Is there any reason that it should take 5-10 minutes before it reads an external hard drive?

On any other computer it shows up instantly (it's USB), as soon as you plug it in.

This heap of shit takes like 10 mintues (not like it's loading or anything, it just takes 10 minutes before the "autoplay" decides to turn on and then the drives show up.

Anybody know an explanation or how to force XP to look for new USB drives?

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In case the above doesn't make any sense, note that I don't know anything about computers.

"Horsepower sells motor cars, but torque wins motor races"
- Carroll Shelby

Does it take this long all of the time? What are your system specs? Is there a driver that you need to install so it recognizes it? Is there a lot of programs/processes running in the backround?

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Ubuntu 8.04.1

Gnome 2.22.3

No man, it's a mass storage device formatted in NTFS format.

No programs that needs to recognize it, it's only with this ONE computer - any other computer, it recognizes it immediately. This recognizes it immediately, but won't load it as a drive (as into "my computer") for 7 minutes.

I just formatted 2 days ago, there's nothing except AVG and comodo running in the background, the computer runs fine if it boots (it won't go past the "windows is starting..." screen if the external hard drive is plugged in (there is no OS data on it, so I don't know why it would matter, but it does), which is why I have to unplug it, as I'm still setting windows up with its updates and stuff, I have to keep restarting. So no, this computer is the first time I've seen it take this long, although I am getting a message when I plug it in that says it's a "hi speed USB device" and that I might wanna plug it into a "high speed port" - but according to the USB manager thing - I don't have any "high speed USB ports" - I'm assuming that means USB 2.0, but I don't think that would cause a (precise) 7 minute delay before the "autoplay" feature kicks in and it reads it, as soon as it reads it, everything works fine, and the time is precise, not like 20 minutes later, not like 3, it's like 7, always.

I'm running a crap setup - rather old...this shit was all new on the market when I put it together...

Setup:
IC7-G mainboard
P4 3.0ghz Processor
Radeon Rage 9550 (not original, original ate itself, but whatever)
SB Live! Sound card (no I'm not using the sound on the mainboard)
Maxtor 6Y200M0 7200RPM HD
1GB RAM

__________________
In case the above doesn't make any sense, note that I don't know anything about computers.

"Horsepower sells motor cars, but torque wins motor races"
- Carroll Shelby

Well I would think it has a lot to do with the usb port you are using. If you would upgrade to a usb 2.0 card I think it would greatly improve.

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Ubuntu 8.04.1

Gnome 2.22.3

Nah, it doesn't, I was using the same external hard drive with the same computer with the same cards (except video) before my hard drive ate itself and it was instant, like it's supposed to be.

Now, I reformatted the harddrive, getting the computer back up and running, and it takes 7 minutes to detect each drive (twin 375's in one USB case). I could have had it plugged into a different port - but the USB manager says I don't have any 2.0 ports - and this "you have plugged a high speed device into a non-hispeed port, etc. etc." is all new to me - I've never seen that message - ever.

Are there any drivers you have to download for USB 2.0 to function or something? I've never seen that message before.

__________________
In case the above doesn't make any sense, note that I don't know anything about computers.

"Horsepower sells motor cars, but torque wins motor races"
- Carroll Shelby

No if you are using XP the 2.0 drivers are already installed.

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Ubuntu 8.04.1

Gnome 2.22.3

I'm using an old ass version of XP (way before SP2 was even a wet dream for microsoft) - are you sure it wasn't part of an update?

__________________
In case the above doesn't make any sense, note that I don't know anything about computers.

"Horsepower sells motor cars, but torque wins motor races"
- Carroll Shelby

Well that may be true, but I dont think so. You could always look at microsoft update and look for any updates, but I dont think you will find any.

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Ubuntu 8.04.1

Gnome 2.22.3

you cannot "update" a version 1.xx USB port into a 2.0 USB port, they are compatable but different. I get the same message when I plug my flash drive into my T22. Check the boot sequence in the bios, it might be set to look for external boot/usb drives before the system drive.

That isnt what I mean't my updating. I meant there might be an updated usb 2.0 driver. Of course you can update a 1.1 port to 2.0. What would of been the point of making a usb 2.0 card then??

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Ubuntu 8.04.1

Gnome 2.22.3

When I plug in my USB on XP it comes up instantly. It just may have something to do with the older version you are using.

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You missed what he was saying, he was talking about the drivers for windows to support 2.0 - but yeah, they should be on XP, I don't know what the deal is.

Maybe I never experienced the problem because I don't think I ever unplugged my externals when I was using this big ass computer.

I checked the BIOS already, nothing there. The only thing i can fathom is what I stated above.

__________________
In case the above doesn't make any sense, note that I don't know anything about computers.

"Horsepower sells motor cars, but torque wins motor races"
- Carroll Shelby