Windows 10: External HDD folders only show in the device they were created in

I had a old HDD knocking about so I thought I’d stick it in a USB caddy and back data up to it. So I formatted the HDD and added some files from my main PC to it. I also did the same with some folders I had on the laptop. I’ve been running some VM on both the machines so I thought I’d add them all to a VM folder and this is when I noticed that the folders I created on the laptop don’t show in the PC and vice versa... I’ve got plenty of external HDD and this has never happened before... Any thoughts on this?

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Files and Folders Not Showing on External Devices


Hello, I have this issue where the files and folders on an external device (such as an external HDD and USB) are not showing up, yet the device is visible. I only started getting this issue after I connected my USB to another computer which makes me think a virus caused this. Here's where I am at:

The drive in question is the "STEAM GAMES (F" drive. It shows up in explorer as shown:




And when opened, this is what's inside the F drive:




By showing hidden files and not hiding protected operating system files, this is what shows:




What I've tried:

• The command "attrib -h -s -r -a /s /d F:\*.*" returns this:
• 
  
• Full system scan using Anti-MalwareBytes and Avast! reveals nothing.
• Running RKill, UsbFix, RogueKiller, and iExplore.exe does not fix the problem.

I had the same problem with a USB before and had to format it to get it to work. I would rather not format this drive because it contains a lot of data but I may if desperate enough. Please help me. Thanks.

More images (changed the drive letter to S but that didn't help):

 

external HDD

Hi,

Usually, this problem occur due to software incompatibility or corrupted USB drivers. For us to better assist you, we would like to clarify the following:

• Have you made any recent changes on your computer prior to the issue?
• Which driver did you uninstall? Have you reinstall the driver? If yes, how did you reinstall the driver?
• Have you check if the external HDD is visible in Device Manager?

If the issue still persists after uninstalling some games, we suggest that you run the troubleshooter for hardware and devices. If you're using the latest Windows 10 version, follow these steps on how to run the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter:

• Click the Start button and select the Settings
  icon.
• Choose Update & Security from the list.
• Click Troubleshoot in the left pane of the window.
• Under Find and fix other problems, select Hardware and Devices and click
  Run the troubleshooter.

We're looking forward to your reply.

 

Quirky behaviour with external HDD

Since you have already checked Device Manager and did not see any errors, we suggest that you manually uninstall the device drivers for your external drives. Doing this will allow the system to install the driver for your external drive automatically and
correct any error. You can follow the steps below to uninstall the device driver:

• Search for Device Manager via Cortana and hit the
  Enter key.
• Go to View, and click Show hidden icons.
• On the Device Manager, check under Universal Serial Bus Controllers (if the drive is connected via USB). The drive should appear as a USB Mass Storage Device.
• Uninstall the USB Mass Storage Device listed in the Device Manager.
• Restart your PC.
• After restarting, allow the default USB Mass Storage Device drivers to be automatically downloaded by windows. Make sure that you are connected to the internet for this process to push through.
• Reinstall all other drivers from the support website of your External drive.

We look forward to your response after completing the steps.