Windows encountered a problem

[Mackenzie]

I all,
I have a problem on my Windows Vista that began afetr the purchase of an external Hard Disk Freecom.
A few days afetr the purchase I disconnected it while it was writing and, since that moment, every time I connect and disconnect it, the PC go to freeze mode for 5 minutes.
The same thing happen even if the hard disk is disconnected: every time I start windows it go to freeze a little after the password, and every time I connect and disconnect a usb device.
I have looked for the solution everywhere, updated windows, unistalled and installed the hard disk from the device manager but I solved the problem only when I restored a recent backup.
Yesterday the Hard disk was writing a backup while Vista was installing the updates; at the end of the proceure windows restarted automatically and the problem began again!!!
The Pc go to freeze when it starts, every time I connect or disconnect the hard disk, an usb earphone that has always worked switch on but there is no audio and I don't know how many others usb devices will have problems.
Has anyone an idea to solve this problem before I throw out of the window Vista or the the hard disk?
Thank you


__________________
Never seen engagement gift like these! (geschenkideen on german or regalos originales on espanol), foto per matrimonio

[dedndave]

1) start from scratch - reformat the drive and re-install windows
2) be patient - do not try to do both at once
(don't update windows and backup a hard drive at the same time - lol)
(and - don't disconnect a drive when it is in the middle of a write)
3) this is an assembly language programming forum - not a windows help desk

[GregL]

See if there is a new driver for it for Vista.

[shankle]

I have Vista and an external HD.
I use the HD only for a backup.

Rules I follow and I have never had a problem.
1. turn Windows automatic update OFF. Do you own updates once a week.
    IMHO I believe anything automatic from MIcrosoft is a prescription for disaster.
2. Unplug the modem when using the External HD.
3. Only plug in or unplug the External HD when the puter is off.
    I know that it says this is  not necessary but I believe in extra insurance.
Using these procedures my external HD has never failed me.   

You might have to do as Dedndeve says and reformat the drive and start over
with a fresh copy of Vista.

[dedndave]

i am like Shankle, but a bit more extreme - lol
i have a set of windows updates that i install when i build the drive
then - i rarely install any further windows updates
i think they intentionally want to slow your machine down so you think you need to upgrade   :P
in fact, whenever i install any program, the first thing i do is see if there is an option to disable automatic updates
every program out there continues to get bigger and slower
if i need an updated feature - i go and manually update

[hutch--]

Much the same here, as soon as I have an OS installed I turn OFF the auto-upgrades so they cannot plaster junk into my machine at will. I have tended to use MS operating systems when they are no longer upgraded as it means they are stable at last, Win2000 SP4 was like that, XP SP3 is a bit flaky in comparison but at least it won't get any worse. Apart from the normal security considerations (me make BIG phukup recently and wasted 2 hours fixing it), about the only maintainance I do on an occasional basis is defrag the boot drive and occasionally the dev drive I use as Perfect Disk were offering decent discounts to get you to upgrade.

The price of doing it the right way the first time is the machine runs like a rocket and it has not slowed down one iota. I even installed net whatever (the latest version) and it did not mess anything up this time so I can't complain. Its been fun to use this Vista/Win7 interface and I keep both an XP and Win2000 interface profile so its easy to check what something looks like on all versions. No real hurry to change it, perhaps when its worth the effort I may do a 64 bit version but I am shy of spending a fortune just to upgrade a mountain of software that I already own just to get slightly more glitzy titlebars.