Windows 10: Local Disk appearing after removing external drive.

So I have a 1 TB external drive that I use for lots of stuff and every time I start Windows 11, even if the drive is plugged in, it doesn't show up because it doesn't have a drive letter. Fine, I'll assign one! BUT if the drive stays inactive for too long no read/write files or I put the PC to sleep, the drive unmounts, but leaves behind a drive called "Local Disk <Drive Letter>", whose drive letter I can't remove or reassign, which means I have to restart my PC if I want the drive to have the same letter, or I assign a different letter to it. Th

:)

 

new drive named local disk(z) is appearing

Solved... at least for me.

I tried some of the other suggested methods to get rid of "local disk (z) with no success.

However, a simple System Restore to an earlier version removed the mystery disk Z: completely.

 

External hard drive is showing up as local disk drive

Thank you for the response.

I change the letter of the drive trying to fix the error (the problem existed before that
). Also my external drive was working as an external drive and changed in sometime by itself ( ? ).

The responses from the questions that you made are:

1. MaxTor M3 Portable 1TB | Model:HX-M101TCB/GRM
2. I am still able (like before)
   to save and create files and folders inside the disk.The problem that i mention is that i was not able to create the AutoRun.inf file (access denied)
3. I can copy and paste data from my drive
4. Disk perform showed no error (but it showed as a Label name:
   "nakos" but in the same time when i open my Computer and see the drives the label is as Local Disk
   

The main problem that i have is that my external disk was appeared to my computer and to other computer too as a external disk (with the Label and the icon that i set). Now there is appeared as a Local Disk and ignore whatever
label name i enter. I have set up all the folders, sub-folders and HTML projects to work in this disk with the label that was there before and not as a Local Disk, that's why is important to me to return him in the format like before.

Thanks again

 

external hard drive connects as local disk

The hard drive(s) check out perfectly, including using the troubleshooting methods you cite. I can repeatedly remove, reconnect, read/write/delete/restore files to these drives, yet ... they appear as "local disks" and can not be changed otherwise. As
I mentioned, this is a problem for software that requires an "external disk" device for certain processes.

This morning, I checked several other similar portable external hard drives mounted on numerous computers at my work place and found "local disk" to be the case for every system that utilizes Win7, Win8, or Win10 as the OS (maybe WinXP, but I didn't have that
OS to look at). Google searches for this topic allowed me to discover that Microsoft has made this "local disk" bit configuration in the external drive hardware a requirement for Microsoft certification. Is this true?

Thanks for your assistance.