• External Hard Drive Backup Solutions
• External Hard Drive Solutions

External hard drive keeps freezing issue can be solved now. Whenever your external hard drive freezes computer or Windows Explorer, and you could not access files, do not worry. We found many effective solutions to revive from the frozen external hard drive. If files are there but not accessible at the moment, let EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard recover data from a hard drive freeze.

In order to guide you easily to recover from a hard drive freeze without making an effort, we list all the feasible solutions in the beginning. Select at least one workaround to fix the problem of an external hard drive keeps freezing when opening the drive, copying files, accessing data, launching File Explorer or simply starting a program on your computer or laptop.

Three solutions to the external hard drive freezing up problem:

External drives can be a great solution to that problem, as well as a good backup source to keep your most precious data protected. You want one that’s fast, easy to use, and won’t break the bank.

A Brief Overview of Hard Drives on Computers. Before we get into the details and troubleshoot hard. Try a Different USB Port to Fix Disk Not Reading in PC. Sometimes, the real problem is with the USB. The Fastest External Hard Drive: Samsung T5 The Samsung T5 is the fastest external hard drive we’ve tested. CrystalDiskMark came back with incredible results, with a sequential read of 562.4 MB. How to Use an External Hard Drive in Windows 10 Extra Storage Device. It has been mentioned that an external hard drive has many benefits. The basic one is to use it as an extra storage device, especially when you need to free up disk space. You can transfer files to an external hard drive after you connect it to your computer.

Now, we're going to teach you how to apply the method in each solution in the list. Here's a reminder you must read first. In the final solution, reformatting a drive would bring a great data loss, so copy as much data as possible before an attempt. In addition, since your external hard drive will spontaneously freeze itself up when copying files or Windows 7/Windows 10 freezes up when copying files due to the problematic hard drive, you can only use EaseUS data recovery program to automatically extract the files from the hard drive which is not accessible in the current circumstance. The detailed guide for frozen hard drive data recovery will be given in the Solution Three area.

Solution One. Diagnose the hard drive health and repair

• In Windows 7/10, click Start ->Computer or This PC.
• Right-click your external hard drive.
• Click Properties ->Tools and press Check Now (This option will check the drive for physical problems).

If errors were found, you can attempt to repair them using this utility. Restart your computer once after the repair finished.

Solution Two. Fix bad sectors on a frozen external hard drive

Windows Command Prompt knowledge is required for this fix.

• Press Windows + X and choose Command Prompt (Admin).
• In the black window, type the command starting at [drive letter:] + chkdsk /[f/r]. To be specific, let's assume that the demanded drive letter is E. So, you need to input the command line as follows.

chkdsk /f E: (this is for finding and repairing errors on drive E)
chkdsk /r E:(this is for locating bad sectors and recovering readable information)

• Press Enter. Wait for the command to take effect.

If you don't have any technical know-how and want to minimize data risks, using third-party software could be a better choice. The Command line is suitable for computer professionals since wrong commands can cause severe problems. Therefore, we strongly recommend you try an automatic command line alternative.

EaseUS Tools M is a practical computer fixing tool that is safe and light-weighted. It's a perfect alternative to CHKDSK command. Use this one-click tool to solve your computer issues.

To fix file system error or disk error:

Step 1: DOWNLOAD EaseUS Tools M for Free and install it.

Step 2: Open the software and select the 'File showing' option.

Step 3: Choose the drive and wait for repairing. After the operation completes, click the 'View' button to check the drive.

Solution Three. Reformat the external hard drive for reuse

Taking your important data into consideration, you must take a full backup before proceeding with the final method. If copying files still cause your external hard drive not responding, crashing and freezing up in the end, download EaseUS hard drive recovery software to access and retrieve inaccessible data.

Step 1. Choose the external hard drive

Since you're going to recover data from the external hard drive, run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and under the External Devices tab, choose the exact drive where you lost data. Click Scan.

Step 2. Scan for lost data

The software will start immediately to scan all over the selected drive for all lost data. During the scan, you could see more and more data showing up in the results.

Step 3. Preview and recover data

After the scan is over, check the scan results for the desired data. You can preview the file by double-clicking on it. Click Recover and choose another location to save the recovered data.

Next, go to Disk Management to remove the freezing issue from the external hard drive.

• Press Windows + R keys and type diskmgmt.msc in the Run box.
• Disk Management is now open. There, right-click the external hard drive in question and click Format...
• Follow the format wizard and complete the procedure.
• Restart your computer and check if the issue remains.

Extra tips for resolving your external hard drive freezing issue

Virus infection is the other truth that causes your external hard drive to keep freezing, most commonly Seagate, Western Digital, Toshiba, etc. Simply removing bad sectors will not work in this situation. So, try to remove a virus from a hard drive or other storage devices with a similar issue.

You got two options to start out. Antivirus software like Avast is a good choice, otherwise, you can also use cmd to remove a virus by referring to this link. Both ways are helpful.

Besides, people also ask these questions. Read on if interested.

1. Can hard drive failure cause freeze?

When you noticed hard drive freezing, chances are that the hard drive is about to fail. So yes, hard drive failure will largely affect the data, programs opening and transferring speed, and make your mouse and keyboard stop working. In a result, the computer freezes a lot when you trying to access files stored on a damaged or corrupted area of your hard drive.

2. Does freezing a hard drive work?

Many experienced users suggest that freezing a hard drive would effectively solve the problem of the most common hard drive problems, such as becoming slow or crashing. However, it does not last long.

3. How do I fix my external hard drive not being recognized?

When a hard drive is not showing up or recognized by Windows, try to change a USB port or connection cable. Sometimes, it might help to use antivirus software to scan and remove the virus. You may take a close look at the advanced solutions to external hard drive not recognized.

Summary :

How to use an external hard drive? In this article, you can know how to add an external drive to your computer. In addition, you are offered the way to manage, use and maintain an external hard drive. MiniTool Partition Wizard is a good tool to help you to manage the drive.

What Is an External Hard Drive

An external hard drive is a portable storage device that can be attached to a computer wirelessly,or through a USB FireWire connection. It becomes more and more popular in computer users for the following benefits:

1. It is portable. An external hard drive can be connected to almost all computers because they have a USB port. Therefore, you can easily pick up your external hard drive, take it out and connect it to another computer.
2. It comes with a high storage capacity. An external hard drive can store much larger data than a USB flash drive. It helps a lot if you are found of videos or audios, whichtake up a large amount of disk space. In addition, you can use it to store lots of photos, entire programs, and more on it.
3. It is a safe Backup Device. To avoid data loss, you can use an external hard drive to back up your files and programs. After system crashes, you can easily connect the external hard drive to another computer so that you can recover important data.
4. It is easy to be upgraded. If your external hard drive is running out of storage space for your backup files, you can easily replace it with a bigger one.
5. It can prevent your computer from getting clogged up with downloads and large files. You could transfer large files from your computer to an external hard driveto improve

How to Add an External Hard Drive to Your Computer

If you get a new external hard drive, you need to add it to your computer before you can use it. Here is how to do it.

Step 1: Plug one end of the external hard drive’s cable (usually the larger end) into the USB port on the housing to see whether it works.

Step 2: Plug the other end of the cable into your external hard drive.

Step 3: Now you need to format the external hard drive.

1. Double click This PC.
2. Right-click your external hard drive and choose Format...from menu.
3. Uncheck Quick Formatand select a file system. Then click Start.

After formatting the external hard drive, you should partition the drive reasonably for better management. As for partitioning tool, you can choose freeware MiniTool Partition Wizard.

How to Use an External Hard Drive in Windows 10

Extra Storage Device

It has been mentioned that an external hard drive has many benefits. The basic one is to use it as an extra storage device, especially when you need to free up disk space.

You can transfer files to an external hard drive after you connect it to your computer. Here is a tutorial on how to use an external hard drive in Windows 10.

Step 1: Press Win + E to open File Explorer.

Step 2: Select the folders or files you want to move and press Ctrl + X to cut them.

Step 3: Click your external hard drive from the left action panel to access the external hard drive and press Ctrl + V to paste the folders and files.

Data Backup Device

Do you know your data is in danger? If you don’t have more than one backup solution, plenty of critical information includes photos, music, videos, financial and official documents could be lost when your computer dies due to hardware failure, natural disaster, system crashes or viruses attacks.

Clearly, the more copies you have, the less risk of data loss you face. Thus, just create as many copies as you entail. In other words, you’d better protect the original data with two backups.

Usually, cloud backup can be a good choice,such as Google Cloud Storage, Microsoft Onedrive, etc.

However, they are not the best solutions.They may cost you much. Some cloud services such as iCloud and IDrive just offer you a storage capacity about 5 GB for free, and most cloud services need you to pay for month. What’s more, it will be troublesome if you decide to shift among these services.

In addition, it may take much time to download everything from a cloud-based backup service if you want to manage large files or large quantities of files.

On the other hand, data stored in a cloud service is possible to be attacked by a hack. So, you can store your backup in an external hard drive, which is portable and safer. Some external devices come with security features like fingerprint recognition, which prevents other people from gaining access to the stored data.

To buy the right backup drive, here are some tips you need to know.

With MiniTool Partition Wizard,a free backup tool, you can easily back up your partitions or the whole disk to your external hard drive. Here is how to use an external hard drive for backup.

Step 1: Click the following button to download and install the tool.

Step 2: Make a backup.

• To copy disk, just right-click the disk you want to back up and choose Copy from menu.
• To copy partition, you can click the Copy Partition Wizard from action panel and choose the partition you want to back up.
• Then follow the instructions to finish the copy

Create a Windows To Go Workplace

Windows To Go is a feature in Windows 10 that allows you to boot and run Windows from USB flash drives or external hard disk drives so that you can take it to anywhere.

To create a portable Windows, you need to prepare a device with requirements as follows:

• With 32 GB capacity at least
• With USB 2.0 and faster USB connections.

With an external hard drive, you can easily achieve it. Here is how to do it.

Step 1: Connect your external hard drive to the computer.

Step 2: Search for Windows To Go in Windows and click it from the results.

Step 3: Choose your external hard drive to create a Windows To Go workplace and follow the guide to complete the process.

Then you can connect the external hard drive to another computer and boot Windows from the external drive when you go out.

How to Use an External Hard Drive for Longer

You may be aware that an external hard drive is necessary for you. However, it is easy to be broken if you don’t maintain it in the right way. To avoid decreasing the life of it, you can read these tips on how to use an external hard drive for longer.

1. To protect your external hard drive, you’d better place it on a stable, flat and hard surface. Considering that the hard disk is a mechanical device, it can be damaged by vibrations. And you should also be careful to prevent it from falling off the table.
2. You need to make sure that it will not be banged around or treated roughly. Since the external hard drive is a portable device, you should treat it carelessly when you take it out.
3. You have to avoid getting your hard drive wet or exposing it to liquid.
4. Do not place your external hard drive in a restrictive area where there is no air flow. Similar to the internal hard disk in your computer, the external hard drive also gets hot when it works too long. To avoid overheating, which can damage the disk, you need to place it in an open area to dissipate the buildup of heat.
5. Check error before you transfer files to an external hard drive. It can fix disk errors and ensure that you are starting with a well-functioning drive.To do that, you can use the error checking tool in Windows.
6. Always eject the drive before you unplug it from your computer. It ensures data still stored in the cache memory will be removed, which prevents existing data on the disk from being damaged.
7. The best way to protect your data in the external hard drive is to back up it as much as possible. Hard drive failure may happen to your external hard drive.To ensure the security of your files, you’d better prepare a second external drive to back up it.

Save Lost Data from an External Hard Drive

Similar to internal hard drivers, an external hard drive may also lose data due to various reasons, such as mistaken deletion or hard drive failure when you manage it.

If you have a backup for the data in the external hard drive, you can restore your data with the backup.

If you unfortunately find that your files or programs stored in the external hard drive is lost and you have no backup for the drive, you need to stop using it right now and try to recover files from the external drive with a third-party software as soon as possible.

MiniTool Partition Wizard is powerful in recovering deleted files and data from formatted or virus attacked disk. It is worth trying.

Step 1: Launch MiniTool Partition Wizard.

Step 2: Click Data Recovery from the tool bar and select your external hard drive in This PC. And then click Scan.

Step 3: Now you just need to check the files you want to recover and then click Save to place the recovered files into a safe position.

If it is the first time to recover files from an external drive, you may be a little confused. To know more details, you can read the following article: The Full Guide to SSD File Recovery on Windows 10/8/7/XP.

External Hard Drive Backup Solutions

Bottom Line

You can benefit a lot from an external hard drive. With the high storage capacity, you can store a huge number of videos, photos and programs, and it is a proper device for data backup.

This article helps you to know how to add an external hard drive to your computer, how to use an external hard drive in Windows 10, and how to maintain it to use it longer.

If you still have any questions about the external hard drive, you can contact [email protected] or post it in the comment section below.

Do you want to try it now?

How to Use an External Hard Drive FAQ

1. It has large storage capacity.
2. It’s portable so that you can take it anywhere.
3. It’s a safe backup device.
4. It can be used for a long time.

1. Plug the external hard drive into the computer.
2. Press Win + E to open File Explorer.
3. Navigate to your program setup file and double-click it.
4. Follow the onscreen instructions to install the program, and when you are asked where you want to save the program, choose on location on your external hard drive.

External Hard Drive Solutions