Problems with My Book external HD

So when I plug My external HD into the usb port an hourglass shows up and nothing on my desktop functions. It just hangs. Tried having the external HD plugged in when i boot but then the computer hangs on boot-up. It almost seems like the computer is treating the Ex HD as the main HD. Is this possible? External HD is WD 1tb My Book. Could it have something to do with the jumpers on the 2 HD's I have in the machine now? Computer is really old Acer computer I got from a friend that only has 1.0 usb ports, thanks in advance for any help you can give.


OS: Windows XP pro
CPU: Intel pentium 4a, 2000 MHz
Motherboard: Aopen MX4B
Chipset: Intel Brookdale i854D

No magic bullet I m afraid. A few things to check:-

Do any usb devices work ?

Do the drive configure ok - on a another PC

Bear in mind that detection on some USB devices - can take a while, - this may be worse on a older or slower computer.

I would give the computer a good clean with CC cleaner - and malware bytes - both free downloads

maybe try a fresh os install as Last resort

Yes other USB devices work

Yes the drive works fine on my other computer and my laptop

I will do a CC clean, Avast and Malware Bytes sometime this week

Do other USB drives work OK on the affected computer?
Please remove the side panel from your computer and look for any bulging capacitors (round cylinders). They should all be completely flat

thumb drives work fine on the affected computer

Start with How to Cleanup and Remove old USB Storage Drivers

Then if still problems, look through Troubleshoot: Windows Won't Recognize Your USB Hard Drive