External hard drive dropping connection...

[cycleman77]

I leave my computer on for days at a time, and my external hard drive randomly drops its connection.
I never paid too much attention to it because I would just unplug it and then plug it back in.
But recently I have been burning DVD's and the source of the data is on the external drive. In short, I have a collection of DVD coasters starting. I am not happy with that.
Anyone have any ideas of the source of the problem?
The length of time my machine has been running does not seem to be a factor.

Notes: Running Windows XP Pro SP2, External hard drive is a Maxtor 200GB w/ firewire.

Thanks

 

[corkyg]

Are you using a separate ower brick for the Maxtor? Have you tried a different Firewire cable? Should be 6 pin to 6 pin.

 

[cycleman77]

The external enclosure I am using is an Argosy HD-360C. I am using a standard male-to-male 6pin cable.

 

[Zepper]

Is "Delayed Write" disabled? Should do that with all external drives.

.bh.

 

[cycleman77]

Yes, write caching is disabled.

 

[Zepper]

Do you have ASPI layer software installed? It should be when using external drives, especially with Nero. You can use Nero's own or the Adaptec. The Adaptec comes with a utility to tell you if ASPI is installed and what version.

.bh.