External Hard Drive not recoginized by Parallels / Virtual Windows XP Pro

I have a Maxtor hard drive (HD) that is recognized by the Mac OS, but does not show up under Parallels / virtual-Windows-Xp-Pro-PC. The HD is connected to my Mac mini via USB. I also have a keyboard and mouse connected via USB.

FYI, when I connect a flash/thumb drive via USB it is recognized by Parallels / virtual-Windows but not by the Mac OS. Alos, if I unplug the keyboard, and then plug in the external HD (to limit the # of USB connected items to only 2), parallels still does not recognize the external HD. Consequently, it does not appear to be a "exceeded maximum # of USB ports for Paralles issue".

How do I get Parallels / virtual-Windows PC to recognize the external hard drive?

--BL

 

Why don't you try switching auto-connect off and manually connecting the devices?

 

With the current release of Parallels, you don't.

 

Thanks for the input. As noted, by others on the thread, Parallels is not reliable at all for USB connections. It should not be used by anyone needing to rely on USB connections for any data containing devices. It worked fine w/ USB mouse and keyboard.

I've switched to Boot Camp, and, other than not having the slick single screen interface, it has no problem whatsoever (at least so far) with USB mass or flash storage devices.