Thanks.
I left my external drive (connected via USB) on and restarted my computer.
During the startup process, I pressed delete to get to the computer's BIOS.
The following was my setup ... I made no changes:
Standard CMOS Features
- IDE Primary Master = HDD (ie my internal Western Digital 320M disk)
- IDE Primary Slave = DVD-ROM
- IDE Secondary Master = DVD-RW
- IDE Secondary Slave = None
- Drive A = None (ie I removed my floppy drive some time ago)
- Drive B = None
- Floppy 3 Mode Support = Disabled
Advanced BIOS Features
- First Boot = Floppy (I have none, so should probably be set to HDD-0 but I
don't think it's my problem)
- Second Boot = HDD-0
- Third Boot = CDROM
- Boot up Floppy Seek = Disabled
Integrated Peripherals
- USB legacy support = Disabled
Not sure if I did it the way you explained but that's the only way I know
how to enter the BIOS.
Anyway the computer booted up properly (with the external HD switched on).
The behaviour is inconsistent.
Any other thoughts?
"Dave B." wrote:
[Quoted Text] > With the drive on, go into bios setup and find the startup options, make > sure the internal drive is before any external or USB drives in the boot > order. > > -- > ---- > Crosspost, do not multipost http://www.blakjak.demon.co.uk/mul_crss.htm> How to ask a question http://support.microsoft.com/kb/555375> How to Post http://www.dts-l.org/goodpost.htm> ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- > "Nick" <Nick[ at ]discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message > news:D05227DD-357F-43C3-91BC-AF90205A95E9[ at ]microsoft.com... > >I have recently attached a Maxtor external hard drive to my computer via a > > USB connection. > > > > On some occassions, I shut down the PC but forget to switch off the > > external > > HD. When I switch on the PC, during the startup process it stops and I > > have > > a black screen. I switch off the external HD and Windows finishes > > startup. > > > > I've checked the Maxtor site and they basically say to "Cycle the power to > > the drive prior to restarting", "Disconnect the drive before restarting > > Windows" or "Get latest updates from Microsoft". The first two answers > > don't > > excite me. So I checked the MSFT site (kb832577) but that's in relation > > to > > SP1. > > > > I have SP2 with all the latest patches. > > > > Does anyone know of a fix or am I stuck with remembering to switching the > > external HD off? > > > |