Windows 10: The device is not ready error while trying to connect USB Drive

External hard drives have become important for storing data. However, some users have reported the following error while trying to access a connected external hard drive – The device is not ready. This error prevents the user from accessing the [...]

This post The device is not ready error while trying to connect USB Drive is from TheWindowsClub.com.

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USB not showing up - 'The device is not ready'

Hi Lawrence,

The error 'The device is not ready' is caused by an empty or not formatted drive, or that the USB device has experienced a hardware failure. For us to isolate the issue about using your USB device, kindly respond to the questions below:

• Does the issue persist when you connect a different USB to the same USB slot?
• Are you able to access the drive when you connect it another computer?
• Have you tried formatting the drive once more?
• When the drive is connected to your computer, are you able to see it in
  Device Manager? If yes, kindly check the Device status of the device when you right-click it and select
  Properties and post back the status.

We look forward to your response.

 

The drive is connected with USB but will not Initialize on Windows 10

Hello Moksha,

As you are facing issues with accessing the USB drive on your device, we will help you with this issue.

Provide us additional information to assist you better with this issue:

• What is the complete error message/ error code of this issue?
• Have you made any changes to the operating system prior to this issue?
• Does this issue confined to the specific drive?

Try few of the below workarounds to identify the cause for the issue:

• Connect the USB drive to different ports and check if it is working fine. This will let us know if the issue is with the port.
• Connect the USB drive to different computer with different ports to check if the issue persists with the drive or the computer.

Let us try the below troubleshooting steps and check if it helps.

Step 1: I suggest you to run Hardware and Devices troubleshooter.Hardware and Devices troubleshooter
checks for common problems and makes sure that any new device or hardware connected to your PC is installed correctly.

• Press Windows key from the keyboard, type
  Troubleshooting and select it.
• Click on view all option on the upper left corner of
  Troubleshooting window.
• Select the Hardware and Device options from the list.
  
• Click Next to run the Hardware and Device Troubleshooter.

Step 2: I recommend you to install all the pending updates from Windows Updates on your device and check if you are able to access the USB drive.

Steps:

• Connect to the internet.
• Press Windows key and type updates.
• Click on Check for updates.
• Under Windows Updates, click on Check for updates.
• Try to install the updates being shown.

Hope it helps. Try the above and update us the status of this issue with the required information, we will be happy to help you further.

Thank you.

 

External USB Drive Error

Hello,

I/O device error happened because your PC in not able perform an Input/ Output actions, such as reading or copying the data when you are trying to access the drive. This may occur due to different type of reasons; it may be due to damaged or defective hardware
device or your pc requires an update for issues that may conflict USB external hard drive. To isolate the reason behind and find a fix for this, we recommend that you follow the troubleshooting steps below:



Check if the problem is with the USB or with the PC.

• If you have different PC, try connecting your USB device there to see if you’ll encounter the same error or if you do not have an access to different PC, try connecting a different USB device to see if the issue persists.
  
• If you encounter the same error while connecting the USB device to a different PC or if other USB devices works on your PC without the error, this may have been that your External USB device is corrupted or damaged.
  
• In that case, you will need to reformat that USB device in order to use it again. Please do note that formatting your USB device will remove all of its contents.

If you encounter the same error when you connect a different USB device on your PC or if your USB device works fine with different PC, we recommend that you follow the troubleshooting steps in this

article to resolve the issue.



Keep us in the loop with the result.