External HDD detected in Linux and Windows 7, but not in Windows 10

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[Cybertooth]

I hope this is the right sub-forum for this question.

Tonight I was helping my wife to back up her Windows 10 computer with Macrium Reflect. We connected her 2TB Seagate One Touch hard drive and launched Reflect. To our surprise, the Seagate didn’t show up on Reflect’s list of available disks. So we closed Reflect, unplugged the HDD, and repeated the process. This time the Seagate did show up in Reflect, but only as “Unformatted.” File Explorer didn’t list the drive, nor did Disk Management. I noticed that Norton Security had offered to scan the drive as it usually does, but then the dialog went away by itself within seconds without our taking any action. It’s as if the drive had existed for a brief moment, then vanished into thin air.

So I took the drive to my own Windows 10 PC and tried to do the same thing. After about a 30-second wait, the toast notification on the right, informing me that the One Touch had been detected, finally popped out along with the corresponding little jingle. However, when I went into File Explorer, the drive was nowhere to be found. Nor did it show up in Reflect or in Disk Management.

Now before you start formulating a diagnosis, here’s where it gets weird. I took the One Touch to my trusty Windows 7 computer… and the drive showed up right away in Windows Explorer. Macrium Reflect found it, no problem, as did Disk Management.

Next, I connected the Seagate to my Kubuntu tower, and that machine, too, found the drive right away and listed all its contents in the file manager, Dolphin.

A couple of notes FWIW:

1. I tried a variety of cables to connect the drive to the computers, and this made no difference.
2. The drive was purchased in April 2023. We had used it a number of times previously, without issue.

OK, now it’s time to diagnose the problem.    What the heck could lead to this drive being found by Linux and Windows 7, but not by Windows 10?

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

• This topic was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Cybertooth.
• This topic was modified 1 year, 3 months ago by Cybertooth. Reason: additional info

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TechTango, Microfix

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Used to work, doesn’t now, different machines. Sounds like a flaky drive.
Test in USB 2 and 3 ports.
Do you have a similar drive to check on the same machines?

cheers, Paul

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Cybertooth

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I don’t have an identical drive, but I do have a 2TB Seagate Backup Plus Slim (BUP), which is similar to but not the same as the Seagate One Touch.

When I connected it to my Win10 PC, after about 30 seconds a toast notification came up saying, “Setting up new device”. A little while later, a new notification identifying the drive came up, saying it was ready and assigning it a drive letter. But a trip to File Explorer and then Disk Management did not turn up the BUP, just like the One Touch. And like the One Touch, the BUP was recognized right away by my Win7 PC.

Regarding the USB 2 vs. USB 3 ports, I plugged the BUP drive into a USB 2 port in the rear and also into a USB 3.2 Gen 1 port in the front. Same outcome.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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Cybertooth wrote:

What the heck could lead to this drive being found by Linux and Windows 7, but not by Windows 10?

@Cybertooth, From my experience, it’s a system variable internal vector of annoyance from MS Defender in W10 and 11, namely the USB scanning option, ON by default.

Method used here to good effect over a few systems:
1. Downloaded Nirsofts USBDeview (which is portable) to uninstal ALL W10 system known plugged in USB devices whilst they were disconnected from PC (right click the disconnected USB listed device to uninstal)

Note: Initially tried using the W10 system settings ‘devices and printers’ section to remove USB devices which didn’t work longterm, which is why I used a third party utility.

2. Then I disabled ‘USB scanning’ in Defender (somewhere in the depths of the Defender settings) and when USB devices were connected the system picked up the USB device refreshing the known USB list.

Thereafter, the list of known USB devices has been working as intended and have not encountered problems like ‘the device is not formattted’ and such like..

Hope this helps

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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Cybertooth

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OK, I downloaded USBDeview (neat program!) and uninstalled the BUP drive from my Windows 10 computer, then disabled “removable media scan” in Norton 360 and connected the BUP. This time it was detected at once!

Next I tried the same thing (disconnect/uninstall/reconnect) with the One Touch drive, and now it was found right away. Curiously, for both drives, although I had turned off removable media scanning in Norton, each time I plugged one of these in, Norton still offered to scan it as if I hadn’t made any changes. (The setting in Norton shows that it’s turned off.)

I could not find any way to disable USB scanning in Defender, but I assume that’s because I’m using Norton and not Defender.

Will now try the same procedure on my wife’s PC, see if that takes care of the problem there too.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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Cybertooth wrote:

I could not find any way to disable USB scanning in Defender, but I assume that’s because I’m using Norton and not Defender.

You can set up an exclusion rule in Defender…

Virus & threat protection > Virus % threat protection settings

Manage settings > Exclusions

Add or remove exclusions > Add exclusion > Folder

Select the USB drive letter.

 

 

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Thank you, I went through the Virus & threat protection settings, and there isn’t anything there to manage settings. I’m guessing it’s because the PC has Norton Security on it, so that it has no need to manage settings for Defender.

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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Agreed that Norton takes precedence over MS Defender once installed.
Did you get results/ conclusions from your beloved’s misbehaving PC once the USB list is regenerated and scanning disabled?
I forgot to mention that USB scanning also interfered with disconnecting external HDD’s in my experience, which was another reason I disabled scanning external USB attached devices with MS Defender. Hopefully, Norton might not be as annoying in that respect.

Windows - commercial by definition and now function...

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Cybertooth

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Well, I haven’t gotten permission yet to work on her PC. She keeps the keyboard in a cubbyhole below the (physical, wood) desktop, the latter of which is covered in a five-inch thick layer of papers. Lest I inadvertently cause a paper avalanche, she wants to clean up the area first before letting me near the keyboard. 

The solution worked to perfection on my very similar PC, so I expect it to work on hers too. I’m marking the topic Resolved until and unless things turn out otherwise.

My thanks to you, to Paul T, and to OldNavyGuy for the tips and ideas!

 

Keep Running Windows 7 Safely for Years to Come  
Make Windows 10 look and work like Windows 7

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