Windows 10: Boot drive from my old computer won't show up as external drive

Windows 10 version 1903

I recently decided to finally upgrade my Windows 7 system to Windows 10. I bought a new SSD, removed my old SSD, and installed Windows 10 on the new one. This way I'd be able to go back to my old system if I forgot to back something up or just didn't like Windows 10. I wanted a backup plan.

The Windows 10 upgrade went great and I have no problem with it. I'd like to wipe my old Windows 7 SSD and use it for something else, but I want to take a disc image of it first, just in case. I connected the SSD to an external enclosure, but the drive doesn't show up in the This PC window or in Disk Management. I suspect it might have something to do with it also be a C: drive, but I don't know how to change the drive letter if it won't show up in Disk Management. I also tried using EaseUS's software, but it didn't show up there either.

Worst case scenario, I can install it back into my machine, load up Windows 7 and do a disc image there. But it kind of bugs me that this isn't working! Any ideas?

Thanks in advance!

TL;DR - The system drive for a Windows 7 install won't load as an external in my new Windows 10 system. Not appearing in Disk Management. Could this be a drive letter conflict?

:)

 

help. USB drive isn't assigned a drive letter.

Any usb flash drive I plug into my computer isn't assigned a drive letter. The physical drive shows in the "safely remove hardware" but it doesnt show up in disk management. I have tried to populate the volume thru the safely remove hardware properties window and it does pop up in the list but it doesn't stay there. This isn't a format or assign a letter problem. It's more complicated then that. Maybe one of the services needed for usb drive management was disabled? Suggestions needed. btw external usb harddrives work fine.

 

External drive

Hi Richard,

There are several factors that can cause your external drive to not read DVDs even though the system is recognizing the device. This could be caused by a driver that needs to updated or corrupted files. For us to resolve your concern, kindly answer the questions
below:

• Just to confirm, the device that is not working properly is a external DVD optical drive?
• Were there any recent changes or updates installed on your computer?
• Have you tried to plug the external drive to a different port on your computer?

As a initial recommendation, we suggest that your run the built in troubleshooter in Windows 10. Kindly refer to the steps below:

• Type “Troubleshooting” in the Search bar and press Enter.
• Click on “View All” in the top left corner.
• This will display the list of troubleshooters which are built-in in the computer. You can click on
  Hardware and Devices from the list and you can run the troubleshooter.

This will check for common errors that affect hardware on your computer and attempts to correct them.

We look forward to your response after completing the steps.

 

External Hard drive won't show up!

I've got the EXACT same think happening with a 750GB Canvio USB3.0 drive plugged into a laptop with USB 2.0 only.

It was working like a charm for months (literally) until one time, I ejected the hardware and selected the drive itself in the list (not the root USB device). Now it gives the device connection "beep" when I plug it in, but the drive simply will not show up. It does work fine on all other computers here in the office! WTF.