External Hard drive freezing at 100% and then not responding (Device not ready) Windows 10

[Filip480]

Hey, I have one problem with my external hard drive. I have been downloading a game on it and suddenly it froze and usage was on 100% with no write/read activity and this happens every time when drive is used (Gaming, downloading...). After a while it drops to 0 and when I try to access files it says device not ready. I've tried to disable drivers, uninstall USB drives, pluging drive to another USB, chkdsk and nothing have worked so far.

 

[Ralston18]

Open your Event Viewer logs and search for error codes or warnings that start just before or at the time of the freeze.

Right clicking an error entry will provide more information.

There are many folders to check but there is a structure to them. Work your around and you will soon be able to focus on the relevant folder.

Google any errors but do not immediately apply the "offered" solutions. Especially if they want you to download some software or utility.

Be sure that you understand both the problem and potential solution(s). Feel free to post what you find as well. Someone here may be able to identify a particular problem and/or fix.

 

[Filip480]

Thank you for helping me now I'm little closer to solving my problem but this is something that I won't be able to solve alone. In event viewer there was ton of event 51 and sometimes there was event 140. Both indicate that hard drive is not responding. But first event was 153 so I put his details on the internet and I found this:

#define MSG_PARITY_ERROR 0x09
#define WRITE_10 0x2a
#define TEST_UNIT_READY 0x00
#define READ_10 0x28

There were two types of 153. First was 00 00 09 28 and the second was 00 00 09 2A
So please, if there is anyone who can translate this.

 

[Ralston18]

Parity errors indicate that, for some reason, data is not being correctly writiten to the disk drive. When a parity error is discovered, the computer attempts to rewrite the data. Over and over......

Very easy to find parity error explanations and discussions online and you can research and read to whatever level of detail you desire.

Could be hardware, firmware, software, cabling, or power causing the error. Check the cables and connections. Swap the USB cable with another known working USB cable. Open up the external case if possible and check the internal connections. Especially if the external case is one of those where you install your own drive.

The error codes you see are probably best checked against the drive's manufacturer. The manufacturer's website may have some utility tools and tests to further identify the problem.

As for immediate action:

Start by shutting down as many applications as possible and work on backing up/copying any important files and documents to another drive. Shutting down other applications will reduce the processing load and may help facilitate the backups.

Then check the connectivity and cables.

Look up the error via the drive's manufacturer's website. Check their FAQs and forums.

Download and run any test utilities that apply.

The objective being to identify some specific problem, determine if you can fix it, or be able to return the drive for repair/replacement. Hopefully there is some warranty left.

However, if the drive is sent away you will probably lose all data on it. Recover as much data as possible as soon as possible.