My laptop does not seem to be picking up my verbatim 47558 portable hard drive through the usb...... the hard drive has got its lights flickering! does this mean this hard drive is knackered?

Step 1:
Problems with Verbatim portable hard drives vary depending on your model of hard drive, your operating system and your computer hardware. Some problems can include insufficient USB power output, the file system format, and potential overheating due to enclosure materials.

File System b> Verbatim portable hard drives come formatted for use with Mac computers. If you're using it with a Windows or Linux computer, you will need to format it to a file system that your operating system will recognize; Windows computers typically work with NTFS, while modern Linux distributions use ext4. If you have computers with mutliple operating systems, FAT32 is usually considered easier for all operating systems to recognize. Verbatim does not recommend switching a portable drive between PC and Mac computers once you've formatted the drive one way or the other. Adequate Power While most computers supply adequate power with one USB port, older computers can have insufficient power output. If your computer doesn't seem to be powering the drive, use of a Y-shaped USB cable, designed to be plugged into two USB ports, can get more power to run the drive. Additionally, consider trying different USB ports on the same computer; some USB ports get more power than others. Drivers b> Make sure that you have any relevant drivers related to the hard drive that you have purchased. If your drive didn't come with a setup disc, you can check the Verbatim website for product drivers. Overheating b> Of Verbatim's seven portable hard drives, four are enclosed in plastic; of the other three, one is enclosed in aluminum, one in leather, and one in rubber. While all the drives are tested to run well with their enclosure, metal enclosures conduct heat away from the hard drive and help to prevent overheating. Plastic, on the other hand, is an insulator, so plastic enclosures may contribute to heat buildup. Check plastic-enclosed drives for overheating and avoid leaving them plugged in when not in use.

Verbatim continues to offer support on select SmartDisk products:



CrossFire USB & FireWire Desktop Hard DrivesSOHO NAS Desktop Hard DrivesFireLite USB & FireWire Portable Hard DrivesFireLite XPress Portable Hard DrivePhotoBankUSB External Floppy DriveSelect models of CameraMate Card Readers



For online support click here:

http://www.verbatim.com/contact-login.cfm



or call technical support at 646-537-3411, Monday-Friday, 8 a.m. to 9 p.m. Eastern Time.





Verbatim Acquires SmartDisk External Hard



Disk Drive Business

-----------------------------



Verbatim Acquires SmartDisk External Hard Disk Drive



TOKYO, (July 5, 2007) - Verbatim® Corporation and its parent company Mitsubishi Kagaku Media (MKM), announced today the purchase of substantially all of the assets of SmartDisk® Corporation\'s external hard drive (HD) and digital imaging business.

The acquisition, which includes physical assets, patents, trademarks, technology, engineering and marketing expertise, was effective on June 30, 2007.

Try changing the cable itself.

From Verbatim "Installing your portable hard drive is extremely simple - just use the included mini-USB cable to connect your hard drive to any free USB port on your computer. On Windows computers, a new icon will appear in My Computer representing your hard drive. On Mac OS systems, your hard drive will appear on the desktop as a new disk."

one is for data transfer between computer and hard drive the other is a power cable if they are both usb connect both usb plugs into usb ports

the power requirements of the hard drive are too much to run it from the laptop, remove any other usb devices and you will find that it works

Restart XP and connect e/hd and it should pick it up. Some systems are plain lazy after a while, so manually install it.

usualy it means that it has an error,try checking that the cables to the drive are connected properly if there all fine try shutting the usb drive off and turing it back on after 3 min.
you should turn your PC off also and restart it.
if that does not work you need to post more information about your PC and periferal devices.

Called Verbatim support and they said it is a power issue. They will send you a USB Y cable to get power from both USB ports. Hope it works.

That model doesn't have an external power supply port.