Windows 10, USB's, and External HD

Discussion in 'backup, imaging & disk mgmt' started by Alexhousek, Jul 19, 2016.

  1. Alexhousek

    Alexhousek Registered Member

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    I posted about this, a little, in the MR thread.

    Since upgrading from Win 8.1 to Win 10 a couple days ago, neither Macrium Reflect or Bvckup are working automatically. When I review the log files, I see that both are having difficulty connecting to my external HD.

    When I open windows explorer, I don't see my external HD (G: drive). However, if I unplug the power cord and re-plug it back in, the G: drive will show up. (This did NOT work just unplugging and re-plugging in the usb cable.) Then, if I manually run Bvckup, it works. However, every time I've tried to run a manual backup of MR to my G: drive, it's failed.

    I'm wondering if 1) this is related to Windows 10 or not; 2) if my external HD is failing; 3) if maybe my external HD is connected to a faulty USB or it's having trouble with USB 3.0; or, 4) something else?

    When I get home tonight, I'm going to move my external HD to a different USB slot to see if that does anything. I'm also going to try and find a good HD diagnostic program to see if my external HD is failing. I'm wondering if anyone else has any other suggestions?
     
  2. roger_m

    roger_m Registered Member

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    Maybe it's a faulty USB cable. Are you able to try the drive with a different computer?

    Hard Disk Sentinel will be able to tell instantly if there are any issues with the drive itself.

    Other possibilitis are a faulty AC adapter, or problems with the iUSB interface the drive uses. If it's a problem with the USB interface, you can remove the hard drive from the case (it will be just a regular desktop hard drive inside), and put in in a an extrernal hard drive enclousure/caddy.
     
  3. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    This has happened to me in Windows 7. Same problem, same solution. I don´think it´s related to 10.
     
  4. Alexhousek

    Alexhousek Registered Member

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    I'm sorry, what was your solution? I'm curious what worked for you?
     
  5. Robin A.

    Robin A. Registered Member

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    The problem I had in Windows 7 was this: one external USB disk (installed in a powered enclosure) didn´t appear in Windows Explorer when I connected and powered it. No error messages, no matter what USB port I used. The computer and the disk were connected through a regulated power strip.

    The "solution" I found was to unplug the computer and the power strip, wait some time and connect them again.

    A similar problem has occurred with the HP printer. In this case there are error messages: "unrecognized device", "not possible to install the device driver", etc. I have solved it in the same way.
     
  6. pling_man

    pling_man Registered Member

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    I would try deleting the drive from Device Manager.

    With the drive unplugged, run Device Manager as Admin.
    Turn on show Hidden Devices and find the drive in the list
    Look for the drive, right click and delete or remove it.
    Then plug in drive to re-install.
     
  7. Alexhousek

    Alexhousek Registered Member

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    I hate to report that the external drive is a paperweight at this point. It's at a PC repair store where they are attempting to pull off the data at the cost of $225 US. Oh, and that doesn't include the cost of a new external HD....

    In my case, it was/is a failing external HD. Lo is me, I wish I had backed up my backup drive.... :(:'(
     
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