Hi Guys and Gals - Happy New Year!

Hey, I store my images on an external usb lacie drive.

The connection to this drive is unstable and I'm wondering if any of you have a solution to the problem.

I have it connected to my XP laptop via a usb2 connection. The drive is DC and is connected to a power pack. I have two of these drives and both lose communication from time to time.

I have tried re-installing drivers to no avail so I imagine its hardware. What is the hardware component I should be chiecking?