Windows 10: File Explorer spins up Hard-Disks when opened

Microsoft has ignored this issue for years, and it's still unresolved in 2025.I have 4 SSDs and 1 HDD for long-term storage in my Windows 11 PC.Here’s the problem: Whenever I download something saved on an SSD and open File Explorer to access it, I often have to wait about 10 seconds for my HDD to spin up—even though I'm not accessing anything on it. During this time, Explorer is unresponsive.This is completely unnecessary. There’s no reason my HDD should be woken up just to browse a folder stored on an SSD. It’s called lazy initialization/fetching—a fundamental concept that Microsoft should

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Hard disk partition not showing up.

Hi Muhammad,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



This can happen if the Hard-disk drivers are not up-to date. I would suggest you to update the hard disk drivers first. To update the drivers, please follow the steps mentioned below:

1. Open Device manager.
   
2. Then Expand “Disk drives”.
   
3. Then Right click on the Hard-disk listed under this category.
   
4. Then click on Update drivers.
   
5. Alternatively you can also try to update the drivers from manufacturer’s website.
   

Once the hard-disk drivers are updated, you will need to allocate the last partition (it is not allocated according to the screenshot) and you will be able to view the partition.



Also note that sometimes the hard disk partitions/drives might be hidden in This PC or My Computer window due to a Registry key. If a DWORD with the name NoViewOnDrive or NoDrives is present under following key in Registry Editor:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Windows\Current Version\Policies\Explorer

Delete the DWORD and your drives will become visible in My Computer window.



Hope this helps.

 

File Explorer opens but does not function

I have all the current Windows 10 Home 64-bit updates. File Explorer opens with its main screen but no files are listed in the main file listing window. Instead the message 'working on it' appears t the top of the Window and the spinning blue disc spins
away. None of the third party File managers are affected. File Explorer has become a waste of disc space. Any ideas?

 

Files in disk cleanup

Hi Lynne

Rest assured, it is totally safe to delete everything suggested by the Disk Cleanup Process, please tun the Disk Cleanup twice as explained below, please remember to untick your Downloads folder if you actually store files in that folder . . .

Open File Explorer

Click on your hard drive

On the Manage Tab, click Cleanup

Let Disk Cleanup do its initial scan

Select Everything in the list and choose Delete

Start Disk Cleanup again

Let Disk Cleanup do its initial scan

This time in the resulting dialog, click 'Cleanup System Files'

Let Disk Cleanup run another scan

Select Everything in the list and choose Delete