Solved Can't read External HDD of FAT32 format in my Windows 8.1

Aishwary

New Member
Messages
7
Hey guys,

I have this external hard disk of 500Gb of Verbatim. Previously it was of NTFS format. Then I had converted it into Fat32 because I wanted to write stuff on it from MAC. I transferred movies, pictures, videos, songs, etc in it.

Now, I use Windows 8.1. I connect this hard disk. I hear the sound of it getting connected. But then I can't access the hard disk. As in my laptop doesn't read the hard disk.
I read a few posts regarding converting a hard disk from FAT32 to NTFS wiithout losing the files. But I was not sure whether I have the same problem.

I want to transfer all the files in my hard disk to my laptop.

Can anybody please guide me? (I'm a complete layman. Avoid jargons please :p)

Thank You,
Regards,
Aishwary
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
I went to the disk management and I can see this. Screenshot (311).png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Disk1 is the hard disk I'm talking about. Usually there is some allocation to a drive. In this case there isn't any allocation.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Disk1 is the hard disk I'm talking about. Usually there is some allocation to a drive. In this case there isn't any allocation.
The allocation is 465.76 GB

Windows 8 should not have any problem reading FAT32 disk. You did not have a drive letter assigned to it so it is hidden. Connect the HD and from Disk Management, right click on the HD->Change Drive Letter and Paths... then click on Add and assign a letter for it. It should show up under This PC

a.png
 
Last edited:

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Hey topgundcp! :)
Thank you so much for this. Really appreciate it. :)
But, when I right click The 'change drive letter' option can't be selected.

Also, my OS is Screenshot (319).pngWindows 8.1 and I've observed before that FAT32 doesn't read on Windows 8.1 whereas NTFS works perfectly fine.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
This hard disk is working fine on a Macbook pro. I can read and write things on it.
When I connect it to my HP Envy with windows 8.1, it doesn't work. :/
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1
Let us try using diskpart:

  1. Open Admin command prompt.Type: diskpart.
  2. Type: list volume
  3. Type: select volume # (where # is the volume number, look for the partition size of 465.76GB).
  4. Type: assign letter=F (Assign to letter F or any available Letter).
  5. Type: exit

Below is an example:

a.png
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
Glad you got it sorted. So it turned out that your HD was in HFS format, not FAT32.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    8.1x64PWMC Ubuntu14.04x64 MintMate17x64
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home Brewed
    CPU
    I7 4970K OC'ed @4.7 GHz
    Motherboard
    MSI-Z97
    Memory
    16 GB G-Skill Trident X @2400MHZ
    Graphics Card(s)
    NVIDIA GeForce GTS 450
    Sound Card
    X-Fi Titanium Fatal1ty Professional Series
    Monitor(s) Displays
    Dual HP-W2408
    Screen Resolution
    1920X1200
    Hard Drives
    256 GB M2 sm951, (2) 500GB 850EVO, 5TB, 2 TB Seagate
    PSU
    Antec 850W
    Case
    Antec 1200
    Cooling
    Danger Den H20
    Keyboard
    Logitech
    Mouse
    Logitech Performance Mouse MX
    Internet Speed
    35/12mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
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