Windows 2000/XP Restarts Repeatedly After Adding A Drive

Problem:
After adding an additional drive to the system, Windows 2000/XP may fail to completely load. The system may end up in a loop in which it restarts repeatedly.

Cause:
Windows has a setting that dictates what happens when a system failure state occurs. This may be causing the restarts.

Resolution:
To check for this, do the following:

  1. Shut down the system and remove the recently added drive. At this point, Windows should boot up normally.
  2. Once the desktop appears, right-click on My Computer and click Properties.
  3. Click the Advanced tab at the top of the resulting window.
  4. Click Startup and Recovery at the bottom of the next window. Look for the

How to install, partition, format, or reformat a WD external hard drive in Windows XP?

To partition and format the external hard drive with Disk Management, follow these steps:

  1. To begin, access Disk Management by right-clicking on My Computer and left-click on Manage. If you don’t have My Computer on your desktop, it should be located in your Start Menu.
  2. The Computer Management window will open. It will have two panes. On the left pane, there will be a list of items. Under Storage, click on Disk Management. This will load a right pane with 2 windows on the right side. You may need to maximize the Computer Management window to see all your drives.
  3. In the lower right pane, you should see a graphical list of all available drives