Windows 10: External data driven showing system reserved, unknown, not initialised

Hi
I am using the seagate 2tb drive to transfer data to a backup using syncToy.

The drive has been working normally but this time it took a long time to read ( slow moving green bar in address)

It finally became unread by the pc so I attempted to rectify this by using disk management. This showed the disk as "Not initialised." In attempting to sort this out I have made it a "System Reserved" drive!

See attached screen shot




Question
How to get the drive working, preferably with the data intact?

:)

 

External Hard Drive is not getting recognized properly.

Original Title: External Hard Drive Issue

Hello,

I have a 2 WD My Passport 2TB external hard drives with a lot of backup data on. I cannot access them from my laptop, however they work fine on other computers, TV, etc. The USB ports on my laptop are functional as I can use other devices from them. On plugging
the hard drives in, they do not appear in 'my computer', however when I look at 'devices and printers' they appear and have the option to safely remove. I have tried the troubleshoot tool on this page with no success.

After doing a bit of online research, I have found that when I open disk management, sometimes they appear as disk 1, unknown, 0GB, not initialised (It wont let me initialise them) and other times they just don't appear there at all (like now).

I'm at a bit of a loss, any ideas?

Thank you!

 

Folders invisible on external hard drive?

Hi,

This could happen if the files on the External driven are hidden. Follow the steps

• Press Windows + X
• Click Control panel
• Click Appearance and Personalization
• Click on Show Hidden files

 

External data driven showing system reserved, unknown, not initialised


Hi
I am using the seagate 2tb drive to transfer data to a backup using syncToy.

The drive has been working normally but this time it took a long time to read ( slow moving green bar in address)

It finally became unread by the pc so I attempted to rectify this by using disk management. This showed the disk as "Not initialised." In attempting to sort this out I have made it a "System Reserved" drive!

See attached screen shot







Question
How to get the drive working, preferably with the data intact?

Sorry I missed out the screen shot.

 

I would try MiniTool Power Data Recovery:

The Best Data Recovery Software | MiniTool Power Data Recovery

 

Greetings and thanks for your reply when you must be taken up with the coming holiday.

I tried MiniTool and am able to access some files. However Windows is unable to access the drive and Seagate tools also fails. I would like to format it and copy my backup over.

error message





Disk management raises a query over disk 3 - I do not have anything connected.





and the log event - with nothing connected





In short I am completely foxed. Any solutions to allow access to format the usb 2tb Seagate drive?

Many thanks

Mat.w.

 

Leave the drive disconnected. Restart the computer by selecting Restart from the power menu. After Winodws restarts, reconnect the USB drive, preferably to a different USB port than before.

 

Hi

Did that - no luck - drive not found.

 

Is it just that no drive letter is assigned to it, or does the physical drive not show up at all in Disk Management?

 

Disk management fails to show drive at all.

However I get a "windows recognition sound " when connecting the drive and disk management "Action/Rescan" causes the program to hang - (for longer 2 minutes apx) - than a refresh or rescan without the drive connected. So there is "some" recognition by disk management.

I am grateful for you interest. The last time a Naval Officer took an interest in me I was a probationary acting sub lieutenant and the outcome was unfortunate!

Mat.w.

 

It sounds like either the USB to SATA adapter is bad, or the hard drive is bad. USB enclosures for SATA hard drives are relatively inexpensive now days, just make sure to get one for the proper size hard drive you have, 3.5" with a power supply for a "desktop" USB drive or 2.5" for a "laptop" USB drive.

Before you buy a new enclosure, you can also pull the hard drive out of the current enclosure and connect it to a SATA port on a desktop computer and see if it works that way to determine if it is the USB to SATA adapter that is bad or the drive itself that is bad.

 

Hello again

Its a small Seagate sealed unit so it looks like a bin job. No real problem as I am well backed up and have another on order. I will give Seagate a call and see if there is a solution.

Many thanks for your time.

Mat.w.