HELP with new external storage purchase (Page 2): Me too! I purchased a WD Passport 4tb from Best Buy, (about 3 miles from my home) for $114 + tax about a year ago. No problems. Before...

tcthome Loc: NJ

alphadog wrote:

Thanks for that information, but I use Win10, not Win11, and my current setup will NOT accept the Win11 upgrade...

but the question remains, will a NEW External drive work with my current PC Win10? thanks, I suspect it will and may just need to buy it and find out what happens... thank you

Me too! I purchased a WD Passport 4tb from Best Buy, (about 3 miles from my home) for $114 + tax about a year ago. No problems. Before that & I still have is a 1 tb WD Passport HD. Both work fine but the first I purchased was a from Dell was a Seagate 1 tb which works fine but only has been plugged in a couple of times. I have a Dell Allienware R5 purchased back in 2017 running Win10 that Microsoft will stop supporting & providing any type of support for in June this year. Mine is not updateable to Win 11. Probably only go online with my ipad & iphone after that until I purchase something new.

BebuLamar

I think the drive came with software and it was the software that had problem installing. Just format the the drive it will be fine.

JBRIII

You might be able to install Win 11, if goto your BIOS. I had a new computer that said no, but there was a security setting for devices I believe that I turned on and it was ok.
Never have any plug and play issues with WD drives.

GeoffreyN Loc: New York

The 6TB Seagate Expansion drive would work with your computer without having to install anything extra. It should just be plug and play. Though, I'm curious as to why the refurb passport you purchased isn't working but it's most likely a format issue. Extra software wouldn't be required to use the Passport drive.

KillroyII Loc: Middle Georgia

alphadog wrote:

I use a dell PC and have a lot of external storage... (show quote)

Excellent price from Seagate! Everywhere else (Amazon, B&H, New Egg...) are about twice that price.

Like several people said, should be just plug-and-play. Most externals come with some software that give you, their version of..., backup, security, etc... I have never installed the software with ANY brand external drive.

Would be interested in seeing your results... I may buy one.

KillroyII Loc: Middle Georgia

APOLOGIES... mistake

elee950021 Loc: New York, NY

alphadog wrote:

I use a Dell PC and have a lot of external storage... (show quote)

Alphadog!

I looked over your "About" page in your laptop's "Settings" page and nothing unusual. With "Plug and Play" any Windows external hard drive should appear automatically in your File Manager. I use two 12 TB and two 14 TB Western Digital Elements external hard drives and they all showed up when I first plugged them into the USB ports. Now with 4 external drives, I also use a USB hub for them and any other device such as a cardreader or a CD/DVD player. I also use these drives with any of my four Dell 6400 and 7200 series i7 laptops which are a generation or two older than yours.

One of these laptops has Win 7 installed for older software but the others are Win 10 and I can use any of these four external drives with any of the four laptops. Since your laptop is newer than mine, you should have no problems with any Windows-compatible external drive especially if you've had no problem in the past. I suspect the refurbished drive is the problem!

Be well! Ed

TriX Loc: Raleigh, NC

alphadog wrote:

Well, my Dell PC is working just fine... I am going to get another TB unit and I will see how it responds... but IF my computer is now working with all my external drives and fully functioning, I am not sure why you would conclude there is an issue with my computer drive? wouldn't I have all kinds of other issues at this time?

I haven’t concluded or said anything regarding your computer (perhaps your comment is meant for someone else?) - just wishing you good luck with your next install.

I would however repeat what has been stated above several times - there is no installation SW necessary (that would show a screen such as the one you posted) - just plug the drive and if it doesn’t show up as a drive letter, format it with disk manager.

gouldopfl

I assume that you are connecting through a USB port. As far as I know, even later USB standards are backward compatible. I am wondering if the USB port or the cable is bad.

I would check this out first.

Regards

Michael Gould

BebuLamar

TriX wrote:

I haven’t concluded or said anything regarding your computer (perhaps your comment is meant for someone else?) - just wishing you good luck with your next install.

I would however repeat what has been stated above several times - there is no installation SW necessary (that would show a screen such as the one you posted) - just plug the drive and if it doesn’t show up as a drive letter, format it with disk manager.

Some drives came with the software for backup or something and the software would automatically install the first time you plug them in. I always format the drive if that is the case.