Understood, but the point was as the Western Digital faq page noted for the product;
 

Quote:There may not be enough power currently supplied to the machine's USB port. Most computer systems only supply 500mA of power through USB ports. The WD Passport hard drive requires a little over 1000mA of power at spin up. 
My point was that itś the power that the motherboard passes to the USB ports, not if it is an inexpensive system.
 
A Google search will reveal that many have this problem.
 
So, they admit that the product needs more power passed to the USB port than what many motherboards generally allow. They suggest that if Windows does not see the device properly, then this may be the issue. Hence, they suggest buying their external power supply for the drive.
 
Also, since this thread started over a year ago, with other postings with the same problem before the patch you mentioned, it seemed to point toward a hardware issue.
 
But, see what you find out and post any solutions. There are many nasty USB posts on this forum with windows XP.

I JUST started having this problem with my SimpleTech 320GB external USB hard drive, yesterday. Ever since I bought it my computer recognized it immediately and im running XP. I have an alienware with plenty of power supply for the USB ports, and obviously since it has worked perfectly fine for the last 3 weeks that wouldn't be the problem. When I plug the drive into the AC Power Supply and turn the switch on in the back of the drive it powers on (ie.. Red light goes on) and you can hear the drive spinning, however, there are 4 blue lights on top of the drive that should be lighting up when plugged into the computer but are no longer doing so. The drive worked fine untill about 5 pm CST last night. I bought a sony DVD-RW drive external yesterday (since my internal NEC model that came with my computer i THINK burnt out on me, it still plays dvds but is incapable of reading a DVD-R)...I unplugged the Harddrive and plugged in the DVD-RW drive then unplugged the Dvd-RW drive and re plugged in the Hard Drive, immediatly following that, the Hard Drive stopped working.
 
When I start up my computer, it states that it is reading the USB Mass Storage device. But no USB Connection tab comes up at the bottom and there is nothing in My Computer.
 
Any thoughts???

Originally Posted By: danleff...A Google search will reveal that many have this problem.

What is this "Google" you speak of?

Seriously dude, if you want to say RTFM, then just say it. Don't pretend like you're being helpful.

I SEARCHED THE WEB. I READ THIS THREAD. SOMEONE MENTIONED THE WINDOWS PATCH FROM THE OTHER NIGHT AND IT CAUGHT MY EYE BECAUSE OF THIS ISSUE AND A COUPLE OTHER QUIRKS THAT POPPED UP. OK?

Sorry if you took my posts the wrong way. Good luck.

Thank you. Sorry.

What WD says may sound believeable, but it is a load of c**p!!I have an 80gb passport that has been used continuously without any problems on 3 different desktop pcs, a laptop and a standalone DVD player with a USB port for almost 11 months. However, 10 days ago, I pluged it in my desktop pc USB port and I got the "unrecognized USB device" error message. After that all the above devices (including the DVD player) would completely ignore it, although the blue led would light up when connected. I was still within warranty so I took it to the local dealer of WD and a few days later I went back certain that it would be replaced but to my surprise, they told me that no problem was found. I asked them to see for myself and the technician connected it to his computer, through a USB hub using my cable and the drive would show up fine (making me look like a newb ). Seriously pissed off, I went back to test the drive on 2 of the computers mentioned above, only to find that the drive was not recognized at all !! I tried then to connect it directly to the USB ports and not through the USB extension cables THAT I HAVE BEEN USING ALL THIS TIME WITHOUT ANY PROBLEMS and guess what.. I could see the drive just fine !! I really don't know what conclusions to draw from this, besides the fact that I'm never going to buy a WD external harddrive ever again!!

i had the same issues, worked for months on various computers using different cables. worked yesterday before i left the house came back to find it had decided not to work, nothing had changed. same cable, same system, no movement, no updates and yet it packed in on its own. tried all sorts of updates on usb power allocation, striped the unit down and checked the pcb, full works. almost gave up until i spotted an overlooked post on this forum of a fix using the short usb cable the unit was supplied with. now it works (dont ask). If you haven't tried this already then give it a bash. From what i can gather this is most likely a cable only issue, possibly a completely random uncontrollable malfunction, fingers crossed in the future.
 
as spyros7 stated might be better to aviod WD external (specifically usb powered) hard drives.
 
 

Hi all,
 
I had exactly the problem with WD passport 300GB after I'd changed from FAT32 to NTSF.
No solutions provided here solved my problem.
But my WD is back and running great and here is how.
 
go to control panel - adm. tools - services
 
Scroll down to find WD Drive Manager Service
 
Look at 'Startup Type' in the middle to see if its "Disabled"
 
If it is, turn it back to "Automatic"
 
Then the buttons under 'Service status' will be activated.
 
Press 'Start'
 
And then 'Apply'.
 
Disconnect your ext. HD from USB port and reconnect.
 
Magically there I saw the lights back on and device recognized.
 
I hope this will help for those who r biting nails with fear of losing precious data.

Hi, i spent a good few hours trying to sort out the usb device not recognized problem, and none of the all over the forum fixed worked for me, as all trace of the device just disapeared.
This worked for for iomega 500gb external, gave it a go because my warranty seals were already broken.
 
So yea, tried all the sensible options, replugging everything, device managering like a mother-bit ch, my computer . management etc.
So then i took out all the casing screws to give it a look. If you do this, i fond that pulling out the usb adapter card on the inside leaves you with, in my case, a nice internal sata drive, which when put in internally, works totally fine.
Yea, you no onger have the externalosity, but at least you have all your data...and dont have to take a shit load of copywritten/confidential material to a shop for a fix.
 
Hope this helps someone
 
Ric

Hi. I would just like to say that this is probably one of the most useful threads for tis problem that I have found, and I think it has helped me solve my 'usb device not recognized' issue.
 
I have a Western Digital 250gb hard drive which has served me very well for a year up until a few day ago. I started getting the 'usb device not recognized' malfunction error. After reading serveral posts I decided it was a power issue (although the error did not specifically say so), and decided to buy a USB booster cable (usb lead with 2 usb heads for twice the power).
 
I was going to order a Lindy cable off amazon ( http://www.amazon.co.uk/LINDY-USB-Cable-Dual-Power/dp/B000FKP7XK) but the one and only reviewer of the product, it seemed, had exactly the same problem as me and upon trying the cable found it did not work. He instead advised to buy a usb powered hub, which I did.
 
I received the hub today, tryed it, and guess what, didn't work. That's when I searched and found this thread. I have been using the usb cable supplied with the hard drive. Some people in this thread seemded to have been using a different cable, got the error, tryed the orignal supplied WD cable, and the HD has magically worked.
 
I on the other hand, like a few other people in this thread, have been using the supplied WD usb cable from the start. I decided, after reading this thread, to try a different cable. I managed to find a usb cable of the same sort that came with my brother's Sony mp3 player, have just tryed it, and Eureka!
 
So I kinda wish I'd bought the Lindy two head usb adaptor after all, as it was a lot cheaper than the hub I don't even need.
 
So my advice it to try a diffrent cable, maybe even the Lindy one, or maybe a hub would work for you?
 
Who knows.
 
I think people saying that you need a new HD and that the data has gone is rubbish. The data must still be on there, after all nothing has happened to it. I think it's just easier for Western Digital support to say 'you need a new hd' than it is to troubleshoot.
 
I was considering opening the casing up and just retrieving the hard drive and giving it to someone who would know how to re-case it. If it goes again maybe I will have to. For the time being though it seems to be ok. And I hope everyone else manages to fix theirs.

yeehhhaaaaa....... thanks to the person who said "use the shorter cable that comes with the Western Digital drive". IT WORKS!!
 
Symptom: Blue LED turns on, drive just clicks but does not spin, laptop says "USB device not recognized". Picked it up and shook it, drive spins but still USB Device not recognized. It was connected with a 4 feet USB cable. But it works on my office laptop. Puzzled I seek Google's help (as usual), end up in this forum and then use the smaller (6 inches) cable and boom, the WD 160 GB is recognized right away.
 
Thanks once again.
Surprized though, the 2006 solution works in 2009 also!! WD learn something plzzzzzzzzzz.

Andromeda9's solution of using the original USB cord that WD sends you worked for me. Thanks Andromeda9!

Hi. My 160GB WD Passport also suddenly quit working over the weekend. It had previously worked on both my home machine and my Dell laptop, and now is not recognized on either these machines, or any of the others I've tried.
 
Unfortunately, I have tried the vast majority of these solutions. I am using the original cable; I tried using other cables, including a similar short one from someone else’s USB device that looked like the one that came with my HD; tried using other computers; tried downloading a driver (for which I could find none); tried going through disk manager and device manager and admin tools/services (as suggested by jaywannahelp in Oct...WD is not even listed); tried plugging it into every single USB port on the laptop and the computer both front/back and I even tried the one in the docking station; tried laying the drive on its side, upside down, and vertically; tried giggling the connections and wire…
 
Only solutions not tried, taking the case apart and plugging the hard drive directly into the motherboard, using a USB-powered hub or a USB booster cable, plugging it into a machine running Vista or Linux or into a Mac, and lastly, taking it to a computer shop and begging for help.
 
The drive does not click, the blue light is on, and it appears to be functional. It is just not being recognized.
 
Anyway...I have to stop at Best Buy later tonight to pick up the booster cable and hub to attempt those, and I'm trying to locate a friend with Vista, Linux, or a Mac.
 
Other than that...I'm out of ideas.
 
Glad to hear that others have at least had some success!
 

I own a 60GB Passport and had the same problem. My computer would not recognize my Passport drive and other devices.
 
After trying several computers, cables, usb ports I finally ordered an Ultra USB 2.0 all in 1 card reader/usb hub.
 
In my opinion the problem with the Passport is that its voltage requirement is on the high end of what a regular usb port can provide.
 
Mine would work intermitently, depending on how many devices I had plugged into my usb bus.
 
By purchasing a USB hub that has its own power supply I finally got consistent performance out of my Passport.

I have to say that my WD ext. hard drive JUST did this to me this morning. I about had a heart attack! I tried two computers, nothing. It powers up, but isnt recognized and nothing popped up to say it was recognized on either computer.
 
Come to find out, it was the cable. I had the wrong cable. Same type of plug, the light on the hard drive works, but nothing would open. I found another cable that worked. After reading all these replies, I am now backing up my HD to another hard drive and DVD's/CD's.
 
Good luck to you all that may have problems. Back up! That is my suggestion. Always back up!

Try it in a different USB slot it works for me as my belkin adapter is set to a certain USB slot if i plug it into a different 1 it wont recognise

Interesting how many different ways this device can cause problems. In my case, my 250G passport was not accessible after the first time I used it. It appeared in the Disk Manager (as active) but had no drive letter and I could not assign one to it (the error message said it was inactive).
 
It turned out that it somehow was associated with something called a "general volume" (generic? my system is in Swedish...) which was inactivated but appeared in the Device Manager. When I activated that, my Passport suddenly acquired a drive letter and could be accessed.
 
This "general volume" seems to be the same that sometimes appears when using the Safe Removal feature (and it cannot be stopped...). I have now changed the setting for the Passport so that it does not use a cache and can be removed without using Safe Removal. And so far no problems.

hello evryone
plz solve my prob
i bought a kingston pen drive (2gb) in this nov..
bt now my pz is not recognizing it
plz help me out

Had similar problem with my Passport 350gb
 
read this and noticed someone posted Western Digitals recommendations.
 
"Cause:
There may not be enough power currently supplied to the machine's USB port. Most computer systems only supply 500mA of power through USB ports. The WD Passport hard drive requires a little over 1000mA of power at spin up."
 
 
Turns out I used a different USB cable second time I plugged it in. Went and got my original cable and worked fine. Other cable was obviously thinner and not as powerful. Good to note, hope others learn from this too.

Hi,
 
Many thanks to Richie66 for his post.
 
Western Digital drives can be a pain in the neck - my two externals just vanished and became 'Unknown Devices' to Vista.
 
After searching here I put them on their sides, replugged them and hey presto - there they were! A bit of switch cleaner in the sockets and they now seem fine again.
 
I had a My Book World which was such a pain I ended up taking the hard drive out and installing it internally.
 
Time WD got their act together!
 
Cheers,
 
Barryt