External USB HD not detected

I have an external USB 2.0 Hard disk (Seagate). Up until now it used to detect and work fine.

Now suddenly, if I connect it, it sometimes is detected, but Windows gives me and error saying a problem occured during installation. It sometimes shows up in device manager but disappears as fast as it appeared. I know USB works because my HP USB Deskjet is detected and works fine. I'm running Windows XP SP2.

Any ideas?

#384073