6 Solutions to External Hard Drive Not Initialized in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7
- "External hard drive not initialized" symptons
- Why is a hard drive not initialized?
- To fix an external hard drive that won't initialize in Windows, first, try unplugging and replugging the drive. If that doesn't work, check the drive's power source and cable connections. If the drive is still not initializing, run the built-in Check Disk utility (chkdsk) to scan and repair any disk errors.
- Method 1. Try to initialize the hard drive
- Method 2. Switch connection cables
- Method 3. Fix MBR for external hard drive
- Method 4. Scan your computer for virus and unwanted malware
- Method 5. Clean the external hard drive with DiskPart
- Method 6. Diagnose the external hard drive
- Conclusion
"External hard drive not initialized" symptons
If you use an external hard drive for data storage or as a backup drive, you may eventually encounter an issue where it stops showing up in Windows File Explorer. To troubleshoot this, you can open Disk Management to check the drive's status.
You may encounter an external hard drive showing as "Unknown, Not initialized" or with unallocated space, or even not showing its capacity, which can be frustrating. This is usually due to the drive not being properly initialized or formatted, causing the computer to be unable to read its contents. To resolve this issue, you can try to initialize the drive in Disk Management, or use a third-party tool to format the drive. This will ensure that the drive is properly set up and recognized by your computer.
Why is a hard drive not initialized?
To identify the cause of the issue, consider the actions taken with the external hard disk before the hard drive stopped recognizing it. This includes checking if the external drive was plugged into a computer that may have caused the problem, if the external drive's partitioning process was interrupted, or if a system crash occurred while using the external disk.
If your hard disk isn't initializing or has become unknown, there could be several reasons behind it. You can try to identify the actual cause based on your specific situation, but some possible explanations include.
1. File system corruption.
2. Virus infection.
3. Bad blocks and sectors.
4. MBR damage.
5. Connection problem.
How to fix "external hard drive not intilized" in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7?
Due to various reasons, the issue of an external hard drive not being initialized can arise. To resolve this problem, refer to the methods of fixing external hard drive not initialized issue.
Solution 1. Try to initialize the hard drive
If you've backed up the data or don't mind losing it, you can initialize the external hard drive in Disk Management.
1. Open Disk Management.
2. Right click on the disk that needs initializing.
3. To initialize a hard drive as an MBR or GPT disk, click the "Initialize Disk" option and follow the on-screen wizard. This will guide you through the process of setting up the disk as either a Master Boot Record (MBR) or GUID Partition Table (GPT) disk.
Initializing a hard drive will result in complete data loss, but using data recovery software may be able to recover lost data. This process will not void the warranty associated with the external hard drive. For Seagate hard drives, Seagate recovery software or its recovery service can be used, while SanDisk recommends Ontrack EasyRecovery or FILERECOVERY software for SanDisk external SSDs.
Solution 2. Switch connection cables
If you're trying to initialize an external drive and get an error saying the request couldn't be completed due to an I/O device error, it might be caused by a connection issue. Try using a different cable to connect the drive, or plug it into a different computer if possible, to see if that resolves the issue.
Solution 3. Fix MBR for the external hard drive
If the MBR of the hard drive is corrupted, Windows can't access the data on the drive, and you'll see the external drive as "Disk unknown, not initialized, unallocated". You can use free disk partition software, such as Qiling Disk Master, to rebuild the MBR and recover from this state.
1. Install and run Qiling Disk Master. Click the disk, and click "Rebuild MBR" on the right navigation pane.
3. Select your system type.
4. Click "Proceed" button to apply this operation.
This free software can be used to resize a partition or merge partitions without losing any data, making it a useful tool for managing disk space and optimizing system performance.
Solution 4. Scan your computer for virus or unwanted malware
Your hard drive may show as not initialized or unable to initialize in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7 if it's infected, causing it to continuously write data and prevent other programs from accessing it. To resolve this, run a full scan with Windows Defender or a third-party anti-virus software to detect and remove any malware.
Solution 5. Clean the external drive with DiskPart
To recover your external hard drive, you can use the built-in Windows tool DiskPart.exe. If you don't need to keep the data, you can clean the hard drive and initialize it using DiskPart, which should make the drive visible in File Explorer again.
1. Press Windows + R and type in "diskpart.exe".
2. In the pop-up window, type "list disk".
3. If the external hard drive unable to initialize is shown as disk 1, type "select disk 1" in the command prompt. If it's shown as a different number, replace 1 with that number. Then, proceed with the initialization process.
4. Type "clean all".
5. To prepare the external hard drive for use, you can use Disk Management to initialize the disk, which is a more straightforward process. Alternatively, you can also use DiskPart to initialize the disk.
Solution 6. Diagnose the external hard drive
If you've completed the steps and still can't initialize your external hard drive, it may be due to bad sectors or physical damage. You can run a Disk Surface Test using Qiling Disk Master to diagnose the issue.
Step 1. To run a surface test on an external hard drive in the main interface, click on the drive and select the "Disk management" tab page, followed by selecting "Surface Test".
Step 2. Click "Proceed" to execute it. The bad sectors, checking rate, and other information will be demonstrated on the dialogue.
Conclusion
If you're experiencing issues with your external hard drive not initializing in Windows 11, 10, 8, or 7, the 6 methods provided may help resolve the problem. Qiling Disk Master is a powerful partition disk manager that can assist with initializing the external hard drive, and its professional version offers additional features such as converting system disks between MBR and GPT and file systems between FAT32 and NTFS. If data loss occurs during the process, the " ecover Data" function can be used to retrieve lost data.Recover Data" function can be used to retrieve lost data.
The external hard drive not initialized issue can be resolved by using a combination of the methods mentioned, such as checking the drive in Disk Management, running the built-in Disk Cleanup and Check Disk tools, and using third-party software like EaseUS Partition Recovery. If none of these methods work, it may indicate that the external drive needs to be replaced, and it's recommended to wipe the drive before disposing of it.
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