External USB HD

Have been using Lacie 80GB external hard drive for several months on iBook G4 with no problems whilst simultaneously using on Win 2K laptop; Win 2K laptop imploded over the weekend and have not been able to see external hard drive on either iBook or new Mac Mini.

Have tried external drive on Win XP laptop and Win 2k desktop and can see data no problems; everything still there and usable.

Cannot see drive in Disk Utility or System Profiler. Any ideas? Is it a USB power issue and if so why has it just surfaced now?

Thanks all.

I had the same problem with USB hard drives. I still havent sent my Powerbook to Apple yet so I can't tell you about the cause of the problem. For future reference next time go for a firewire hard drive as they can draw as much power (within reason) in comparison to the USB port.