XP SP2 External HD Causes Hang on boot??

[jcarson]

I am working on an MSI MB system. AMD with XP Pro and SP2.

I am attaching a western digital USB 2 HD. Now, when I reboot, windows goes about the process. Just before completing the boot and releasing control, it hangs. It wont redraw the start menu or task bar. After I unplug the drive, it works fine. Is this normal?

I have tried drivers from WD and the latest VIA USB drivers.

Anyone have any ideas?

 

[Smilin]

I've always had this issue since SP1 on both an MSI VIA mobo and Asus nVidia. If I recall right I don't think I make it that far before the hang.

 

[jcarson]

Hmm.. It seems from my research that they reccomend you unplug it before rebooting. Thats convenient.

 

[Smilin]

Yeah, that's what I was doing for a while. Once I switched to an nForce mobo I found there is some really wierd known issue with my external usb enclosure that causes I/O to fail with nForce usb. I've since switched to firewire and haven't had any problems.

Since I've always used this for backups I only want it to be online when the backup is going anyway. If I get hit with a virus I don't want my backup drive to be accessible!