I have a WD1200 hooked into my lap top for back up purposes. Before I can use it, I usually need to pull the USB plug out of the laptop and then reinsert it so the lap top recognizes the drive. This lasts for a bit and then when I go to use it again it has disconnected. I am using Windows 7. Sometimes it connects and sometimes I get a message saying that the USB has malfunctioned and Windows does not recognize it. If I put it in a different USB I get asked what I want to do with the drive. But it disconnects from both USB drives. The first USB does recognize other devices plugged into it.
I thought the drive might be turning itself off but I don’t see a power management tab associated with the drive when I go into Hardware.