Windows 10: How to initialize external HDD??

Discus and support How to initialize external HDD?? in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware to solve the problem; I have a 500gb external HD USB and it has data on it that I need cause the drive doesnt not show up now. I went into my computer management and disk 1... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware' started by furd, Aug 31, 2015.

  1. furd Win User

    How to initialize external HDD??


    I have a 500gb external HD USB and it has data on it that I need cause the drive doesnt not show up now. I went into my computer management and disk 1 says not initialize. When I try to initialize to GPT it says the drive is too small. Now before all this happened I had installed VMWare 10 and selected split partition and i think i had the drive connected when i did this. So my question is this...can I retrieve the data that is on the external or some how initialize the drive? I just want the data then I will format the external.

    :)
     

  2. How to format & initialize a Lacie 1TB GPT external drive with Win 10 to make it a proper exFAT one?

    Hello,

    Thank you posting your query in Microsoft community.

    I understand your concerns and I’ll help you out with this.

    Method 1: Run the Hardware and Devices troubleshooter

    I would suggest you to run hardware and devices troubleshooter and check if it helps. Please follow these steps:

    1. Type troubleshooting in the search box on taskbar. 

    2. Click troubleshooting in the search results.3. 

    3. Click "View all" and then click "Hardware and Devices". 

    4. Click "Next" and follow on-screen instructions. 

    Since, your external hard drive is listed in Device Management. Try the following steps.

    Method 2:



    Step 1: I suggest you to check in device manager if the external hard drive is listed there.

    1. Connect the external hard drive to the computer.

    2. To open device manager, type devmgmt.msc in start search box and hit Enter.

    3. Check if the external hard drive is listed.

    4. In device manager, expand the hard drive listed in the device list.

    5. If the hard drive is listed, right click on it >click Properties.

    6. In General, under device status check for the message. Post back if there is any error message.

    Step 2: Check if the external drive is getting detected in Disk Management.

    If it the hard drive recognizes in the disc management and if there is no drive letter assigned, I would suggest you right click on the drive and assign a drive letter and check if it helps:

    Try the following steps.

    1. Right click on start.

    2. Click Disk Management.

    3. Right-click the drive that you want to change, and then click Change Drive Letter and Paths.

    Do one of the following:

    a. To assign a drive letter if one has not already been assigned, click Add, click the letter that you want to use, and then click OK.

    b. To change a drive letter, click Change, click Assign the following drive letter, click the letter that you want to use, and then click OK.

    c. To remove a drive letter, click Remove, and then click Yes to confirm that you want to remove it.



    Note:

    • Some programs make references to specific drive letters. If you change a drive letter, these programs might not work correctly.

    • If you get an error, the drive you are trying to change might be in use. Close any program or window that is using the drive and try again.

    • You can't change a drive letter if the drive is either a system partition or a boot partition.


    Hope this helps. Please let us know the results. We will be glad to assist you further.
     
    Pushyanth K S, Aug 31, 2015
    #2
  3. Dimi³ V Win User
    How to format & initialize a Lacie 1TB GPT external drive with Win 10 to make it a proper exFAT one?

    Thanks for your swift answer!

    Method 1:

    I did try everything you stipulated but the Hardware & Devices manager didn't report something irregular nor had it to repair something.

    And it states 'This device is working properly'

    .

    Method 2:

    Under Disk Man I still can't assign a letter or path. The particular drive went from GPT to RAW and now it says only 981,51 GB Unallocated but I did got two options more when I right click on the bar in Disk Man being 'New simple volume...', 'properties'
    and 'help'.

    What can I try next? Do I have to obtain specific software?

    Thank you.
     
    Dimi³ V, Aug 31, 2015
    #3
Thema:

How to initialize external HDD??

Loading...
  1. How to initialize external HDD?? - Similar Threads - initialize external HDD

  2. Initialize any external HDD on Windows 10

    in Windows 10 Gaming
    Initialize any external HDD on Windows 10: Hello,I cannot initialize any external hard disk drive on Windows 10, but the flash drive works without problems. The hard disk drive works without a problem on another PC with Windows 10.The problem started to appear when I attached a VHDX disk and set the Windows Boot...
  3. Initialize any external HDD on Windows 10

    in Windows 10 Software and Apps
    Initialize any external HDD on Windows 10: Hello,I cannot initialize any external hard disk drive on Windows 10, but the flash drive works without problems. The hard disk drive works without a problem on another PC with Windows 10.The problem started to appear when I attached a VHDX disk and set the Windows Boot...
  4. Initialize any external HDD on Windows 10

    in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware
    Initialize any external HDD on Windows 10: Hello,I cannot initialize any external hard disk drive on Windows 10, but the flash drive works without problems. The hard disk drive works without a problem on another PC with Windows 10.The problem started to appear when I attached a VHDX disk and set the Windows Boot...
  5. HDD drives not initializing

    in Windows 10 Ask Insider
    HDD drives not initializing: Close to a month ago I logged onto my computer (win10 pro) and found that 2 of my HDD drives had vanished from file explorer. Of course I panic, open up disk management and they are both not initialized. I spent about a week recovering 4tb of lost data. Initialized the disk...
  6. HDD Initializing issue

    in Windows 10 BSOD Crashes and Debugging
    HDD Initializing issue: Hi, so I just spend roughly $5500 on a new pc which has been working pretty great except for random freezing from time to time, the entire computer just kind of slows down then turns off then when I turn my pc back on my second HDD has vanished from my computer and when...
  7. How do I initialize my External USB HDD WD My Passport?

    in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware
    How do I initialize my External USB HDD WD My Passport?: I have an External USB HDD WD My Passport 0810 that needs initialization. I have been using it for System Image backups via Macrium Reflect free as well as saving my data.. How do I initialize it so I can get back to using it for System Image backups again? I'm not concerned...
  8. hdd not initialized

    in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware
    hdd not initialized: hdd not initialized just says disk 6 unknown I tried different usb ports with no success.there are files on it. https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-hardware/hdd-not-initialized/d5b99338-fc73-4d7d-b95c-71a7e6f8b1fc
  9. External HDD not Initializing, Not in "This PC", Need Recovery!

    in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware
    External HDD not Initializing, Not in "This PC", Need Recovery!: Last night I was copying files from External HDD over to my computer. It was a very long process and in my sleepy state I put my computer to sleep during the copying. When I logged back in the following morning the copy process appeared paused but when I went to restart...
  10. How to initialize external HDD??

    in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware
    How to initialize external HDD??: Since I put vmWare 10 on my laptop , my external HDD wont initialize. it says its there but when i try to initialize it tells me my drive is too small for GPT, Its 500gb. When I installed VMWare i might have had the external connected and i believe i opted for to split...