Windows 10: laptop not recognizing external hard drive, says it is unallocated and not initialized

Discus and support laptop not recognizing external hard drive, says it is unallocated and not initialized in Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware to solve the problem; brought home a fully functioning external hard drive that had data on it....but when I plug it into my laptop, it does not appear in Windows... Discussion in 'Windows 10 Drivers and Hardware' started by BobZeiser, Jun 19, 2020.

  1. BOBZEISER
    BobZeiser Win User

    laptop not recognizing external hard drive, says it is unallocated and not initialized


    brought home a fully functioning external hard drive that had data on it....but when I plug it into my laptop, it does not appear in Windows Explorer....I checked Disk Management, and it says the disk is working properly, but has no assigned disk letter, and the disk place is unallocated and not initialized.....i know that's not true.....have tried new cable, but no change in result

    :)
     
    BobZeiser, Jun 19, 2020
    #1
  2. RITA_A37
    Rita_A37 Win User

    not ready, unknown, not initialized, unallocated external hard drive

    please I need help on how to format an external hard drive which disk management describes as unknown, not initialized and unallocated. when I try to initialized using both diskpart and disk management, it says disk is not ready.
     
    Rita_A37, Jun 19, 2020
    #2
  3. MAYURPATEL3
    mayurpatel3 Win User
    unknown, Not initialize, unallocated external hard disk want to initialize

    I wanted to initialize unknown, unallocated,not initialize external hard disk, but when I go to disk manager and try to initialize the message pop up "Virtual disk manager access denied".

    Secondly, drive do not have any letter, and I CAN'T to assign letter to drive (in order to go for chkdsk in prompt command). when I right click on unknown & unallocated drive then there is only option left are properties help and offline.

    My question is how can I initialize the drive or bring the status online in order to assign drive letter and initialize the disk?
     
    mayurpatel3, Jun 19, 2020
    #3
  4. VALLERO
    vallero Win User

    laptop not recognizing external hard drive, says it is unallocated and not initialized

    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


    laptop not recognizing external hard drive, says it is unallocated and not initialized [​IMG]


    laptop not recognizing external hard drive, says it is unallocated and not initialized [​IMG]


    laptop not recognizing external hard drive, says it is unallocated and not initialized [​IMG]

    I look forward to reading your comments
     
    vallero, Jun 19, 2020
    #4
Thema:

laptop not recognizing external hard drive, says it is unallocated and not initialized

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