Windows 10: Can't connect to my external hard drive.

Windows 10 Pro, Winver 1909OS Build 18363.959


When my Eternal Hard drive is plugged in none of my usb sticks can be detected, disk manager won't load, my computer wont restart, it gets stuck, if i try to enter chkdsk.exe /f /r into cmd the dialog stops at cannot lock current drive, If I try to enter advanced recovery menu my pc eventually get driver pnp watchdog BSoD and the computer doesnt shutdown so i have to force shutdown. If I leave my External hard drive unplugged everything seems to be normal i can open disk manager, i can run chkdsk.exe, usb sticks work and restarting works fine.

Ive loaded ubuntu on my pc and my external hard drive is still operational without any issues.


Ive several things on other pages but Ive only managed to narrow the problem to my external hard drive and windows.



Please help.

:)

 

External Hard Drive

Hi John,

We suggest that you try the troubleshooting steps below:

• Open your External Hard Drive file in File Explorer.
• Type the name of the file you want to search on the search box and click Enter.

The file will show up in Search Results and you will be able to move it to the correct folder.

Let us know if you need further help.

 

External hard drive not recognised

Thanks for this. I've done what you suggested and been through all the steps mentioned in the article. The hard drive works fine on a Mac computer, and I've managed to copy the information on it. It must be a Surface issue so I'll try to get a chat line tomorrow.

 

Where's my Western Digital External My Book Hard Drives?

Hi Bill,

We would like to know more about this issue that you're encountering with your external hard drives in Windows 10. Kindly answer the following:

• Have you made any changes on your computer prior to this issue?
• Have you tried using a different connector to connect to your external hard drive?
  
• Have you checked if the hard drive is being recognized on a different computer?
  

In the meantime, you can follow these steps to uninstall and reconnect the external hard drive and see if the issue is fixed:

• Right-click Start Menu and select Device Manager.
• Double-click Disk Drives to expand it.
• Right-click the drivers and select Uninstall.
  
  Note: You may be prompted to enter an Admin password.
• After the drivers are uninstalled, restart your computer and connect the external hard drive and check if the issue is fixed.

We'll be waiting for your response.