I’ve been having a weird problem develop over the last two days. I have an external WD Elements 6400AAK drive that I use for back-up only. Two days ago, I booted up the computer and was surprised it did not go all the way into Windows. I rebooted and everything went fine. I mention that as it may be related. I have been rebooting normally since then. However, my Elements drive is now being recognized repeatedly by my system as though it is being connected anew each time. I get a Windows chime, then a scanner checking for files, then the little box that pops up asking what I wish to do with those files - open, copy, etc., and another chime.
I unconnected USB cable and power cable, then reconnected everything including putting the USB into a different slot on my computer. I have tried checking my system to see if drive is recognized and healthy and it is. The same is true for USB. I used Lifeguard Diagnostics and it passed. I am so far able to view files and run/copy stuff without apparent issues, but have not used it extensively, as it is for back-up. The drive is mostly filled with 162GB free.
This event happened once a day ago, but has now increased. It seems like it happens when I am not using my computer and all is fairly idle. I am not sure if when the drive spins down, my computer then fails to maintain recognition, senses the drive again, then runs the scan like it forgets it’s connected. It’s getting annoying and worrisome.
Could the USB connection, if not drive itself, be faulty in some way, or is all this beng a sign of imminent failure? I have had it for a few years at least without a problem.
I also discovered that the driver file is from 2001 version 5.xxx… and there is supposedly a later driver from 2006 version 6.xxx… I ran driver update, but Windows found no update. I have Windows XP SP3 as well, so is the later driver for later operating systems? I can’t seem to download this driver in any other way either.
I also have not installed any new software. I use Microsoft Essentials and Super Antispyware for security, but aside from their updates, nothing seems to have got into my system to cause a problem. The only other weird thing to happen was not being able to view videos on Hulu a few nights ago and pages from an automotive website failed to load right too. Since then, all else has been fine, so don’t know if that is all related in some mysterious way too.
Thank you for any help.
