A portable hard drive is a must-have for picture storage, but, sometimes, users experience problems with portable hard drives.
One user posted the following issue on the Microsoft forum:
> I bought a portable hard drive and when I try to copy my pictures it > says “the disk in drive a: is not formatted”
In this article, we will explore the likely troubleshooting steps for portable hard drive for picture storage issues.
- The Portable Hard Drive for Picture Storage app is an easy-to-use tool, but it can sometimes freeze.
- You can fix this issue by deleting the folder temporarily or restarting your computer.
Change Folder and Search Options
- Go to Search, type Folder Options, and open the Folder Options window
- Under View tab, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and click OK
- Under View tab, select Show hidden files, folders, and drives, and click OK
Change drive letter
- Change the drive letter that is assigned to your portable hard drive.
- Many users may experience this issue if the drive letter assigned to the portable hard drive is already in use by something else.
- Users who are experiencing this issue should change the drive letter of the portable hard drive.
- Use a different USB port
Many users have reported that switching the USB port of the portable hard drive has fixed their issue. - Users should try using a different USB port of the portable hard drive.
- Also, users should try plugging the portable hard drive in a different port on the PC.
Unplug and reconnect the hard drive
- Plug the hard drive back in.
- Try accessing your external hard drive to back up your pictures.
- Check the cable connections
- Make sure your WD external hard drive is on
Check the drive letter
- Try renaming the external hard drive by changing it to a letter that is available on your machine.
- Check if the portable hard drive is formatted
Some external hard drives need to be formatted before being used.
