Hello everyone,
I found this forum while trying to solve a problem which I discovered yesterday, whe plugging in an external harddrivo my Asus g750jx laptop (also called notebook) I have two external drives for the moment, and I have used them before on this computer, so it's nothing wrong with either of them. Since I haven't needed them for a while, I checked that there were nothing wrong with them on a HP Envy-7 laptop I have access to, and on that, they both showed up with no problem whatsoever.
Now, I noticed the issue, when plugging one of them in. Having the computer set to automatically open drives in the File Manager, and show its contents, I was a bit surprised when it didn't do this. The computer had detected the usb connection, and looking at connected devices. it does show there, and furthermore states that it is working properly. However, when I opened the File Manager, the computer lists the internal hardrive (split in two partitions C and D) and optical Blu-Ray player/CD/DVD-burner. It also showed the external drive, but with the generic Icon and not the specific one it uses to tell what harddrive it is, and of course the driver letter "F". When I clicked on this, the File Explorer greyed out and freezes. Trying to open any other program/app, results in the same, they too freeze on start-up. Using the Ctrl-alt-del to break this and be able to shut down the frozen program, it too ends up frozen. I had to shut down my laptop by preesing and holding the physical on switch. Yes, I know this is not a good way to do it, but nothing else would work since I tried to shut it off the correct way, but ending up with a BSOD and the computer never letting go of the working symbol, but obviously not doing anything.
After this, I checked for malware and spywarev with Spybot S&D, AdwCleaner and Advanced System Care Pro, in order to see whether there were some malwares etc blocking my computer. I then attempted connecting one of the drives again, with the same result. When I had rebooted again, I ran checkdisk in administrator mode, found some problems, which found some problems and reported that all of them but a few were fixed. I then went on with sfc /scannow, wich I have used before on other occassions. Well, this reported that there still was some errors and logged it to a CBS log. Having a look at this, it turned out that the only things marked as faulty was the one in this part of the forum. Therefore, when having found your forum, I ran the Dism command recommended here, following up with the SFC /scannow again. Both reportd that the errors were now repaired and everything was well with the system.
Thinking the problem finally solved. I exited to the desktop, and tried open the File Manager again, after plugging one of my external drives in. This time, it worked,(it showed the connected drive in the File Manager, but still not opening it automatically when connecting, and yes, I have checked my settings for that) but somehow I had managed to disconnect the battery, so the laptop reported that there was no battery available. I shut down the laptop, reconnected the battery and turned it on again...and the problem re-occurred. I thought it was due to the changed premises, alhough I had the power cord connected at both occasions. Therefore, I attempted Another run of both Dism and SFC to see whether that would solve the issue. It didn't. Both of them come up with no problems found.
Thinking that it still may be some malware or similar, I downloaded and ran Malware Antibytes AntiMalware since I have had good results with this program in the past. This just found a potential spyware, which was removed, and which couldn't have influenced my laptop in this manner. Just to be sure, I tried connecting one of the drives again, with the same result.
Currently, my computer works great as long as no external drive is connected. Both are of the same brand, WD Elements 1TB, and both of them is recognized by my computer when looking to devices connected in the lower right corner. However, one is not visible when opening the file Manager (just as the generic Icon for harddrives with the driver letter) but freezes when clicking on it. The other one will not show up at all in the file manager.
Oh, and I have also tried your SFC fix. It reports that the issue is repaired and that everything is ok, but still the problem remains.
I am running Win 8.1, upgraded from Win 8, and had this computer for some months, since April this year.
I'm quite used to tinkering with my computer, having had a few in the past, but so far, I find that Win 8 and 8.1 is the most fragile OS I've used so far. May be just a feeling, but it certainly seems that way to me.
Anyway, I'm happy to have found this forum and do hope you will be able to help me with this issue. If there is any further information you need, just let me know. please. I'll get back as soon as I can.
Thanks in advance.
I found this forum while trying to solve a problem which I discovered yesterday, whe plugging in an external harddrivo my Asus g750jx laptop (also called notebook) I have two external drives for the moment, and I have used them before on this computer, so it's nothing wrong with either of them. Since I haven't needed them for a while, I checked that there were nothing wrong with them on a HP Envy-7 laptop I have access to, and on that, they both showed up with no problem whatsoever.
Now, I noticed the issue, when plugging one of them in. Having the computer set to automatically open drives in the File Manager, and show its contents, I was a bit surprised when it didn't do this. The computer had detected the usb connection, and looking at connected devices. it does show there, and furthermore states that it is working properly. However, when I opened the File Manager, the computer lists the internal hardrive (split in two partitions C and D) and optical Blu-Ray player/CD/DVD-burner. It also showed the external drive, but with the generic Icon and not the specific one it uses to tell what harddrive it is, and of course the driver letter "F". When I clicked on this, the File Explorer greyed out and freezes. Trying to open any other program/app, results in the same, they too freeze on start-up. Using the Ctrl-alt-del to break this and be able to shut down the frozen program, it too ends up frozen. I had to shut down my laptop by preesing and holding the physical on switch. Yes, I know this is not a good way to do it, but nothing else would work since I tried to shut it off the correct way, but ending up with a BSOD and the computer never letting go of the working symbol, but obviously not doing anything.
After this, I checked for malware and spywarev with Spybot S&D, AdwCleaner and Advanced System Care Pro, in order to see whether there were some malwares etc blocking my computer. I then attempted connecting one of the drives again, with the same result. When I had rebooted again, I ran checkdisk in administrator mode, found some problems, which found some problems and reported that all of them but a few were fixed. I then went on with sfc /scannow, wich I have used before on other occassions. Well, this reported that there still was some errors and logged it to a CBS log. Having a look at this, it turned out that the only things marked as faulty was the one in this part of the forum. Therefore, when having found your forum, I ran the Dism command recommended here, following up with the SFC /scannow again. Both reportd that the errors were now repaired and everything was well with the system.
Thinking the problem finally solved. I exited to the desktop, and tried open the File Manager again, after plugging one of my external drives in. This time, it worked,(it showed the connected drive in the File Manager, but still not opening it automatically when connecting, and yes, I have checked my settings for that) but somehow I had managed to disconnect the battery, so the laptop reported that there was no battery available. I shut down the laptop, reconnected the battery and turned it on again...and the problem re-occurred. I thought it was due to the changed premises, alhough I had the power cord connected at both occasions. Therefore, I attempted Another run of both Dism and SFC to see whether that would solve the issue. It didn't. Both of them come up with no problems found.
Thinking that it still may be some malware or similar, I downloaded and ran Malware Antibytes AntiMalware since I have had good results with this program in the past. This just found a potential spyware, which was removed, and which couldn't have influenced my laptop in this manner. Just to be sure, I tried connecting one of the drives again, with the same result.
Currently, my computer works great as long as no external drive is connected. Both are of the same brand, WD Elements 1TB, and both of them is recognized by my computer when looking to devices connected in the lower right corner. However, one is not visible when opening the file Manager (just as the generic Icon for harddrives with the driver letter) but freezes when clicking on it. The other one will not show up at all in the file manager.
Oh, and I have also tried your SFC fix. It reports that the issue is repaired and that everything is ok, but still the problem remains.
I am running Win 8.1, upgraded from Win 8, and had this computer for some months, since April this year.
I'm quite used to tinkering with my computer, having had a few in the past, but so far, I find that Win 8 and 8.1 is the most fragile OS I've used so far. May be just a feeling, but it certainly seems that way to me.
Anyway, I'm happy to have found this forum and do hope you will be able to help me with this issue. If there is any further information you need, just let me know. please. I'll get back as soon as I can.
Thanks in advance.
