Reboot when exploring My Book Essentials

Ok, this may sound odd, it sure sounds odd to me!  But here goes.

I have a USB3 My Book Essentials 2TB external drive.  My computer just suddenly started rebooting randomly.  Or so I thought.  I have now narrowed it down to when I am exploring the MBE 2TB.  It is only when I explore the drive.  I am guessing it sits in an idle power saving state when it is not being accessed because it is always connected and always on.  It is only when I use Windows Explorer or Adobe Bridge to navigate the drive, and sure enough, it eventually causes the computer to reboot as if the ‘reset’ button had been pressed.

I am using Windows 7 Ultimate 64 bit and I have the SES WD driver installed. 

Has anyone else had an issue like this, anybody have any idea what it could be??  I have noticed when I plug the USB3 cable in I see a couple of sparks.  I never saw this on my old motherboard when I used USB3.

This has not been reported so far.

Can you test the drive on a different computer?

I don’t have another USB 3 laptop and my partners laptop is USB 2.  It doesn’t do it when it is connected to a USB 2 port.  I think I am clutching at straws if I am honest.  It seems like it is the motherboard that is the problem but the support from Gigabyte is just ridiculous.  The MBE worked with a USB 3 extension on my last motherboard, but it doesn’t with this one. They blamed it on the MBE and was slightly confused as to what an extension cable was.  Even with photos!

It seemed like I was talking to someone who didn’t have a full grasp of the English language.  I had to write like I was an 8 year old.  It was global technical support.

I could take the motherboard back to the shop I bought it from but they’re super super awkward (want to test it for up to five days and charge you £20 if nothing is wrong) and the female technical support worker on the tech counter has a massive chip on her shoulder.  If I didn’t use my PC for work then it wouldn’t be an issue.  I guess I will stay away from Gigabyte motherboards in future.

Thanks for makling me see sense in what the problem was!