I can't connecting WD external drive into laptop using firewire

[bunz]

Recently I purchased a WD external hard drive with firewire connection for my PC laptop. The drive works perfectly if connected using the USB cable, but when I try to connect using the 1394 firewire port, I get nothing. No power, no connection. I had to purchase a 1394 to Firewire 600 adaptor to connect to the drive but they don't want to talk to one another. Here's what I'm operating on.

500 Gig WD Passport External Hard drive
Sony Laptop with XP
Firewire 800 to Firewire 600 Cable
Firewire 600 to 1394 adaptor

Help!

 

[B00kWyrm]

I would not think this should be necessary, but...

If you see your "networking" icon in your system tray, double-click on it...
Otherwise, go to "Start" -> "Control Panel" -> "Network Connections"
Either of these will bring up a window where you can see if your 1394 connection is

• "enabled"
• "disabled" or
• "connected"

See if you can enable your 1394 from this window.

If not, then right click on "my computer", Then click "properties" (last selection in the menu)
Then click the "hardware" tab and then the "device manager" button
click the "view" drop down menu, and check/tick the option "show hidden devices".

If you find any items in the device manager with yellow or red icons, this may be where your problem lies.

Try updating or rolling back the driver for your 1394 adapter
which should be found under "Network Adapters".

Another possibility may be if your computer already had a 1394 adapter, and your add-on is conflicting.
Again, this should be revealed by device manager.

HTH