HP SimpleSave Backup Failure

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I have an HP SimpleSave 500GB Portable Hard Drive that has functioned well on my Dell desktop computer (Windows XP SP3) since I bought the device new in December 2009.

This morning, I had to swap out a dying UPS unit for another one and in the process everything that was plugged into the UPS lost power, including the PHD. When I got everything restored, the computer failed to recognize the PHD.

Before this, the PHD would show up on My Computer as two separate disks/drives: HP SimpleSave with the SimpleSave icon and another named something like HP SimpleSave Application with either a normal drive icon or a folder icon (I don’t remember exactly what). Now it’s not there at all.

The PHD has no power supply except the USB cable, and the LED on the PHD is lit.

I’ve rebooted several times, with the device connected and with it disconnected. No joy.

I connected the drive to my laptop, and the laptop recognized it immediately and began installing. (HP’s installation instructions say, basically, to plug it in, let the computer recognize it, open it, and follow the instructions on the screen.) So the problem doesn’t seem to be with the PHD.

I downloaded the PHD driver software to my desktop computer and attempted to install it, but the software tells me it can only be installed on the SimpleSave device (the PHD). But I can’t access the device because the desktop computer doesn’t recognize it. (Catch 22? Teufel kreis?)

I called HP support, and was told that, as the device works on the laptop, the problem is with the desktop computer, and I’ll have to get Dell’s help to solve the problem. That promises to be a tedious and uncertain process — my hope is that someone here in the lounge can help me.

If I have to replace the device (looking pretty certain right now), it sure won’t be with another SimpleSave. Too bad, too, because I liked the way it just kept doing its job while I did mine.

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This morning, I had to swap out a dying UPS unit for another one and in the process everything that was plugged into the UPS lost power, including the PHD. When I got everything restored, the computer failed to recognize the PHD.

The PHD has no power supply except the USB cable, and the LED on the PHD is lit.

I’ve rebooted several times, with the device connected and with it disconnected. No joy.

I connected the drive to my laptop, and the laptop recognized it immediately and began installing.

Lenore,
Hello… I know this sounds too simple… have you tried another “USB ” port and or another cable? . Also when plugged in is it visible when running “Disk Management” Regards Fred

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Fred — I did try a couple of different USB ports on different hubs, but not a different USB cable (although the fact that the cable works when I connect the PHD to the laptop leads me to think the problem’s not the cable). But I’m not familiar with disk management — what is this and how do I access it? There’s nothing like it in Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools.

Thanks for your help!

Lenore

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But I’m not familiar with disk management — what is this and how do I access it? There’s nothing like it in Start > Programs > Accessories > System Tools.

Lenore,
Hello… OK , To find “Device Manager”, or “Disk Manager ” Click on “Start button” > All Programs>Administrative Tools>Computer Management> Then click on either and see if the device is present. Regards Fred

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Have you check Device Manager to see if anything is amiss?

Joe

--Joe

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Lenore,

If you see a drive under Disk Management that does not have a drive letter, right click on it and assign it a drive letter different from any of the others you see. The drive should then show up My Computer and in Windows Explorer.

I have had a couple of USB external drives that did not get an assigned drive letter upon plugging in, and that fixed things for me.

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Well, I found Disk Manager, but all it shows are my C: drive and the two flash drives that are plugged in. Long sigh.

The Lounge is an incredibly generous community — thank you. And I’ll keep checking to see whether any more thoughts come up.

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Well, I found Disk Manager, but all it shows are my C: drive and the two flash drives that are plugged in. Long sigh.

Lenore ,
Hello, .. one more question If you can when booting (with devise plugged in) on your system i don’t know which button on your system (F-10 or Esc on mine) you press …Try to get into Your “Boot Configuration” and “Boot Menu” screen and see if your device is in the list of things. Something may have been changed by the “PC” gremlins. Post back Regards Fred

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Well, I found Disk Manager, but all it shows are my C: drive and the two flash drives that are plugged in. Long sigh.

The Lounge is an incredibly generous community — thank you. And I’ll keep checking to see whether any more thoughts come up.

Lenore,
Hello… one more thing are you running the same security on both systems? Maybe your “Security ” is causing the problem re connecting .. Might try a temporary disable (off line) and then connecting the device.Just now my working braincell kicked in…If all of these things do not help I would do this … Find where on your system the PHD folders,files are, and remove them ..either with a free “uninstaller” like “CCleaner” or “RevoUninstaller”, “Windows uninstaller” or delete them yourself. Then reconnect the device and try to install the Software again. Just a thought. Regards Fred

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Perhaps you have a “stuck” device entry that you need to remove in order to allow Windows to properly re-detect the drive.

The problem may be hidden from you when the device is not connected, but there is a workaround for that. The following pages describe how:

Troubleshooting controllers and devices (Home/Pro) (Lounge forum: Windows XP)
LangaList: More ways to prevent phantom devices

Any luck?

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Lenore, you haven’t responded to posts #4 and #5 regarding Device Manager, a different animal than Disk Management. There may be a problem with the desktop’s USB system that might show up there.

You might also try some other USB device on your desktop to see if it works properly.

GM

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Well … I tried Fred Langa’s suggestion, but C:WindowsSystem32 comes up “not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program, or batch file.” And, given that my DOS skills are very, very tiny, I think I’m just going to give up and let my little $99.00 PHD sit idle, for two reasons: (1) I don’t trust it, after all the hoohah it’s put me (us) through, and (2) another problem that may have started when I installed the PHD suddenly went away (thread = unable to save more than once without reopening), and I have to wonder whether the PHD had something to do with the problem. I have an external hard drive — plain vanilla, nothing fancy — that I used to use for backup, and I’ll go back to that. At least I have some concept of how it works.

I do appreciate everyone’s interest and help — WSL has always been a gathering place for generous people.

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Can anyone assist please – my HP SimpleSave, which works well on Windows 10, gives me an error message now that I have installed Windows 11:

Can’t alloc memory(misc stat)(Not enough memory resources are available to process this command.8) :

There is ample space on the drive for the backup.  Also, the software does identify the files to backup.

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