External WD Hard Drive Randomly 'Ejects'...not a power issue

[JenR]

I have a WD External Hard drive. I've used it for years on both windows 7 & 8 computers. I believe when updated to 8.1 that started having issues. Only with the 8.1 computer. I can be in the middle of using it, or idle, and it says' "unknown usb device has stopped working". The light is still on the external, and it is still spinning, but it not longer shows up in my computer or in devices to eject. It is a 3.0, and I have tried both 3.0 ports, 2.0 ports, 3.0 hub. Also tried uninstalling drivers. Any other ideas? I don't think it's the drive b/c it still works perfectly on my other windows 7 computer. It is also not the "power saving" issue b/c it's a desktop and it happens when I'm in the middle of using it. This has been driving me crazy for months. Thanks!

 

[Boogieman_WD]

Hey JenR. I can imagine this would be pretty annoying indeed. I've heard of issues with all kinds of external drives after upgrading to Windows 8.1. Fortunately there's something which you could try to see if it helps you fix the problem. Here's an article with a solution which might prove helpful: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/usbcoreblog/archive/2013/11/01/help-after-installing-windows-8-1-my-usb-drive-disappears-or-file-transfers-stop-unexpectedly-r-a-post-title.aspx

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD

 

[JenR]

Hey JenR. I can imagine this would be pretty annoying indeed. I've heard of issues with all kinds of external drives after upgrading to Windows 8.1. Fortunately there's something which you could try to see if it helps you fix the problem. Here's an article with a solution which might prove helpful: http://blogs.msdn.com/b/usbcoreblog/archive/2013/11/01/help-after-installing-windows-8-1-my-usb-drive-disappears-or-file-transfers-stop-unexpectedly-r-a-post-title.aspx

Hope that helps.
Boogieman_WD

I actually already have that update downloaded, and it's still not working. I could try to go in and adjust the settings like it describes, but it should have been fixed if I just installed the update I believe. Also, I don't think this was the issue to begin with since I will literally be in the middle of editing a photo in a catalog on that drive and it will just stop working, and give me the notice that it is no longer recognized. Thanks for the response though.

 

[Boogieman_WD]

You could try this: http://support.microsoft.com/kb/929833/en-us to see if there are any corrupted or missing files which might be causing the issue with your OS.
Other than that you could try the previous solution as well even if you have the update there are a few adjustments which might prove to be the right solution.