…

Seems like some Driver/Firmware problem related to USB 3

I would really like to see a solution for this problem. It is a bit frustrating not being able to fully use the USB 3 speed…

11

After looking into this fustrating issue I finally resolved it with my computer. In my BIOS of my Dell 8400 PC I went to the USB controller option and selected the “No Boot” option, saved it, restarted, and victory booted just fine. Hope this helps :smileyvery-happy:

12

I’ve got the same problem but with a 1 TB on XP.

I’ve attempted to change the BIOS settings several times to try and stop if from ever checking USB sources, but to no success. (I’ve had this same problem before with a USB based Sansa MP3, I couldn’t boot if it was in the computer charging)

Nvidia 680i SLI motherboard and Phoenix 6.0 BIOS, the EVGA one if it matters.

13

Did you already try all previous suggestions? The fact that it was happening before lets you know that the configuration on the Bios is the issue. You can also check on the Web for the manufacturer of the MOBO for more info.

14

I would add to what Wizer is saying by recommending that you all make sure that you have the latest bios and driver updates, for the motherboard and your USB 3.0 card if you’re using one.