WD Elements SE not working

[Asfu79]

Hi all, I have just purchased WD Elements SE 1TB. Drive was connected to my laptop, Dell Studio 1747. Drive was recognized when connected to USB, but does not appear in the explorer. When went to 'Computer > Manage > Disk Management' drive appears there, is recognized properly, but does not have letter assigned nor possible to format. I have read a bit and found something regarding lack of power in the USB ports. Therefore connected it to the e-Sata port, but still was not able to use the drive. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

[Joe_S]

Contact WD ant they will probably send you a Power Booster cable. It uses 2 USB ports and may solve the low voltage problem.

Joe

[Asfu79]

Thank you for the quick reply.

I will do that, even though it sounds weird even e-Sata port is not powerful enough.

Since I use this port to connect a hub, mouse, keyboard, cellular modem and external HDD, I assumed voltage is high.

To connect the new Elements SE - hub was disconnected.

Anyway, will ask WD to send this cable and check whether it works or not.

For the price paid - maybe it's better just to repleace it with another brand...

Thanks again.

[Joe_S · Accepted solution]

Personally I don't like USB powered drives because a lot of PC makers use really wimpy power suppies that are barely adequet.

Joe

[Asfu79]

I agree with that, but since my desktop sudden death, the laptop is the only computer I have, so I don't really have a choice but using external drives. My main external HDD are 3.5", but for commuting I bought 2.5", which for the moment is not working

[Asfu79]

Well, wrote a week ago to WD and still got no response. Connected the HDD to a desktop and it works perfectly. Guess it is a power problem.

[LenaN]

Thank you for the post. It really solved my problem. I just switched cables from what I got with the package to what I have and use. Kudos!

[icsoka]

Utter rubbish hard drive i will never support it again because they do not honor their warranty. I have owned 640 GB 2.5" & 1 TB 2.5" and looked after them properly but they ended up having bad sectors. I bought my drives from 2 different locations of the world,USA & Philippines.Both looked after very well, but i ended up having issues with Cyclic Redundancy Check.Lifeguard Tools reported bad sectors and it suggested that it may be able to fix the errors but it was unsuccessful. sorry its junk.