hi mate
when we insert any removable media or mass storage device windows will automatically show a screen prompting us to select a program....(e.g windows media player,div x ) ... however this is were your problem may be...... if the program you have selected to use when you insert your hard drive is infected or more commonly not working correctly (bug, corrupt ) then as soon as you insert your external hard drive into the usb port it will crash due to the bad program
so what you need to do is configure your drive to use a alternative program and see if this stops the freezing ..... theres little chance its windows media player or windows media center.. so have you any other media programs such as div x or i tunes....... if so you need to remove these leaving only windows based media programs.... then insert the drive and select a new program from the list.. preferbley windows media player
from experience i-tunes is allways playing up...... and div x is also known to have problems..... however the aim of this exersize is to locate what program is causing these freezes
you could also try accessing the external hard drive is safe mode..... this will not only allow you access to the data on the drive but will also point towards another suspect.... drivers
since safe mode loads windows without any system drivers this makes it a good way of diagnosing and discovering problems with drivers...most commonly video drivers.......
if you manage to access the drive in safe mode without any problems then it may be one of your drivers is the cause... however i would be more likely to say its the video or sound drivers... try uninstalling the current drivers and installing more recent drivers..... then if you can manage to connect the external drive without any freezes then this is the problem
the main problem with system freezes is locating the reason.... however since yours occur when a usb device is inserted then youve won half the battle..... and in these situations you would first try another usb port...... if this works then the usb port is at fault and the reason could be a damaged or defective port.......
a virus is a option... however its more likely to be on the actual drive and as soon as you insert the drive your virus scanner is alterted but crashes causing the laptop and desktop to freeze
again to check for viruses you should run a scan in safe mode.... not only is this the only viable option but virus scans also work better in safe mode as theres less places for them to hide and theres less processes running
if the scan finds any problems then after removing them attempt to connect the drive again......
this is a case of trial and error.... you will find the reason for this issue... it will just take time and patience ... however please let me know if you have any further problems
good luck mate !