Problem with Using 3 separate Ministations with my Vista Computer

[cowboydan76]

This is strange.  I have 2 Ministation Stealth 3.0 drives, as well as an older Ministation 2.0.  All of these were working fine a few months ago on my computer.  I then started having warnings of impending failure for my computer's internal hard drive, and had it backed up and then replaced/restored under warranty.  I didn't plug in my Buffalo drives immedately after the HD was replaced, but when I finally did a few months later, the computer would make the normal noise that indicates a USB device being plugged in, but it showed no other sign that it was aware I had done so.  My drive did not show up in the "My Computer" section.  No activitiy in the taskbar.  Nothing.  The lights came on, and I can feel the drives spinning, but the computer doesn't recognize it in any way.  I plugged 2 of the 3 into my roommates computer to see if they worked on it, and they showed up on his "my computer" window within seconds.  So obviously the problem is with my computer or the way it intereracts with the drives.

 

One other strange thing.  I have an even newer Ministation Plus.  The prongs that connect the drive to its cord recently broke off into the cord, and as a result I can no longer use it.  But up until 2 or 3 days ago when that happened, it was working just fine.  The other drives were not working since before that.  In other words, it's not that my computer won't recognize ANY Buffalo drive...just not these 3 in particular.  It appears to me that something to do with the new hard drive or the way the old data was restored may be to blame, but I don't know where to begin troubleshooting at this point.  And yes, I've tried all of my USB ports.  And in addition to the recently broken drive, it also recognizes my phone.  So it doesn't seem to be a problem with the USB ports themselves, either.  Any suggestions?