Need help with an external drive problem

jadinolf · 25 Jul 2016

This is a problem with an external eSATA drive which I use for backups.

It has been plaguing me for several days. Here's what happens: when I am ready to backup I turn on the external drive and get the sound BUT the drive doesn't show up in Computer. I then go to Control Panel to select a new drive letter and now I can do the backup.

If I try a backup the next day, the same thing happens. Yesterday, I replaced the old drive which I have been using for years with a brand new one and it was recognized and the backup ran fine.

This morning, still using the new drive, same thing old problem happened.

I am stumped so I am coming to you for help. Short of going through the same exercise every day, I give up.

I appreciate any suggestions. Thanks.

jumanji · 25 Jul 2016

Try this:

Please remove all exteral drives from your PC

Start > All Programs > Accessories > Right click on Command Prompt and Run as administrator.
Then
diskpart [ENTER]
Against the DISKPART prompt
automount [ENTER]
Does it say "automatic mounting of new volumes disabled" ? Then
automount enable [ENTER]
"automatic mounting of new volumes enabled"

Close Command Window.

Edit: Reboot your PC for the change to take effect

Now connect your external drive and check whether it gets a drive letter automatically..

jadinolf · 25 Jul 2016

Well, here goes.

I followed the procedure and it did report "automatic mounting of new volumes disabled"

And then "automatic mounting of new volumes enabled"

Closed command window.

Drive letter showed (attached).

Disconnected external drive. Drive E is the external drive.

Turned it on and heard typical sound but drive did not show in Computer. (attached).

Thanks for help. What the heck is going on here?

jumanji · 25 Jul 2016

Did you run the Command as administrator?

If automatic mounting is disabled and then enabled in diskpart, it should stick.

Redo it again taking care that you run as administrator. After automount is enabled using diskpart, close the Command Window.

You may perhaps require a reboot for the change to become effective. So reboot and then plug /unplug your drive and check.

I shall see the results report tomorrow morning. Bedtime :)

jadinolf · 25 Jul 2016

jumanji said:

Did you run the Command as administrator?

If automatic mounting is disabled and then enabled in diskpart, it should stick.

Redo it again taking care that you run as administrator. After automount is enabled using diskpart, close the Command Window.

You may perhaps require a reboot for the change to become effective. So reboot and then plug /unplug your drive and check.

I shall see the results report tomorrow morning. Bedtime :)

Yes, I did run as administrator but will try reboot.

Sleep well and thanks again.

jadinolf · 25 Jul 2016

O.K.

Repeated the procedure and rebooted. Disk showed in Computer. Rebooted again and it was still there.

Looks good so far. Thanks very much jumanji

I'll report in tomorrow.

Let's see how it looks later today and tomorrow.

jadinolf · 25 Jul 2016

Still working.

jumanji · 25 Jul 2016

Sometimes I miss the obvious. In this case as in many other instances, a reboot is required for rhe change to take effect. I have since added it to my first post in this thread. Thank you for waking me up. May be I was too sleepy then

.

jadinolf · 25 Jul 2016

jumanji, I have 5 computers and 2 external drives on each computer and have never gone through that procedure before and never had that problem before.

I wonder what caused it to happen?

In any event, I think I will do it to all the drives just to be safe.

Do I recall that you are now in Spain? Seems that I remember you saying you were going there.That would explain the time difference.

Anyway, I will be back here in the morning and I expect good news.

See you.

jumanji · 26 Jul 2016

I was travelling in Spain only from June 1 -June 10 and returned to India on June 12. The time shown is the current local time in India ahead +9 to +12 US.

jadinolf said:

........I wonder what caused it to happen?

One of the many Window's Wonders :).

And my answer Not recognising USB HDD,s

( Actually it was in this thread, Layback Bear reminded me "@jumanji Would it be helpful after following your instructions to reboot?" And as usual I forget his wise counsel. jumanji's wonders - more aptly blunders

)

"Neither men nor machines are 100% perfect.:)

Some random event had caused the registry value HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Services\MountMgr\NoAutoMount to change
from 0 to 1 . We just reversed it.

What that event was in your case is hard to guess.

In Nov 2014, when Lady Fitzgerald was setting up her new Lenovo laptop, she had the same problem. Considering that it was a brand new laptop, it is even harder to guess.:)

Anyway, I have added your question to the "100 things to do research" list, but I don't know when I will do it. I am not perfect either. "

While this pill treats this anamoly, you may also do a drive cleanup periodically on all your PCs that would remove all non-present devices, the redundant drive letters and registry entries associated with such devices, locked by Windows.
External HDD can't be opened, but the laptop still can detect it