Question Bitlocker External Drive shows up as "uninitialized" when connected internally.

[bobc54]

So I have this bitlocker encrypted external hard drive. It's USB socket was loose so I decided to open the box and turn it into an internal hard drive.
However it's showing up as "uninitialized". I know the cables work, because the same cables were were connected to a different hard drive which I took out.
Stranger still, I can still connect to the hard drive using the USB adapter.

Right now, I am backing up the data, but I want to know why it would show up as "uninitialized"? Is this related to bitlocker at all? Is this a software or a hardware problem?

Seagate Expansion Desktop 5 TB on Windows 10 Home

 

[USAFRet]

Some externals are encrypted via the enclosure.
No enclosure, no access.

 

[Ralston18]

Here is a link that may help explain what might have happened:

https://www.partitionwizard.com/partitionmagic/disk-unknown-not-initialized.html

You can easily google for similar links and then filter the search criteria as you deem necessary.

For the most part the problem is likely some error of omission or commission and not necessarily on your part.

Update your post to include full system hardware specs and OS information.

Make and model encrypted external drive?

 

[bobc54]

Some externals are encrypted via the enclosure.
No enclosure, no access.

This is probably it.