Windows 10: 1Tb external drive now only 32gb after loading a Win boot image on it?

I downloaded a Windows boot image onto my 1Tb external hard drive, but now my drive only appears in file manager as a 32gb external drive.

Disk Manager shows my external drive (ESD-USB - "G") as having a 32gb FAT32 (Healthy Primary Partition) plus 899.51Gb is shown as "Unallocated"

I held a lot of files on this drive unfortunately which I can no longer see.

So my questions are:

Does the above indicate that I have actually formatted my external drive and lost all of my files?

How can I get my external drive back to its 1Tb size (in file manager) so that I can either get my old files back, or if they are lost, then at least get my 1Tb external drive space back.

Thanks for any help, please be basic with any information as I am not very tech savvy *Smile

:)

 

How to format & initialize a Lacie 1TB GPT external drive with Win 10 to make it a proper exFAT one?

Hello,

Thank you posting your query in Microsoft community.

I understand your concerns and I’ll help you out with this.

Method 1: Run the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter

I would suggest you to run hardware and devices troubleshooter and check if it helps. Please follow these steps:

1. Type troubleshooting in the search box on taskbar. 

2. Click troubleshooting in the search results.3. 

3. Click "View all" and then click "Hardware and Devices". 

4. Click "Next" and follow on-screen instructions. 

Since, your external hard drive is listed in Device Management. Try the following steps.

Method 2:



Step 1: I suggest you to check in device manager if the external hard drive is listed there.

1. Connect the external hard drive to the computer.

2. To open device manager, type devmgmt.msc in start search box and hit Enter.

3. Check if the external hard drive is listed.

4. In device manager, expand the hard drive listed in the device list.

5. If the hard drive is listed, right click on it >click Properties.

6. In General, under device status check for the message. Post back if there is any error message.

Step 2: Check if the external drive is getting detected in Disk Management.

If it the hard drive recognizes in the disc management and if there is no drive letter assigned, I would suggest you right click on the drive and assign a drive letter and check if it helps:

Try the following steps.

1. Right click on start.

2. Click Disk Management.

3. Right-click the drive that you want to change, and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.

Do one of the following:

a. To assign a drive letter if one has not already been assigned, click Add, click the letter that you want to use, and then click OK.

b. To change a drive letter, click Change, click Assign the following drive letter, click the letter that you want to use, and then click OK.

c. To remove a drive letter, click Remove, and then click Yes to confirm that you want to remove it.



Note:

• Some programs make references to specific drive letters. If you change a drive letter, these programs might not work correctly.

• If you get an error, the drive you are trying to change might be in use. Close any program or window that is using the drive and try again.

• You can't change a drive letter if the drive is either a system partition or a boot partition.

Hope this helps. Please let us know the results. We will be glad to assist you further.

 

32GB laptop - install updates on external drive

Hi guys thanks so much for your help and apologies for the delay in replying. I followed your advice and downloaded the Media Creation tool to get the latest update. I select "Create Installation Media (USB flash drive, DVD or ISO file) for another PC". I then select Language: English, Edition: Windows 10, Architecture: 64-bit (x64) and click next. It says "8GB of free disk space needed on (C".



The reason i'm doing it is that I don't have 8GB on the C drive - it's all taken up by Windows! I do however have a 1TB external drive ready and waiting.

Any suggestions appreciated guys. Thanks.

 

loading a Win 10 ISO image on a separate partition, it's loaded, but changed the drive letters, so no more dual boot!!

Hi, I followed the instructions of a Community MS engineer and loaded a Win 10 ISO image onto a separate partition on my Win 7 Pro laptop, to dual-boot.

The image - from his link - loaded, but it's changed the partition drive letters.

Win 7 is now on D: - was on B: - and Win 10 is now on C: and the dual-boot on start-up has gone!

The folders for Win 7 are all still on drive D;, but this will now not boot

Can anyone help, please?