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Questions tagged [external-hard-drive]

A hard drive designed to be connected to a computer via an external interface such as USB, eSATA, Thunderbolt, or IEEE 1394.

1 vote
0 answers
374 views

USB 3.0 port not working with my HDD

I have a Seagate 1TB HDD with a USB 3.0 cable. When it's plugged I to the USB 3.0 port on my laptop I cannot wrote files to the hard drive. I can view the files and even copy files from the hard drive ...
Ethan's user avatar
  • 111
1 vote
3 answers
3k views

How to eject an external USB hard drive on Windows

I have a bunch of USB hard drives, but it's very annoying to use them since it's extremely hard to safely eject them. I can of course pull the cable out but then the hard drive heads park abruptly and ...
Foxyz's user avatar
  • 449
2 votes
1 answer
1k views

Different partitions listed by lsblk and fdisk

I'm having issues mounting an external WD 4TB USB HD. It has two 2GB partitions, one NTFS and the other exfat. This has been my backup disk on a RPI4 and worked well for over 5 years until yesterday ...
Guillermo.D's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
55 views

Dell All-in-One hard drive issue?

We had an overnight power outage. In the morning my PC was beeping and stuck on the Dell splash screen. It's a Dell all-in-one Win10 PC with a SATA 2.5 1TB mechanical drive. When the machine tries to ...
Greenyone's user avatar
2 votes
1 answer
655 views

No drive letter assigned to USB, "Device not ready" on initialize attempt

I have a Toshiba 1TB external USB drive that I haven't used in a few years, but I'd like to use it now. Windows detects the USB, but doesn't assign a drive letter when I plug it in, regardless of ...
Nightmare Games's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
296 views

Setting up Raid 1 with multiple partitions

I am Setting up two (2) new identical hard drives (14TB each), in a OWC Mercury Elite Pro Dual external case, using RAID 1. Going to be creating 6 partitions. My question is: Do I partition the first ...
Drew777's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
401 views

Can vibration damage a HDD that is powered off?

I've heard that vibration can damage a HDD. If a drive is turned off while it experiences vibration, is it still likely to be damaged? I was moving my desk a while ago and it had to be dragged across ...
dazzbee's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
3 answers
7k views

Configure external m.2 SSD as removable drive in Windows 11

Installed a 1TB 22x80 M-key NVMe SSD into an external enclosure with a USB-C type connection. On Windows 11, created a GPT partition table and allocated the whole thing with an ExFAT partition, so I ...
Robert Kerr's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
251 views

Why does the file size of the a being transferred depends on how much free space the external hard drive has, and how can I avoid that?

I transfer some files from a GoPro (connected via MTP) to an external hard drive. I notice that for the file size of the file being transferred depends on how much free space the external hard drive ...
Franck Dernoncourt's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
191 views

Do (if yes, then why) some SATA to USB adapters have maximum supported drive size (except for 2^32 sectors limitation = 2TiB for 512b sector size)?

During web search I've found some SATA to USB adapters have limit of 2 TiB for 512 bytes sectors due to 32 bits limit on sector count. Still I recall many other max sizes quoted, e.g. in that ...
Alex Martian's user avatar
-2 votes
2 answers
2k views

Moving files from onedrive on a laptop to an external hard drive

I have a serious problem with my PC (another question with this will follow later), so I am having to use my laptop (Windows 10, pretty normal configuration). The laptop storage is small (56 GB). I ...
Zyrusx's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
1 answer
1k views

Is it possible to format a 16 TB external hard drive in the file system FAT32?

I've been trying to format a 16TB external hard drive in the file system FAT32 so that it would work on a PS3 and I quickly realised that windows won't allow me to format the drive completely. I ...
Playdoh Legs's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
39 views

Task Scheduler running a Program incorrectly

I have created a python exe that copies data from a NAS to a external HDD. This is on a Windows sever 2012 and the NAS and External is accessible to use. Also using the user account with full admin ...
JohanvW's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
395 views

Can vibrations from stacking 2 External HDDs cause damage?

Can vibration from 2 stacked external HDDs cause damage? I have a stick-on HDD sleeve on my laptop with 2 pockets that's able to hold 2 HDDs at once. Would it cause any damage to have 2 HDDs, plugged ...
Dav's user avatar
  • 31
0 votes
1 answer
253 views

Need USB-C splitter that will power XP-13 laptop AND connect external drive

My Dell XP13 laptop has two USB-C ports. I use one for power and the other for my second monitor. Now I've purchased an external drive and I can't find a USB-C splitter that will allow me to charge ...
Neal's user avatar
  • 3
0 votes
1 answer
88 views

External Drive Not Showing up Anywhere

I have a Lacie Rugged Drive I'm having issues with. It will continue to sound like it is starting up but won't mount. I can see it listed on my mac under the system report but it will not show up ...
Godawgs4156's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
156 views

Why doesn't My Computer show my external SATA Hard Drive, when it's detected by Device Manager + Disk Management?

Please see red arrows below. Device Manager + Disk Management are detecting my SATA HD (Hard Drive). But why does My Computer fail to showcase my SATA HD? I perused External Hard Drive doesn't ...
user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
207 views

USB HSF+ external drive partition won't mount. "(NO WRITE)" & "Resource busy" errors when trying fsck

I was copying a huge file from a USB external drive when it suddenly disappeared from the Finder. I disconnected and connected it back, but the primary partition wouldn't mount. Rebooting the Mac didn'...
Stellar Streams's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
90 views

How to fix disk not showing up

If I go to Device Manager, i see a hdd connected via usb as Generic HDD USB Device but when i look at the folders, i dont see it showing up. How do I make it show up so I can access the files in the ...
ealeon's user avatar
  • 119
0 votes
3 answers
2k views

External Hard Drive Going to Sleep CONSTANTLY

External Hard Drive Going to Sleep CONSTANTLY: I've been a tech 30 years, I've NEVER seen this before. This is not a question I have ever encountered. Toshiba Canvio (Nightmare) external 3tb drive ...
Drew777's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
641 views

SanDisk External SSD Running at Slow Speeds

I recently purchased a new external 1TB SSD from SanDisk (SDSSDE30-1T00-G25). However, I am having an issue with its speed as it is limited to USB-2 speed, which is around 40MB/s. Here is what I have ...
Mohammad Diab's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
281 views

External Hard Disk is not being detected after recent upgrade

I am using Arch Linux and I recently upgraded my machine's kernel to the latest one. Linux 6.2.12-arch1-1 if it matters. Ever since then my machine is not able to detect the external HDD. I have 2 ...
raaron773's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
2k views

Make a System Image of an Old Windows Computer as a VHD file

I have computers with Windows XP, Vista, and 7 installed. I have some ideas that I would like to use these computers for but I would need to backup everything on them first. I'm interested to know if ...
Wolf Zwiener's user avatar
3 votes
1 answer
2k views

Selecting non-SMR external drives

I recently bought a batch of 6 "WD elements" external HDDs and quickly found out that - for three of them - the write performance was precipitously degradating. Circumstantial evidence ...
Alien Life Form's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
111 views

Linux claims half full NTFS external drive is out of space

I've got an external 5TB hard drive formatted as NTFS and mounted in Linux. When I run df I get this info on the drive: /dev/sdd1 4883735548 2398731656 2485003892 50% /media/me/DRIVE0 I also ...
Michael's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
35 views

Note: fdisk truncates, sfdisk truncates, fields missing. Now what? [closed]

A drive was purchased. WD (Western Digital) M.2 sata 1TB 2280 drive is raw from store drive is not partitioned drive is not formatted, no filesystem, yet with kubuntu 22.04 lsblk --version lsblk ...
joseph22's user avatar
  • 367
0 votes
1 answer
749 views

Known HDD user password not working on new Bios

I have an ASUS-K75VM that's not working again. I have tried to use its HDD on different laptops, but in vain so far because the correct password is not working/accepted. My 500 G data at risk. The HDD ...
RV-ETS's user avatar
  • 11
-3 votes
1 answer
316 views

Why can't I install my SSD into this 2.5" enclosure "Optimized for SSD"?

I want to use this Union Memory SSD as an external backup, and connect it by USB to my laptop. I want to reuse my empty 2.5'' External Hard Drive Enclosure that advertises SSD below. But why can't I ...
user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
908 views

How to set APM of a hard drive in Linux command line?

Strange things are happening in my system... I have a Raspberry Pi 4 with Raspberry OS Lite and some external WD HDDs atached to the USB port. I want to change the hard drive APM value so that I can ...
Marus Gradinaru's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
2k views

Full Format New 5 TB WD HDD external after 95% there is power outage

Full Format New 5 TB WD HDD external after 95% (after 60 hours of format) there is power outage so it fail to finish then i power on the laptop then use quick format to do format. Should i be worry if ...
Prince Charming's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
210 views

External HDD makes an intermittent beeping sound when connected after electrical failure

After some trouble with graphics drivers that caused my computer to rapidly power cycle the USB ports, my external hard drive (a Seagate One Touch 2TB) no longer appears when I plug it in to my ...
Doc's user avatar
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1 vote
0 answers
120 views

Windows Scheduler, process terminate event trigger fail because process started from external drive don't use disk letters

I am searching for posts that tell people how to start a new task when a specific process got terminated, and finally found some old posts such as "How to start a program when another one is ...
Juser's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
0 answers
139 views

How does my spinning HDD reach 320 MB/s?

While creating an image of a (mostly empty) 1TB spinning hard disk, I was expecting a read speed of around 120 MB/s, and on the first blocks it was like that, but after that, most of the time it was ...
golimar's user avatar
  • 1,704
0 votes
0 answers
77 views

Disconnecting external HDD via USB-A Hub when second drive is connected

I have a USB powered USB-A 3.0 hub with 4 USB-A 3.0 ports. When I try to connect two HDDs at the same time, first one is disconnecting. first is Toshiba Canvio Basics 2TB USB powered drive connected ...
Noz_Char's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
286 views

Fedora: How to reduce the permission requirements for mounting/writing on SATA HDDs?

I am using Fedora, Plasma spin. I have a couple of HDDs connected via SATA. Unlike Ubuntu and its kin, mounting the drives requires a password by default, and they are mounted as read-only. How can I ...
TheLabCat's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
111 views

External HDD detected but not working

I took out an HDD from my old laptop which was working fine and never had any issues. I bought a casing for it and started using it as an external HDD. After a few months, I plugged in the HDD as an ...
ZeeShaN AbbAs's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
50 views

What is using my external hard drive, without my permission, and how can I stop it?

I've noticed for a while now that my WD passport (2TB) blinks by itself, so I looked into the issue and checked in Resource Manager to see what's going on. In Resource Manager I saw that almost every ...
Ahmad Kouatli's user avatar
-1 votes
1 answer
136 views

Windows 10 does not recognise second external hard drive

After a RAID drive failure I am left with two identical 500GB SSD 2.5" drives which appear to be in good working order (fortunately I've recovered my data from the RAID drives). I have bought two ...
Doug's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote
0 answers
168 views

Fixing "Bad Sectors" found during External HDD Formatting, Windows 10 CMD Prompt

I recently was trying to reformat a external 3TB WD MyBook (USB) via Windows Command Line I used the command C:\WINDOWS\system32>format g: /FS:NTFS /X and received the following output The type ...
psycoperl's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
195 views

External hard drive "too big" for file transfer

I recently purchased a Samsung T7 Shield with a 4TB capacity to transfer surgical videos to from a Steris operating room camera. My computer is a MacBook Pro. I have been unable to transfer the videos ...
JT Kennedy's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
345 views

Connecting interal SATA HDD on eSATA connector

I had bought by mistake a cable that has SATA connector on one end and eSATA on the other. My intention was it to have SATA connectors on both ends, so that I connect a normal SATA HDD on the ...
Hikari's user avatar
  • 317
0 votes
1 answer
284 views

How to make my external HDD recognized as removable device?

I have an external HDD when I plug it to my pc (Windows 11) it works fine, but the problem is that windows treat it as internal (not removable device) so I can't eject it safely So my question is how ...
Ibram Reda's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
66 views

After hibernation, USB SSD shows under "remove safely" but not in file explorer - until reboot

Usage scenario: Arrive at work, wake PC from hibernate-to-disk, plug in my WD Elements USB SSD. See it's not shown in file explorer nor disk management, but it does show up in the systray USB icon ...
sktpin's user avatar
  • 111
1 vote
1 answer
525 views

Can viruses jump from a portable windows install to my main internal install?

I used Rufus to create a Windows 11 To Go -install on an external hard drive while Windows 10 remains on my main drive that is internally plugged in to my computer to dual boot between them. Notably ...
Dravpin's user avatar
  • 11
1 vote
0 answers
1k views

Backup iCloud files to an external hard drive?

What are my options for backing up every file on my iCloud to an (exFAT) external hard disk? Right now I have more files on iCloud than space on my Mac internal hard drive. Copying folders from the ...
Roger's user avatar
  • 39
0 votes
0 answers
1k views

External Hard Drive disconnects during file transfer on Linux

So, I have this Western Digital 5TB portable drive (Specifically "My Passport" branding) that I have some video recordings on of me playing video games. The thing is that the files are huge (...
Eduardo Perez's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
1k views

Drive name greyed out in safely remove hardware option and no eject option present

The option to eject is not present and the drive name is greyed out. I tried RunDll32.exe shell32.dll,Control_RunDLL hotplug.dll in Run and it is not able to stop there as well. I tried unmounting ...
umeshr's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
1 answer
244 views

How to get model/serial of USB hard drive without opening up case (on Windows)?

I recently bought a new 2,5 USB3 HDD (Western Digital Elements) and I'm curious what drive is actually inside (mainly because I'd like to know if it's using CMR or SMR, or is there any other way to ...
nofish's user avatar
  • 3
0 votes
1 answer
482 views

Why I cannot set up permissions to my hard drive?

I cannot open my hard drive because it shows me: “Disc is not available - Access denied” It is visible via disk management and it says: “Healthy, Active” But when I want to get info about disc ...
user2623507's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
214 views

WD 14TB EasyStore doesn't spin up both inside the enclosure and outside of enclosure

I have a WD 14TB Easystore which stopped spinning up in it's enclosure for no apparent reason. Disk Management would show it but give "fatal error" when trying to assign a letter. I removed ...
wiringmess's user avatar

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