Windows 10: External drive inaccessible and causes computer to freeze

Hi!

I have a Seagate external drive (2TB) which is causing me trouble. It is found and listed as Healthy by windows and I can see it's folders, however if I attempt to access any of them explorer freezes. I've tried it in Windows 10, Linux Manjaro and Linux Mint with similar results. It is by no means an old drive. It started happening after an accidental reboot occurred as I was moving files.

I have tried:

• chkdsk through terminal and gui and both were unable to run, asking me to restart the process and try again.
• Gparted and SeaTools (the former never completes it's disk scan and the latter doesn't find it).
• Multiple USB ports, machines and operating systems.

The disk is formatted as exFAT. It spins up and as I said is recognizable by windows as Healthy. It is likely that it would work if I formatted it however it currently holds valuable data which I have no backup of. Any assistance recovering these files would be very much appreciated.

:)

 

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.

 

Computer freezes and Explorer doen't respond when I plug an external Hard drive

Hello jobkakule,

The issue is possibly caused by corrupted data or bad sectors on your external hard drive or could be a sign of a failing hard drive.

To better assist you with your concern, I'd like to know the following:

• Confirm which build is currently installed on your device. To check, follow the steps below:

1. Press Windows key + R, then type in winver.
2. Click OK.

• Have you tried plugging your external hard drive to a different USB port? Also, check if you can access the drive by plugging it to a different computer.
• What is the make and model of your computer?

Meanwhile, I'd suggest to repair the bad sectors on your external hard drive. Kindly refer to the steps below:

(Let's just assume that the drive letter for your external hard drive is E. If not, please do change it to the correct drive letter)

1. Plug in your external hard drive. Click on Start, search for
Command Prompt, right-click on it and select Run as administrator.

2. Type in the following command below and press Enter after each command:

Chkdsk /f E:

Chkdsk /r E:

3. Reboot your computer after the scan is completed.

Looking forward to your response.

Regards.

 

Help with external hard drive

Hi Debbra,

Welcome to Microsoft Community.

I appreciate your interest in windows 10 and also for trying the troubleshooting steps to fix the issue. I understand the inconvenience you faced. I will certainly help you with this.

I would suggest you to plug in hard drive then check in disk management you can see the drive or not.

Follow the steps to check Drive in Disk Management.

• 
  Go to the Control Panel then click on the
  Administrative Tools. .
  
• 
  Under the Administrative Tool Click on Computer Management.
  
• 
  Click on Disk Management and check the External Hard Drive.
  

Also check in BIOS whether External Hard Drive is listed or not.

For help with the BIOS settings, refer to the computer manual or contact the manufacturer.

If it doesn’t work then, I would suggest you to update BIOS for updating BIOS contact Lenovo Support.

Follow the link:

Home - Global Support - FR

Disclaimer :

Modifying BIOS/complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) settings incorrectly can cause serious problems that may prevent your computer from booting properly. Microsoft cannot guarantee that any problems resulting from the configuring of BIOS/CMOS settings
can be solved. Modifications of the settings are at your own risk.

Hope this information is helpful. Please do let us know if you need further assistance, we’ll be glad to assist you.

Thanks.