External Hard Drive Takes Forever to Load

Quick Fix - Run CMD to Check and Fix External Hard Drive Errors:

External hard drives can take forever to load due to disk errors, but there are ways to fix this issue. To resolve the problem, you can try checking the drive for errors and fixing them. This can be done by running a disk check or using a tool like CHKDSK to identify and repair any corrupted files or sectors on the drive.

• To run a check on your external hard drive, open Command Prompt, type `chkdsk e: /f /r/x` (replace "e" with the actual drive letter of your external hard drive), and press Enter. This command will initiate a thorough scan of the drive, fixing any errors and recovering any readable data from the disk.
• Or check disk errors in Windows Explorer.

If your external hard drive is taking forever to load, you can try using Qiling file recovery software or one of the three practical manual methods to resolve the issue. The software can help recover data without affecting the drive's functionality. Alternatively, you can try manual methods such as checking the drive's connection and cable, running a disk check using built-in tools, or using a third-party disk repair software to fix any errors.

This snippet is picked up on the forum of Tomshardware. It's about a user who saw his Seagate external hard drive taking forever to load in Disk Management and very slow to open in Windows File Explorer. In addition, some specific error messages keep showing on the screen. Let's read the details.

"I've got an old Seagate external hard drive that's probably 3 to 4 years old. It used to work perfectly fine until a few months ago. Whenever I plug the hard drive in, the hard drive lights up but nothing shows up on My Computer. Besides, Windows prompts me an error message occasionally  'you need to format the disk, would you like to format it now?'. What's worse, double-clicking or right-clicking on that drive will cause explorer to not respond or even crash. I tried so many times to open Disk Management to format the disk, but the information doesn't load up as long as the external hard drive is plugged in. The longest time I've waited for my computer loading up the drive is almost one hour. Would I still be able to use this drive? I have many pictures on it so I can't format it right now."

The user is experiencing a slow external hard drive, taking forever to load files or open folders, and is seeking a solution to fix the issue without losing access to important data.

How to Recover Data from an Unresponsive External Hard Drive

When having trouble loading an external hard drive, download and install Qiling hard drive recovery software to recover data first. Avoid formatting the disk as Windows prompts before performing external hard drive data recovery.

Step 1. Launch Deep Data Recovery in Windows 11/10/8/7, select the desired file types, and click "Next" to initiate the recovery process.

Step 2. Choose the place where you lost data. Then, click "Scan".

Step 3. After scanning, use the file format filter to locate the desired files, and then either click the "Preview" button or double-click a file to preview its content.

Step 4. To recover the lost data, select the file you want to recover by clicking the checkbox next to it. Then, click the "Recover" button to retrieve the file to a secure location.

• Free Download
• Windows 11/10/8/7, 100% Secure

Mac users can get solutions to fix a slow external hard drive on Mac by clicking this link.

How to Fix an External Hard Drive Taking a Long Time to Load

If your hard drive is not showing up or being recognized, it may be due to infinite loading, a common issue that can affect the lifespan of an old hard drive. To overcome this problem and prolong the lifespan of your hard drive, there are three workarounds you can try.

Fix 1. Update outdated disk driver

Step 1. To open the Device Manager, press the Windows and R keys at the same time to bring up the Run box, then type devmgmt.msc and press Enter.

Step 2. Expand one of the categories to find the name of your device, then right-click it, and select "Update Driver". 

Step 3. Right-click on the device, choose "Update driver software", and then click "Automatically search for driver software online" to allow the system to search for and install the most recent driver for the device.

If updating fails to solve the loading problem, try to choose the 'Uninstall device' the next time.

Fix 2. Format the external hard drive to speed it up

Formatting the slow external hard drive will erase all data on it. Make sure to back up your important data first. If the drive is already inaccessible, try using Qiling data recovery software to recover data from the formatted external hard drive.

Step 1. To open the Disk Management console in Windows, press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog, type "diskmgmt.msc" into the text field, and press the Enter key. This will launch the Disk Management console, allowing you to manage and configure your computer's storage devices.

Step 2. To format a disk partition, access the Disk Management, right-click the partition you wish to format, and select the "Format" option.

Step 3. To set the file system and cluster size, open the pop-up window, select the desired file system and cluster size, and click OK.

Fix 3. Replace the incapable hard drive by a new one

If formatting the hard drive doesn't work, the last resort is to replace the hard drive. This should be a final choice if it takes an incredibly long time to load the connected hard drive, or worse, formatting the hard drive doesn't fix the problem at all.

If you don't want to reinstall the operating system, you can use a free third-party disk cloning utility like Qiling Backup Free with its Clone feature to save time and energy.

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