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    Dell XPS 15 L521X Powershare USB doesn't recognize external drives - troubleshooting

    Discussion in 'Dell XPS and Studio XPS' started by paradoxguy, Mar 6, 2014.

  1. paradoxguy

    paradoxguy Notebook Evangelist

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    The Powershare USB on my recently-acquired Dell XPS 15 L521X does not seem to recognize two Western Digital external HD's, both 3.0. This has been an intermittent problem previously, sometimes the USB would accept the drives without problems and other times not recognize them. The other USB ports on the L521X have no problems recognizing any US devices plugged into them. I suspect the problem could be the USB driver, is this a reasonable hypothesis? If an updated driver is a solution, how do I find it on the Dell site? I reviewed the Dell site's list of drivers for the L521e X, but I could not identify one for the Powershare USB. The PC was shipped in mid-December 2013 and its BIOS is A15. I'll probably need to consult with a Dell tech representative, but I wanted to check with the forum first in case that a straightforward remedy exists.

    On a related topic, any suggestions for determining when to download updated drivers and BIOS and which ones, or should I download any and all updated drivers and BIOS as they become available?

    Thanks much for your attention and any advice.