Externa DVD Burner

[TEAK36]

I have an external USB DVD burner which is about a year old, but recently I am now having problems with it.If I boot my laptop when the burner is plugged into the USB port, my laptop will just freeze halfway through boot up,but if I then pull the burners connection from the USB port the laptop will continue to boot up ok.I then have to plug the burner back into the USB port.Also, if I attempt to access the internet whilst the burner is connected, I can only get my homepage, and if I type in a web address and hit enter, nothing happens.Again, if I then disconnect the burner, I can type in web addresses without any problems.Obviously it has something to do with my external burner, but can anyone offer any advice as to why this happens.Both the burner and my laptop are USB2.

[wideboy]

Try removing your USB connections in Device Manager (Control Panel, System, Hardware) and then shut down without the external drive connected. Restart the machine and let Windows find your USB again. Connect your external drive and let Windows find the new hardware. I hope you are using XP.

If this doesn't work and no-one else gives a solution then your external drive may be faulty. Can you try it on another machine, especially a desktop?