Windows 10: File History Baxckup not recognizing External hard drive

Scheduled backup stop working. Went to File History and found it had turned itself off. When trying to turn File History back on got message Could not recognize external drive. Tried reformating drive, called MS Support, nothing worked, so tied a different external drive and File History recognized it and started backup. Stopped backup and reinstalled old drive to see what would happen. This time File History recognized old drive and it is now working fine.

I originally thought there was a problem with the external drive but now it looks like the drive was OK and it took switching drives to wake File History up.

Has anyone else had this problem and does Microsoft Support or Development ever read these post to help identify bugs in the system.

:)

 

File History is off and won't recognize my external drive

Hi,



Thank you for posting your query in Microsoft Community. Let me help you.

• 
  Have you made any changes in settings prior to the issue?
  
• 
  What is the status when you connect your external driver in your system?
  
• 
  Have you checked with a different external drive? What is the status?
  
• 
  Have you tried connecting the drive in a different USB port? What is the status?
  

I suggest you to disable your third party-software (If any) and check if it resolves the issue.

Important Note: Antivirus software can help protect your computer against viruses and other security threats. In most cases, you shouldn't disable your antivirus software. If you have to temporarily disable it to install
other software, you should re-enable it as soon as you're done. If you're connected to the Internet or a network while your antivirus software is disabled, your computer is vulnerable to attacks.

Check if it helps.



You can also try turning on file history by following the below procedure and check if it resolves the issue.

To enable file history on Windows 10, connect an external hard drive and follow the steps below:

• 
  Open Start menu and type
  File History
  
• 
  Click File History (control panel)
  
• 
  Tap or click Select a drive, and choose the network or external drive you want to use.
  
• 
  Turn on File History
  

Note: If the network drive you want isn’t in the list of available drives, tap or click Show all network locations. If the drive you want isn’t listed there either, open File History in Control Panel, tap or click Add
a network location, and follow the instructions on the screen.

Please reply with the details and updated status of the issue. We will be happy to assist you further.

 

external hard drive not recognized

Hello zbook
#1) I have tested the external drives in three different computers, win10 pro, Win10, and XP. The results are identical. When I plug in the external hard drive windows signals a new device with an audio signal and the light comes on on the external drive. The results on all three pc's is identical in disk manager, file explorer and device manager.
#2) I have tried all solutions presented to me by FreeBooter, from the simplest solution of uninstalling the external drive in device manager and rebooting windows, to using the various third party software that was suggested, obviously with out success.
#3) The attached screen shots will only show one of the drives attached because I don't have enough free USB ports to attach two drives and I didn't think it would have been a good idea to use a hub.
#4) one strange thing about one of the drives is that now device manager lists it as a Toshiba drive although it is a Western Digital.
#5) Sorry but I have no way of getting a photo of BIOS










I look forward to reading your comments

 

Why is an external hard drive not acceptable for file history?

I beg to differ. I have two Windows 10 laptops with File History enabled. I back them up to an external USB connected hard drive which I don't always have connected. File History will indicate if your drive is "disconnected" and occasionally give you a
notification indicating that. But you can connect the drive at any time and then run File History. If you want continuous automatic backup, then yes the drive must be connected at all times. If you update a lot of documents, pictures, or other files daily,
then this would be the preferred method. But if you only update files occasionally, then you can connect the drive and update File History manually. BTW I second your comment about using a third-party backup software.

As far as the original poster, what error or message is File History giving you indicating that the drive is not acceptable?

JohnD

In the file history setup where the available drives are listed, my h back up drive was shown as not recognized. Later, when going to 'settings" it could be recognized? and allowed it to become the backup drive with it working properly?

Don't know what I did to cause change.

REM