WD Passport USB device not recognized.

I own a WD Passport device that, once upon a time, worked on my Vista Home Premium desktop. Now, whenever I plug it into any USB port, Windows starts to search for a driver......which it cannot find because none is supposed to be required. I have sent multiple messages to Windows Support and receive all kinds of stuff telling me "how to install a USB device" and the like.......none of which pertain to my problem nor were they of any help. I can take the device to my son's XP desktop, and it connects immediately. Earlier in December, I received a message from SpiritX in these forums, but I was sidetracked in following them to completion, and have lost the last sheet
I have completed the SCANNOW, CHECKDISK, and USB stack refresh. None of these steps have fixed my problem.


Post Originated from Vista Support Forums

Has WD support also not provided you any recent Vista driver updates or
other meaningful help?

"Intrepid5295" wrote in message
news:...
> I own a WD Passport device that, once upon a time, worked on my Vista Home
> Premium desktop. Now, whenever I plug it into any USB port, Windows starts
> to search for a driver......which it cannot find because none is supposed
> to be required. I have sent multiple messages to Windows Support and
> receive all kinds of stuff telling me "how to install a USB device" and
> the like.......none of which pertain to my problem nor were they of any
> help. I can take the device to my son's XP desktop, and it connects
> immediately. Earlier in December, I received a message from SpiritX in
> these forums, but I was sidetracked in following them to completion, and
> have lost the last sheet.
> I have completed the SCANNOW, CHECKDISK, and USB stack refresh. None of
> these steps have fixed my problem.
>
>
> Post Originated from Vista Support Forums

If the drive is in a fat format you might consider reformatting it in NTFS
format. Such a change does not destroy the data and might 'fix' the drive so
it will work in both machines.

Michael


"Intrepid5295" wrote in message
news:...
> I own a WD Passport device that, once upon a time, worked on my Vista Home
> Premium desktop. Now, whenever I plug it into any USB port, Windows starts
> to search for a driver......which it cannot find because none is supposed
> to be required. I have sent multiple messages to Windows Support and
> receive all kinds of stuff telling me "how to install a USB device" and
> the like.......none of which pertain to my problem nor were they of any
> help. I can take the device to my son's XP desktop, and it connects
> immediately. Earlier in December, I received a message from SpiritX in
> these forums, but I was sidetracked in following them to completion, and
> have lost the last sheet.
> I have completed the SCANNOW, CHECKDISK, and USB stack refresh. None of
> these steps have fixed my problem.
>
>
> Post Originated from Vista Support Forums

Hi, Michael.

I think you meant to "convert" the drive from FAT to NTFS. Reformatting it
WILL destroy the data. But the built-in command, convert.exe, will convert
the format from FAT to NTFS without destroying the contents - and it is much
quicker than reformatting, practically instantaneous.

To the OP: In a Command Prompt window, type: convert /?
This should display a "mini-Help" screen showing how to use the command.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64

"Michael Walraven" <> wrote in message
news:1AE965A7-279B-4C7E-BAC5-...
> If the drive is in a fat format you might consider reformatting it in NTFS
> format. Such a change does not destroy the data and might 'fix' the drive
> so it will work in both machines.
>
> Michael
>
>
> "Intrepid5295" wrote in message
> news:...
>> I own a WD Passport device that, once upon a time, worked on my Vista
>> Home Premium desktop. Now, whenever I plug it into any USB port, Windows
>> starts to search for a driver......which it cannot find because none is
>> supposed to be required. I have sent multiple messages to Windows Support
>> and receive all kinds of stuff telling me "how to install a USB device"
>> and the like.......none of which pertain to my problem nor were they of
>> any help. I can take the device to my son's XP desktop, and it connects
>> immediately. Earlier in December, I received a message from SpiritX in
>> these forums, but I was sidetracked in following them to completion, and
>> have lost the last sheet.
>> I have completed the SCANNOW, CHECKDISK, and USB stack refresh. None of
>> these steps have fixed my problem.

YES YES Convert, not format (embarrassed)

Michael


"R. C. White" <> wrote in message
news:...
> Hi, Michael.
>
> I think you meant to "convert" the drive from FAT to NTFS. Reformatting
> it WILL destroy the data. But the built-in command, convert.exe, will
> convert the format from FAT to NTFS without destroying the contents - and
> it is much quicker than reformatting, practically instantaneous.
>
> To the OP: In a Command Prompt window, type: convert /?
> This should display a "mini-Help" screen showing how to use the command.
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
>
> Microsoft Windows MVP
> Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64
>
> "Michael Walraven" <> wrote in message
> news:1AE965A7-279B-4C7E-BAC5-...
>> If the drive is in a fat format you might consider reformatting it in
>> NTFS format. Such a change does not destroy the data and might 'fix' the
>> drive so it will work in both machines.
>>
>> Michael
>>
>>
>> "Intrepid5295" wrote in message
>> news:...
>>> I own a WD Passport device that, once upon a time, worked on my Vista
>>> Home Premium desktop. Now, whenever I plug it into any USB port, Windows
>>> starts to search for a driver......which it cannot find because none is
>>> supposed to be required. I have sent multiple messages to Windows
>>> Support and receive all kinds of stuff telling me "how to install a USB
>>> device" and the like.......none of which pertain to my problem nor were
>>> they of any help. I can take the device to my son's XP desktop, and it
>>> connects immediately. Earlier in December, I received a message from
>>> SpiritX in these forums, but I was sidetracked in following them to
>>> completion, and have lost the last sheet.
>>> I have completed the SCANNOW, CHECKDISK, and USB stack refresh. None of
>>> these steps have fixed my problem.
>