Windows 10: Unable To Look At files On External Hard Drive

I have recently installed a second USB, HP MY BOOK, 4TB, hard drive on my PC. I already had one connected. On it I am able to see the files on the drive while in Explorer. However, Explorer will not show the 2nd hard drive as being available. If I go into Device Manager, I can see both connected. However, it will only let me browse the files on my original external drive, not the new one. It doesn't even give me an option to browse the files on the 2nd hard drive. I renamed the original hard drive, but no help. If I shut down my PC and unplug both hard drives and then only plug in my 2nd hard drive, I can read it just fine. However, when I plug in my original hard drive, it won't let me browse my files either in Explorer or Device Manager. Does anyone have a solution for this? I need both hard drives available as I save different files on separate hard drives. I am somewhat a novice on PC troubleshooting, so please keep it simple as possible. I really appreciate any help you can give me!!

:)

 

External Hard Drive

Hi John,

We suggest that you try the troubleshooting steps below:

• Open your External Hard Drive file in File Explorer.
• Type the name of the file you want to search on the search box and click Enter.

The file will show up in Search Results and you will be able to move it to the correct folder.

Let us know if you need further help.

 

Seagate External Hard Drive

Hi Barbara,

Hardware failure or corruption within your system files are some of the possible reasons why you are experiencing an issue with accessing your external hard drive. For us to provide an accurate solution, we would need you to answer the following questions:

• Which build, version and edition of Windows 10?
• Are you experiencing the same issue when you are trying to access the external hard drive using another PC?
• What troubleshooting steps have you done so far?

In the meantime, we suggest running the automated troubleshooter for hardware. Follow these steps to do so:

• Open the Control Panel.
• Using the search box at the upper right corner of the window, type troubleshooting.
  
• From the search results, click on Troubleshooting.
• Click on Hardware and Sound and then choose Hardware and Devices.
• Once done, restart your computer and then check if the same issue persists.

We are looking forward to your response.

 

saving and viewing files on an external hard drive

Hi Sam,

We appreciate you for being part of Windows 10.

Yes, you may format the external hard drive. Follow the below steps.

• 
  Connect the external hard drive to Windows 10 computer.
  
• 
  Press Windows + E keys on the keyboard to the keyboard to open the file explorer.
  
• 
  Locate the external hard drive on left navigation pane in File explorer.
  
• 
  Right click on the external hard drive and click on
  Format.
  
• 
  Click Start and follow on screen instructions to format the hard drive.
  

I hope the above information helps. Kindly let us know if you need any further assistance with Windows. We are glad to assist you.

Thank you.