Windows 10: WIndows 10 Home Builds & External Drive Issues

I have a laptop I've been using for 6 months (Windows Home 10 Version 1809) with an external hard drive. I just purchased a laptop for my business (Version 1903) with a new external hard drive for work files.


The hard drives can only be used (& seen in Disk Management) on the laptop that I first used the drive with. Laptop 1 & 2 are both HP Envys. The two hard disks are both WD Passports.


I've never had a issue where a USB drive hasn't worked on any PC.


Why???

:)

 

External drives and Windows 10 issue

Since you are having multiple issues with Windows 10, we suggest you to run a System File Checker (SFC) and Deployment Image Servicing (DISM) to look into the system for possible corruption. To do so, kindly follow the steps below:

• Press Windows key + X
• On the menu which should pop-up on the lower-left side of your screen, click
  Command Prompt (admin)
• Type the following on Command Prompt (wait for the SFC scan to finish before running DISM):
  
  sfc /scannow
  
  dism /online /restorehealth /cleanup-image
  
  

Check the result of the scans, and if it states that it was able to fix some corrupted files, simply restart your computer to apply the fix and check if the issue persists.

Regarding your external hard disk, we suggest you to update your USB Hard Disk drivers. To do so, follow the steps below:

• Press Windows key + X.
• Click Device Manager.
• Find the disk drive for your external hard disk.
• Right-click your disk drive.
• Click Update Driver Software.
• A new windows will prompt, click Search automatically for updated driver software.

Let us know how it goes.

 

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.

 

Hard drive/ OS issue

a guy suggested :

• shutdown
• unhooked HDD
• restarted
• yay !!
• reconnected HDD
• restarted
• yay !!

also , try method 3
How do I unlock the drive where Windows 10 is installed?