Hi, 2late4nickname
Based on the problem you describe, the Windows update did contribute to the problem, but you can try the following solutions to fix it:
- First of all, double-check if the cable you are using to connect the disk is not damaged. It is possible that when you installed the Windows update, the cable was bent near the drive connection and this caused damage. It's also a good idea to check if the problem persists using another USB port.
- It's possible that a Windows update has corrupted the proprietary drivers for your drive. Disconnect your drive. Navigate to the Device Manager and in the Disk drives group, find your device, and select Uninstall device. Then reconnect the drive to your PC.
- If the previous method didn't help, try visiting the website of your drive manufacturer and downloading the latest drivers from the site. Install them and reconnect the device again.
- The next step is to check your hard disk itself. All HDDs have S.M.A.R.T. monitoring, so try a disk health checker like CrystalDiskInfo or Victoria. Both of them are free.
- Given that you were unable to roll back Windows updates, you can try reinstalling Windows from scratch, but keep in mind that this will cause the loss of data on the system disk, so you need to back up important data first.
If reinstalling Windows didn't help and S.M.A.R.T. diagnosis hasn’t found any problems, we advise you to contact Microsoft support, describe your problem, specify the Windows build number, and wait for Microsoft to fix it as soon as possible if the problem is indeed a Windows update.
