>> How would I know if I need to use the additional
power cord for the external drive? I'm not using
it so far.

You should try plugging in both ends of the Y cable, to get a constant amount of power to the hard drive.
The program locking up would be a symptom of that, if the program is locking up on songs that access the external hard drive (RealDrums, RealTracks).


Have Fun!
Peter Gannon
PG Music Inc.