PC will not REBOOT with 3TB WD Elements drive attached

On my Win 7 prof PC I have installed 4 external drives. 3x LaCie and 1x WD Elements (3Tb, WDBAAU0030HBK).

When the LaCie drives are switched “on” and attached using via USB and I tell the PC to restart there is no issue.

However when the WD drive is attached (USB 2.0) and the PC needs to reboot, then all I get during reboot is a black screen with a flashing cursor.

This is very annoying when new software (Programs or Windows Update)  is installed and the system tells me to reboot as then I first have to unplug the WD drive and later switch it back on again.

If I switch off the PC completely (Shut Down option) and switch it back on again then it does boot up normally and all drives work okay, incl. the WD drive.

As mentioned the LaCie drives cause no issues, it is only the WD drive that makes the PC hang during a reboot.

Any suggestions on how to resolve this are appreciated.

Hello there,

That’s a bit strange.

The only thing that comes to my mind is that the computer is trying to boot from the drive.

Are you able to check the settings on the bios of your computer to see if the options to boot from a USB drive is enable? If yes, try disabling that.

Booting from USB is disabled.

As mentioned when the PC is OFF and the system is switched (with the WD drive attached and runnign)  on there is no issue. It onyl hangs if you do a reboot.

Strange indeed, esp. since it is only the WD drive having this issue, not the LaCie ones.

Look into Windows settings there might be a fast reboot setting or somethin similar involved. 

Joe