I apologize in advance for the long-winded explanation:I recently hooked a Maxtor 3000LE USB external HDD to a computer running Windows XP, following the installation instructions. Unfortunately when I plugged the USB cord into the port the device was not getting power. It has an external power supply that plugs into the unit and then into the wall. Well like a moron I noticed the connection b/w the power supply and the drive was loose, so like an even greater moron, without disconnecting the USB cable from the port, I pushed the power plug into the drive.
I don't believe my gaffe damaged the port because I tested the port later by plugging in three different USB periperals (a keyboard/ a mouse/ and a joystick). They all work flawlessly. However I think that I might have damaged the BIOS (possibly?) in the external hard drive.
Now the Device Manager identifies the 3000LE as an 'Image Simulation SCSI CdRom Device' when plugged into the USB port after the hardware installation error. I have tried removing the device from device manager and reinstalling but it always is detected as an 'Image Simulation SCSI CdRom Device'. The Maxtor support website wasn't too helpful. There were no XP drivers available for a manual installation (because XP supposedly ships with the correct drivers for the hard drive). i tried a manual install of an external hard drive in the device manager, but whenever I plug the drive in the hardware detection wizard wants to intsall an 'Image Simulation SCSI CdRom Device'.
After giving up on the XP machine, I followed the installation instructions on a Windows 98 machine and the drive works just fine so at least the drive isn't totally fried. Does anyone have any suggestions about how to get the drive up and running on an XP box?
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