Windows 10: An external drive does not appear in Windows Explorer My PC

Because I can no longer reply to my original threadhttps://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/an-external-drive-does-not-appear-in-windows/05b90b13-9aee-4b68-9886-dddb49dbe3a9I am posting here the ANSWER as to what the heck has happened to my computer.

:)

 

External drive not appearing in File Explorer

I had the same problem - this is what worked for me:

• Plug in and turn on the external USB hard drive
• Right mouse click on My Computer
• Left click on Manage
• Left click on Device Manager
• Expand the USB list
• Find the USB device for your USB Hard Drive (in my case it was the one that had no description)
• Right mouse click - Uninstall
• Remove the external USB hard drive
• Plug in the external USB hard drive and let it find and install the driver

This and other possible solutions are here:

Not able to see my hard drive in windows explorer?

 

Windows Explorer crashes whenever I open my external HDD or thumb drive in explorer..

Windows Explorer crashes whenever I open my external HDD or thumb drive in explorer..

So, I open up My Computer, open my F Drive and boom: "Windows Explorer has encountered a problem and must close". It is really annoying! I am fine everywhere else in explorer, but something just screws up when I try the external HDD (USB) or my thumb drive.

Can anyone help?

 

Windows 10 Tweaks

Pressing “Windows+Pause Break” (it’s up there next to scroll lock) opens the “System” Window.

Windows 10: In the new version of Windows, Explorer has a section called Quick Access. This includes your frequent folders and recent files. Explorer defaults to opening this page when you open a new window. If you’d rather open the usual This PC, with links to your drives and library folders, follow these steps:

• Open a new Explorer window.
• Click View in the ribbon.
• Click Options.
• Under General, next to “Open File Explorer to:” choose “This PC.”
• Click OK

credit to Lifehacker.