Question An old laptop is unable to safely remove external hard drives and it's causing errors

[snax110]

So I've got this old ASUS laptop that's about eight years old with Windows 8.1. All I want to do is use it to copy some files from one external HD to another. The laptop is a mess though. The screen flickers and goes to black constantly and it's extremely slow. The data I'm trying to transfer is very important so I wanted to do a test with some other HDs I had lying around. I plugged them in but I was unable to safely remove them. I click the exact drive to remove, but it just does nothing for over 10 minutes. So then I unplugged the HDs and the drives were still mounted on the computer for some reason and all the data was accessible even after unplugging. Anyway, I then plugged those external HDs into another computer, it said there were errors on the drive that should be scanned and fixed. Despite whatever these errors were, the drives still worked fine, and after performing the scan, they were apparently back to normal. I tested them again in the old laptop and got the same result. They show up fine, transfer files fine, but are unable to be safely removed, so I unplug it and then the drive has some kind of errors on it next time I plug it in. Can anyone provide some guidance on what might be causing this and how I might go about fixing it?

 

[rgd1101]

stop using the old asus laptop for your very important data

 

[WebBeachBoy]

Sounds like the old laptop could do with a good clean-up too. Download Wisecare 365 (free) and do complete scans (various). I would also download Avast free anti-virus and run a complete scan. This should revitalise the Asus. You could also run sfc. You could also consider installing LXLE Linux OS - which is specially designed o run on older machines. It's very windows-like, easy to us and likeable !

 

[snax110]

stop using the old asus laptop for your very important data

Unfortunately it's the only Windows 8 computer I have. I don't really trust Windows 10 with these HDs because I've heard all the cases of it destroying hard drives, especially if the drives were used in an older OS.

 

[snax110]

Sounds like the old laptop could do with a good clean-up too. Download Wisecare 365 (free) and do complete scans (various). I would also download Avast free anti-virus and run a complete scan. This should revitalise the Asus. You could also run sfc. You could also consider installing LXLE Linux OS - which is specially designed o run on older machines. It's very windows-like, easy to us and likeable !

I don't think it's malware because it's got Malwarebytes on there and it's scanned pretty regularly but I will give sfc and Wisecare a try. Do you have any idea what the root cause could be though? It seems like the errors it causes don't really affect the drives' performance for some reason.

 

[Bob.B]

I don't think it's malware because it's got Malwarebytes on there and it's scanned pretty regularly but I will give sfc and Wisecare a try. Do you have any idea what the root cause could be though? It seems like the errors it causes don't really affect the drives' performance for some reason.

Connect the ext disk.
Open device mgr and look at the policies you have set for the disk.

 

[USAFRet]

I don't really trust Windows 10 with these HDs because I've heard all the cases of it destroying hard drives, especially if the drives were used in an older OS.

That is not a thing.

 

[snax110]

That is not a thing.

No it's actually a really well-documented phenomenon. I remember there were even press releases about the specific process that was causing it though I can't find it now. But there's still plenty of discussions from the time found with 5 minutes of googling.

https://forums.windowscentral.com/threads/hard-drive-destroyed-after-windows-10-anyone-else.336439/

https://forums.tomshardware.com/threads/windows-10-update-damaged-my-external-hard-drive.2942979/

[url=https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-forced-update-destroyed-my-harddrive/12ea4b41-b120-42bf-9dc2-410754f91c9c]https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-forced-update-destroyed-my-harddrive/12ea4b41-b120-42bf-9dc2-410754f91c9c[/url]

[url=https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-breaks-external-hard-drive/f192bea2-bd0b-4bca-a2ec-43087b44663c]https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-breaks-external-hard-drive/f192bea2-bd0b-4bca-a2ec-43087b44663c[/url]

[url=https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-destroyed-my-hard-drive/143e2564-965d-4212-b9cb-245da72de69a]https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-destroyed-my-hard-drive/143e2564-965d-4212-b9cb-245da72de69a[/url]

[url=https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/forced-windows-10-update-damaged-my-attached/38615115-a02a-4e9d-91c7-c30dd637d992]https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/forced-windows-10-update-damaged-my-attached/38615115-a02a-4e9d-91c7-c30dd637d992[/url]

[url=https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-forced-update-destroyed-my-harddrive/770397a1-93ba-4244-bc57-599519905604]https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-forced-update-destroyed-my-harddrive/770397a1-93ba-4244-bc57-599519905604[/url]

[url=https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-causing-sudden-hard-drive-death/64ff3114-85b0-4f90-98ea-2ca87d34ba4c]https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-causing-sudden-hard-drive-death/64ff3114-85b0-4f90-98ea-2ca87d34ba4c[/url]

[url=https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-may-update-bricking-hard-drives/b5be684c-2dc3-443f-a145-2e81818c62d3]https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/all/windows-10-may-update-bricking-hard-drives/b5be684c-2dc3-443f-a145-2e81818c62d3[/url]

[url=https://forums.evga.com/Windows-10-destroyed-my-external-hard-drive-can-it-be-fixed-m3071639.aspx]https://forums.evga.com/Windows-10-destroyed-my-external-hard-drive-can-it-be-fixed-m3071639.aspx[/url]

https://windowsreport.com/partition-disappears-windows-10-anniversary-update/

https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/comments/4vubpr/hard_disk_drive_deleted_after_au/

https://www.tenforums.com/windows-10-news/54747-windows-10-anniversary-update-available-august-2-a-98.html

Hard drive destroyed after Windows 10, anyone else?

After I upgraded Windows Technical Preview, which is running in dual-boot alongside Windows 8.1, my computer turned off. When I turn it back on, the BIOS asks which hard drive to use but there aren't any listed apart from the CD-Drive... What can I do? Does anyone else have the same problem...

forums.windowscentral.com

Windows 10 Update damaged my external hard drive

I had a problem with a Windows 10 update process that caused a USB-connected external hard drive to be corrupted and inaccessible. I was actually accessing the drive (searching for a file) when a Windows 10 update forced me to "shutdown and update." The system ground to a screeching halt, and...

forums.tomshardware.com

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...arddrive/12ea4b41-b120-42bf-9dc2-410754f91c9c

Redirecting

answers.microsoft.com

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...rd-drive/143e2564-965d-4212-b9cb-245da72de69a

Redirecting

answers.microsoft.com

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...arddrive/770397a1-93ba-4244-bc57-599519905604

Redirecting

answers.microsoft.com

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...d-drives/b5be684c-2dc3-443f-a145-2e81818c62d3

https://forums.evga.com/Windows-10-destroyed-my-external-hard-drive-can-it-be-fixed-m3071639.aspx

Partition disappears in Windows 10 Anniversary Update

Microsoft hoped the Windows 10 Anniversary Update would literally be a revelation for all users, but shortly after installing the update, users encountered various issues. Despite Microsoft’s efforts to anticipate all the possible bugs, the list of complaints is getting longer every day. Many...

windowsreport.com

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/comments/4vubpr/hard_disk_drive_deleted_after_au/

https://www.tenforums.com/windows-10-news/54747-windows-10-anniversary-update-available-august-2-a-98.html

 

[snax110]

That is not a thing.

No it's actually a really well-documented phenomenon. I remember there were even press releases about the specific process that was causing it though I can't find it now. But there's still plenty of discussions from the time found with 5 minutes of googling.

Hard drive destroyed after Windows 10, anyone else?

After I upgraded Windows Technical Preview, which is running in dual-boot alongside Windows 8.1, my computer turned off. When I turn it back on, the BIOS asks which hard drive to use but there aren't any listed apart from the CD-Drive... What can I do? Does anyone else have the same problem...

forums.windowscentral.com

Windows 10 Update damaged my external hard drive

I had a problem with a Windows 10 update process that caused a USB-connected external hard drive to be corrupted and inaccessible. I was actually accessing the drive (searching for a file) when a Windows 10 update forced me to "shutdown and update." The system ground to a screeching halt, and...

forums.tomshardware.com

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...arddrive/12ea4b41-b120-42bf-9dc2-410754f91c9c

Redirecting

answers.microsoft.com

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...rd-drive/143e2564-965d-4212-b9cb-245da72de69a

Redirecting

answers.microsoft.com

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...arddrive/770397a1-93ba-4244-bc57-599519905604

Redirecting

answers.microsoft.com

https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...d-drives/b5be684c-2dc3-443f-a145-2e81818c62d3

https://forums.evga.com/Windows-10-destroyed-my-external-hard-drive-can-it-be-fixed-m3071639.aspx

Partition disappears in Windows 10 Anniversary Update

Microsoft hoped the Windows 10 Anniversary Update would literally be a revelation for all users, but shortly after installing the update, users encountered various issues. Despite Microsoft’s efforts to anticipate all the possible bugs, the list of complaints is getting longer every day. Many...

windowsreport.com

View: https://www.reddit.com/r/windows/comments/4vubpr/hard_disk_drive_deleted_after_au/

https://www.tenforums.com/windows-1...niversary-update-available-august-2-a-98.html

 

[Darkbreeze]

No, it's not a "really well documented thing". What you have there, is about ten fools who knew absolutely nothing about computers that borked their own systems trying to do something they had no business doing because they lacked anything that could even loosely be called intellect. Much less any actual technical experience. I assure you, the veteran members and moderators on this forum are among the most highly experienced enthusiasts, technicians and IT professionals you'll find on any forum, anywhere, and if ANYTHING even remotely related to what you've suggested were actually a thing, we'd have not only heard and known about it, but also probably been a part of trying to help resolve that issue or at the VERY least have known in the end what was causing the problem and how it could be avoided or mitigated. Not to mention, there'd be plenty of tech news articles on the subject to be able to point to and say "see".

I've put Windows 10 on tens of dozens of machines that had Windows 7, 8 and 8.1 on them, and there has not been ONE SINGLE INSTANCE of anything like that happening. That includes tablets, laptops and desktop systems. User error because somebody didn't know what they were doing, and there is ALWAYS a bunch of those folks around, that results in complete corruption of the drive partitions, is not the same thing as "Windows destroying hard drives".

I don't care WHAT you THINK you know, as USAFRet already said, this, is NOT a thing. It never was. It never will be. Pure imagination and misconception by a few fools who should have been instructed to pack it all in a box and send it back to the manufacturer with note saying "I am too stupid to own this machine. Thanks."

Since you are not saying that this has actually happened to you, you are obviously not included in that group of people. Rest assured, if you take the time to understand the required processes involved with doing an upgrade or a clean install, and a clean install is MUCH preferred and recommended over an upgrade, there is absolutely zero chance of anything being "destroyed" by putting Windows 10 on any machine which will support it.

Anybody who says otherwise is a lackwit.