I recently purchased a 2TB Western Digital My Volume and connected it upwardly to my Windows PC at habitation. Everything was working great until I decided to restart the reckoner. Instead of Windows booting upwardly, I but got a black screen and nothing else. I could not boot into Windows!

At first, I thought something had gone incorrect with Windows and that I would have to perform a organisation repair or something similar that. However considering my external hard bulldoze happened to exist sitting in front of my DVD drive, I unplugged it so that I could put in the Windows DVD. When I did that, all of a sudden the PC booted upwardly!

I tested information technology over again and realized that it was the external hard drive that was preventing Windows from loading properly. After playing around with a lot of settings and doing quite a bit of inquiry, I managed to set up the problem. In this article, I'll get through the dissimilar methods I tried and hopefully one of them will work for y'all and fit your needs.

Method 1 – Install Any Drivers

In the case of the Western Digital My Book, I had to download and install the Windows SES Commuter in order for Windows to kick upwardly properly. This driver enables special communication between your PC and Windows and enables some actress features on the hard disk. It also seems to set up the effect of hanging Windows when booting up!

wd ses driver

You can download the 32 or 64-fleck WD SES commuter here. Go alee and install it and run across if that fixes your trouble.

Method 2 – Legacy USB Back up in BIOS

Another possible mode to fix the issue is to go into the BIOS and adjust the settings for Legacy USB Back up or USB Device Legacy Support. Some people take suggested disabling information technology, but that also means you won't be able to use a USB keyboard or mouse when the computer is booting upwardly, which could be a trouble if Windows stop loading one solar day and you take to navigate the DOS prompts.

legacy usb support

The other thing you lot can endeavor instead of disabling is to set up it to Auto. If Auto does not work, you tin can effort Disable, but exist cautioned that you'll not be able to use your mouse/keyboard earlier Windows loads.

Method three – Boot Sequence

While you're in the BIOS, you should also check the boot lodge. If USB somehow was moved upwards in the boot sequence, then you'll too run into this problem whenever you connect any USB hard drive to your PC.

boot order bios

The boot order screen is commonly somewhere on i of the advanced options pages, so you'll have to browse effectually a lilliputian to discover it. Make sure to move USB-HDD or USB all the mode to the lesser. Give the system a reboot and see if you're stuck at the black screen or not. Read my mail on how to modify the boot lodge in Windows.

Method 4 – Delete Hidden Files

You should as well open your external difficult drive in Windows Explorer and cheque to see what hidden files are stored in the root directory. If past hazard there happens to be a boot.ini or other such files, try to delete them and then restart your reckoner. Sometimes when you are copying files between computers, etc., some system files can get copied to the external drive and therefore Windows thinks your USB device is a boot device.

boot ini

If that doesn't work, you can endeavour something a trivial more aggressive, which is method 5.

Method five – Format External Hard disk

If you're only having the boot hang when using one external USB hard bulldoze and no other USB device, then it'due south definitely some consequence with the difficult bulldoze. In this case, you lot can copy off all the data and perform a total format of the external difficult drive using the Windows format tool. If you lot have connected your USB Hard disk drive to a dissimilar operating system like OS 10 or Linux or if it but happens to be formatted using a different file system that is causing problems with Windows, you can format it fully and encounter if that resolves the issue.

format usb tool

I would propose trying FAT32 since it's an external hard drive and non checking the Quick Format box. This volition ensure everything is deleted. Read my post on how to format an external difficult bulldoze in FAT32 format. If you lot want to be hardcore, y'all tin can always apply a program similar dban to wipe the bulldoze completely.

Method half-dozen – Different USB Port

As nosotros're running out of options now, you can also endeavour just unplugging the Hd and plugging it dorsum into a different USB port. The chances are slim that it volition work, but yous might be i of the lucky few where it actually works. In theory, it shouldn't actually matter what port yous connect it to, but for some odd reason information technology has worked for some people.

Hopefully one of the methods mentioned above will become you to a country where you don't have to disconnect your USB hard bulldoze in guild to boot Windows properly. If you accept fixed the issue using a different method, post it in the comments and let us know. Savor!