Is Windows 11 causing damage to my USB External HDDs?
Is Windows 11 causing damage to my USB External HDDs?
Over the last weekend, my USB connected hard drives have become damaged. I suspect the problems began on the 24th.
I assumed the issue was related to power—trying direct to wall, SP, and battery UPS didn’t resolve the problem, as the drives continued to logically fail.
I replaced the drives with new ones, upgraded the DAS case, and shortened the USB cable. Every HDD I connected via USB, no matter the port, eventually displayed RAW.
I attempted to roll back a Windows update that was pushed last weekend, but only a partial rollback succeeded.
After formatting the new drives and powering them down overnight, they showed RAW again when I restarted this morning.
All data on the drive had previously been scanned by AV, and it had been stored as an archive for months or years.
The changes that caused issues before the USB worked without problems were:
1. I relocated to a different room in the house about 1.5 to 2 weeks prior.
2. The Windows 11 Update was forced between Friday and Sunday.
Update your post with complete hardware details and operating system specifics.
Consider using the built-in Windows troubleshooters to identify and resolve issues.
After that, run "dism" and "sfc /scannow" to detect and fix corrupted or problematic files.
Refer to the provided links for guidance:
https://www.windowscentral.com/how-use-d...s-10-image
https://www.lifewire.com/how-to-use-sfc-...es-2626161
Check Reliability History/Monitor and Event Viewer for any USB or drive-related error codes, warnings, or logs.
OS: Win 11 Home,
Version 10.0.26100 Build 26100
Processor AMD Ryzen 5 7600X3D 6-Core Processor, 4101 Mhz, 6 Core(s), 12 Logical Processor(s)
Installed Physical Memory (RAM) 32.0 GB
BIOS Version/Date American Megatrends International, LLC. 3.06.MS02, 9/19/2024
SMBIOS Version 3.4
Embedded Controller Version 255.255
BIOS Mode UEFI
BaseBoard Manufacturer ASRock
BaseBoard Product B650M-C
BaseBoard Version Default string
The system operates adequately. The problem remains limited to USB connected storage devices.
Following the DISM guidelines correctly, it should address any issues, but the recurring data loss persists.
Event viewer reports numerous VSS and NTFS errors beginning on the 21st, coinciding with the most recent Windows Update. It appears Windows is repeatedly corrupting the MFT of drives. Additionally, it identifies torn writes on formatted volumes that haven’t yet received data.
Actually if a Windows Update caused the problem then it makes sense to use Windows' repair tools.
Plus the tools may indeed be fixing something - only to have whatever was fixed get broken again.
Take another look at Reliability History/Monitor - Days view. Look for some pattern in the VSS and NTFS errors.
Also FYI:
https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/window...py-service
A bit long and you can easily find other links regarding VSS.
Objective simply being to take a broader look at it all. You may discover some other relevant factor that is involved.
Following the repeated rollback update, DISM indicates my component store is fixable, while SFC confirms there are no integrity issues. It's unclear which is correct. I'll keep an eye on whether any external force can change DISM's view.
dism is a deployment tool that functions, but your Windows update is faulty. Consider using the offline (local image) approach? Download the media creator tool, save it as an ISO, unpack or mount it, then point DISM to install.wim file. Refer to the guide at https://www.ubackup.com/windows-10/dism-...ws-10.html. Follow the instructions, skipping to offline repair method 1 and step 3, as your component store has already been analyzed and is known to be broken. Method 2 isn't suitable for you.
USB hard drives intermittently lose connection at unpredictable times. The event viewer records 4 to 6 NTFS errors within clusters near each drive.
Yes, using the USB drive with the .esd format should work just as effectively.