Hardware Drivers :: Remove External USB Drive From Casing To Use As Internal
Feb 8, 2014
I have question: Could I use my external hard drive (removed from it's casing obviously) and replace my internal hard drive with it?
Here's more context: I recently bought a Kingston V300 120GB SSD to replace my old HDD in my laptop and give it a boost. Performance is noticeably faster (the fresh install of Win 8.1 might have worked too) but the 120GB are filling up quite fast however.
As I was running my defrag program to check if any external drives needed defragging I was surprised to see that my 1TB USB 3.0 Toshiba Stor.E Basics showed up as an SSD along with my Kingston (and thus no need to defrag ). So I asked myself, could I use that drive as my internal drive instead of the Kingston?
My questions are:
- Will it work?
- If yes, does it need to be configured in any way first?
- Would there be compatibility issues? My laptop is SATA 2 and I guess the drive in the Toshiba would be SATA 3.
- Would read/write speeds maybe be too slow to run the computer properly?
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Nov 10, 2013
I'm unable to 'Safely remove' or 'Eject' external USB 3.0 drives (I have 2) on my Lenovo Thinkpad running Wndows 8.1 without having the computer claim that the drive needs to be scanned for errors when the drive is reconnected to the same laptop or attached to my desktop PC's.
When I connect the same drives to my desktop PC's USB3 ports I initially get the same "scan for errors" prompt. But any further attaching and removal of the same drives to either my Windows 7(64) and Vista (64) dsktop PCs's does not reproduce the same error and further safe removal and reconnecting to those 2 systems is error free.
When scanned for errors there has never been any errors discovered. The 2.5" drives (one Seagate the other WD) are in Vantec USB 3.0 external enclosures that use a '2x USB plugs' cable; one for data and one for power. My usual removal method is to click on the 'Windows Explorer Safely Remove Hardware and Eject Media' icon on the Taskbar and select Eject for the drive and then wait until the 'Safe to remove' message pops up before removing the single cable attached to the external enclosure.
The USB Controllers are:
Intel(R) Series/C216 Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Coltroller - 1E26
Intel(R) Series/C216 Chipset Family USB Enhanced Host Coltroller - 1E2D
Intel(R) USB 3.0 eXtensible Host Controller - 0100 (Microsoft)
I unsuccessfully tried updating the Intel(R) Series/C216 Chipset controller to v9.4.0.126 but it's still at v9.3.0.1011.
If it's a USB 3.0 driver/firmware related, or a 'feature' of Windows 8.1?
I can live with the problem as I'm sure that the drive is not being removed while data is being written, and Indexing is disabled on external drives. But I prefer using a computer that does not exhibit these sort of problems.
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Dec 26, 2012
I have a 2TB Western Digital My Book Essentials, it's filled with tons of old photos, movies, docs, games, and I'm scared to think of what else. The SATA to USB connector broke on it, so I took the drive apart and put it inside my computer. I opened up device manager because it wasn't showing up automatically and the 2TB is showing up as unallocated, I'm freaking out now because I'm scared the data was somehow deleted.What do I do?
edit: I realize also this isn't directly related to Windows 8 (besides the fact it's the OS I'm on), but I don't know where else to post it. I'd also like to say that I had a really deep feeling the drive was going to break continually for about two weeks before it happened, so if you have a similar feeling about something, don't ignore it!
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Oct 26, 2013
I've installed 8.1 on a PC from the store and then one of my three internal drives, my data drive, would intermittently connect / disconnect. I was not able to find a solution so I recovered my Win 8.0 installation from a backup and now everything works well again. I'll try to reinstall Win 8.1 in a few weeks - suspect it's a bug that Microsoft will eventually squash. I also Installed 8.1 on two laptops from the store with no problems - however they do not have additional internal drives.
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Jun 14, 2013
What can you use to record both the internal sounds (hearable in earphones) and the external sounds (my voice) at the same time?
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Jun 23, 2013
I've been trying to make a server since forever. Not just the plain Minecraft Vanilla server, but a bucket server. I've downloaded craftbucket, the latest version, and tried to run it. It gives me the error saying " 'java' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file. I do have java installed so I don't know why this is happening.
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Jan 18, 2013
There was a registry fix for this problem as here:
How can I remove the option to eject SATA drives from the Windows 7 tray icon? - Super User
In Windows 8, though, the registry is different, as there is no msahci under services as here:
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetservicesmsahci
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Jun 30, 2013
I have this problem were external hard drive do not show up on my PC.
First my I put my friends in and it did not work, then I went out and brought one myself (different brand) and it does not show up.
Windows automatically installed the drivers it said it even know what time of external it was. But now it doesn't appear in explorer. What should I do. It appears in the device manger list, but how do I access it?
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Nov 25, 2012
I just installed Win 8 last night and everything seemed fine before I turned off the computer. Now, I'm a student and I work a lot from my USB/HD. I have both my usb and HD connected to the computer but the computer doesn't read them now.
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Jun 28, 2014
I have a external drive that I used for backup with XP. What do I need to do to make it work with windows 8? How do I get win to recognize it? It is a IDE drive and is connected via USB.
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Aug 17, 2014
My portable hard drive stops showing up all of a sudden. It is connected to a USB hub. When I go to 'Disk Management' in 'Computer Management', the hard drive shows up as Unknown - Not Initialised. Also this hard drive works while not using the USB hub, and the USB hub works as well with other devices.
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Jun 9, 2013
Is there a way I can back up my files from my 2tb WD My Passport External Hard Drive? I have a lot of files on there which I want to back up and convert to NTFS.
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May 23, 2013
How do I unplug external drive safely, when I right click their is no safely remove menu like their was on windows vista.
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Nov 12, 2013
I have Windows 8.1 x64, I have a 1TB drive attached on USB 3.0 port, the disk has four partitions, two are not allocated, I am trying to extend the volume on one of the active partitions, a Healthy, Primary partition but I get a message "The operation you selected will turn the selected disk(s) to Dynamic disk(s).
I'm not sure what it means but how do I get the extended volume to be a Basic volume?
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Sep 15, 2013
HP Envy dv7, Windows 8
Seagate 2TB drive mounted in a Thermaltake, Max 5 enclosure. The drive does not show in Windows 8. Does show when running Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) but shows as "Unallocated" without a drive letter. If run the Seagate drive tools, it shows up as unallocated, with drive letter "C". But there is obviously already a drive "C".
Disk Management does not present a means by which to assign a drive letter
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Aug 10, 2013
I have a Simpletech Simpledrive External Hard drive. It works on my desktop running xp. When I connect to my Asus N56DP Laptop, I hear the binging and all. But I do not see it in my control panel. I can see it in the device manager. Not in Disc MAnagement. Is there something I can do to get it to install and be accessible? I have some race car pictures I would like to post to Facebook.
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Oct 21, 2013
I updated to Windows 8.1 a couple of days ago on my desktop. Windows 8 was installed last June. I have a Seagate Free Agent GoFlex external drive connected to the computer for daily backups. Since upgrading to 8.1, this drive has been shutting itself off and then restarting at seeming random times. This event is accompanied by a soft buzz apparently coming from the desktop tower.
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May 27, 2013
my external dvd drive keeps disconnecting and reconnecting from both the front and rear USB ports of my PC. It appears in Device Manager for a second and then disappears. The drive is connected via a SATA/USB converter and plugged directly into an electrical socket.
It also makes loading and ejecting sounds.
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Sep 15, 2014
I have an external harddrive on a USB2 port that I have been using for ages without problems. Yesterday it just stopped being accessible for no apparent reason. The machine "sees" it (as the F drive) but can't access it. If I try to double click on the F drive the machine takes aaaaaages (green "busy bar" slowly tracking) and then I eventually get an error that says "F: is not accessible" - as per this image:
So I assumed the drive had died. But to test that, I plugged it into my g/f's old XP machine and it accessed the drive with no problems whatsoever!
The only other thing I could think to try was to look in disc management. But even though the is an F drive showing in explorer (as per the above image)... it doesn't even show up in disc management!
So, in exasperation, I did a "refresh" of my system. A bit of a drastic step, but I thought maybe it was time for a cleanup anyway. But, after the refresh was done... STILL the same problem! Exactly as per the above images, the machine "sees" the F drive but nothing is accessible.
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Feb 5, 2014
I am connecting a 640GB Samsung G2 Portable External Hard Drive to my HP Pavilion 15 Laptop.
The external hard drive works on other desktop and laptop computers here at work, but when connected to the HP Pavilion (Windows 8.1 OS) it shows up as a Local Disk (H: but when trying to Open the drive it says:
"Location Not Available H: is not accessible The device is not ready."
What should I do?
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Jan 14, 2014
I have an iomega portable usb drive. I can plug into any of my windows 7 machines and access the files and store data on it. when I put into my win 8 machine it shows in devices and printers and in my computer shows as removable disk but you cannot open it up.
I have went into device manager and tried to update the usb driver installed but no use at all.
really strange that it shows in devices and printers but I cannot get the files.
the thing is I need to install and transfer some backups onto my win 8 machine so I need it to work desperately.
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Mar 16, 2013
I'm currently using a Dell Inspiron 3520 laptop with Windows 8 on it. I have an external hard drive from a Windows 7 desktop. It recognizes the external hdd right away and I can access it but I can't figure out how to boot Windows 7 as the primary. I've tried changing boot order in bios but I've had no luck as it still boots Windows 8 first. Is there a way to use the Windows 7 as the primary drive ? Even a way to temporarly turn off the Windows 8 hard drive will work. I just need to access the Windows 7 hard drive without having to navigate through program files to have to open something.
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Jan 4, 2014
My Seagate Portable Drive seems to work as the green light comes on.
Screen shot of my Disk Management below. Am I missing something?
Other solutions have been to right click and assign a drive, but those listed below other that the C: don't allow.
Using OS Windows 8.1
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Feb 8, 2014
Purchased a new plug and play 2 TB external hard that is not showing up as an icon in My Computer in Windows 8. It shows up in Devices and appears to be working properly. Driver is up to date. When I go to Disk Management the external is also recognized there but when I right click on the partition window to assign the external HD a drive path letter the drop down menu selection required to do so is greyed out and I am unable to perform the function. Uninstalled the USB driver for the device and re-installed and still nothing. I assume that when I activated Windows 8 on this new laptop I running as an administrator. Checked the unit out on my old laptop which is running Windows 7 and the same problem occurred. Perplexed.
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May 11, 2013
I have a USB hard drive which has two partitions:
1 x 100GB partition formatted as FAT32
1 x 900GB partition formatted as NTFS
(these sizes aren't perfectly correct, but it's a 1TB drive that's split in 1:9 proportions)
On my Windows 7 laptop, both partitions are visible in My Computer, and I can read/write with no problems. (On the same laptop, an Ubuntu install can also see and use them perfectly)
On my new Windows 8 laptop, the 100GB FAT32 patition appears under My Computer normally, but the 900GB NTFS partition does not. If I go to Computer -> Manage -> Disk Management, I can see the partition. It has no drive letter or file system listed, reports as "healthy, primary partition" and shows 100% free space. If I right click on the drive's entry in the list, my only options are "delete partition"; everything else is greyed out.
So, to summarise: One hard drive with two partitions. Both partitions work perfectly in Win 7 and Ubuntu. Win 8 can only see the FAT32 partition, and treats the NTFS partition as if it is junk.
way to persuade Windows 8 to mount this partition? I know that the drive and partition are fine, but for some reason Windows 8 isn't interested.
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Jan 14, 2013
I have an Acer laptop with Windows 8 pre-installed. It has an USB3 socket. When I plug an external drive into it the drive appears in the device manager but not in "my computer".
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Sep 8, 2013
I have been experiencing problems trying to back up to external hard drive this week and keep getting an I/O Error with various error messages including 0x8007045D My Hard Drive is "G" and I can see it through my computer no problem and I also have my ITunes library on it and the ITunes music is working fine.
I am getting a message in Action Centre saying my Back Up did not complete successfully and then I have the option of Try to Run Again or change back up settings. If I select Try to Run again windows cannot find the disk or network location and if I change settings "G" does not appear. It seems Back Up has detected an error on my "G" which is preventing it from running the back up.
Also in Disk Management I am prompted to initialise a disc before logical disc manager can access it so I select MBR and I get I/O device error and disk 1/G is unknown/not initialised.I have tried powering the external drive off/on and also disconnecting it from the computer but no difference and at present I cannot save anything to the external hard drive. There is a previous back up already on the hard drive but this is not accessible at present.clearing this error so I can back up again without loosing what is stored on the hard drive in particular my ITunes library.
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Apr 20, 2013
I recently purchased a WD 1TB external portable hard drive.When I first got it it was immediately recognised by my laptop (a 2 day old Asus Ultrabook S400C). This is my first time with Windows 8 so I am still learning to navigate it.
The first thing I did was transfer 650gb of movies and music across. I didn't format the hard drive first, maybe that was my first mistake. My files were still recognisable on my laptop and my WD TV Live media centre. The next day all of a sudden my media player wouldn't recognise it and when I plugged it back into my laptop it also cannot see it.
The device can be seen in device manager (when I click on properties it says it's working corectly), but not in the drives list in my computer. It is showing as "Disc 2" 'Not Iniitialised' and when I click on 'Initialise' and choose 'MBR' and hit OK it comes up with this error msg: 'The request could not be performed due to an I/O device error'.
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Oct 29, 2013
i accidentally dropped my hard drive its a 1tb buffalo hd-pntu3,,now when i go to disk management in my computer its showing up as disk 1 unknown allocated,,and when i try to initialize disk its greyed out!,,i have a lot of files on this drive
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Aug 14, 2014
I've a relatively new SanDisk Cruzer Slice 64GB USB pen drive, which I use for work mainly. It has somehow managed to write protect itself and no matter what I do I simply cannot remove it!
I've scanned with Antivirus, nothing found
I've tried regedit - ComputerHKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEM CurrentControlSetControlStorageDevicePolicies
StorageDevicePolices didn't exist so I created a 32 bit Dword string, set to 0 this hasn't done anything
I've tried Diskpart as administrator - DISKPART> list disk
Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 298 GB 1024 KB
Disk 1 Online 59 GB 0 B
DISKPART> select disk 1
Disk 1 is now the selected disk.
DISKPART> attributes disk clear readonly
Disk attributes cleared successfully.
DISKPART> clean
DiskPart has encountered an error: The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error. See the System Event Log for more information. I've checked the logs and it doesn't seem to list anything for the drive
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Jul 17, 2014
make the 'file history' feature work. I keep getting the 'No usable drives were found' message along with a recommendation to use an external hard drive. My PC rig has a 240GB SSD (C drive) and a 1TB HDD (D drive) - both internal obviously - but I don't quite understand why there's no way to use the D drive to make a complete backup copy of both the system and the Documents folder, etc. that are on the C drive. I clicked here and there and somehow ended up creating a backup copy (a folder called "WindowsImageBackup") on the D drive but that seems to be a copy of the Windows system only and excludes the Documents folder. how to make the file history work so as to make the complete backup on the D drive?
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