Hi all I have a WD "Elements" terrabyte USB drive. It seems to work fine for the first half hour or so of operation in any session, but then my laptop "re-detects" it as new hardware in the USB slot. Indeed from this point on although it detects new hardware it does not identify it as the specific model and prompts me to search the internet for appropriate drivers (which it does not find, on searching). If I power everything down, wait for an hour, then try again, it detects and identifies the drive and everything works fine again (for another half hour or so). Initially I wondered whether the problem was with my laptop or software, but I reproduce the problem on another laptop, suggesting to me that it is a hardware issue with the WD drive. Is this a familiar problem, ie systemic or common to WD terrabyte drives? Out of curiosity, any ideas what exactly is the problem (not that I would be able to do anything about it, I guess, but it might give me an indication of whether it is repairable or whether I might as well just ditch the equipment)?
Have you tried a different USB cable? If you did and the problem persists, then there could be something wrong with the logic board of the casing. In this case, you only need to replace the casing (or get it replaced).
Thanks. I have tried alternative USB cables with same result. Still in warranty so back it goes. Will take me about a day to strip off the data already stored on it but hey, it's a Sunday.
