Well, it is not the end of the world, as it can be easily fixed. And we will show you the steps to restore your hard drive in this detailed guide.

What causes fatal device hardware errors on an external hard drive?

There are various reasons your external hard drive is not working well. Below are some of the well-known causes:

Unformatted drive: You can get different error messages on your external hard drive if it is not formatted. In most cases, the drive will not show up or might not be accessible. The solution here is to format the drive. Unassigned drive letter: If you have not assigned a drive letter to an external hard disk, you might be getting errors on it. You need to assign it a letter in Disk Management. Faulty USB driver: Faulty or outdated USB drivers might also be the reason you are having issues with your hard drive. Reinstalling or updating the drivers should solve this. Problems with the drive: At times, it might be difficult to trace the reason you are getting an error message. You will need to run the CHKDSK command to fix the memory problems.

How can I fix the external hard drive error?

Before exploring the fixes in this section, perform the following preliminary checks:

Disconnect the hard drive and restart your PC Try the hard drive on another computer Use the original USB cable

If these do not work, you can now explore the fixes below:

1. Run the CHKDSK scan

CHKDSK is a built-in tool that fixes many hard disk issues on Windows. For example, it can improve the problems causing the external hard drive error 0x80071ac3 and other versions of the error. Remember to restart your PC after applying the recommended fixes.

2. Update drivers

You might get an external hard drive error when your driver is faulty. For example, the problem might be your USB or hard disk driver. In this case, updating or reinstalling the drivers should fix this problem. Another option is to go to the manufacturer’s website to download the latest versions of your driver. SPONSORED To make things easier, you should use an automatic driver updater software in DriverFix to update the drivers. This eliminates the stress of going through your drivers one after the other to correct them.

3. Assign a drive letter

Drive letters make it easy to access your disks. So, if you are getting an I/O device error on your external hard drive, you might need to assign or change its letter.

4. Initialize disk

Initializing your hard drive is a way of activating it. This should clear any roadblocks that might be giving the error you are getting on your external hard drive.

5. Change the drive format

If your external hard drive is in the wrong format, you will likely face different errors. Changing the format to those that are accessible should eliminate these issues and restore normalcy.

6. Change the power setting for the USB driver

Your external hard drive needs the required power to function correctly. If the USB port device is set to turn off to save power, your external disk might give error messages when the feature is activated. The external hard drive error can be frustrating, as it might lead to the loss of crucial data. But by applying the fixes above, you should be able to fix them quickly. If you are facing the external hard drive not showing on Windows 10 issue, check our detailed guide to regain access to it quickly. Feel free to let us know the solution that worked for you in the comments below.

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