: C: Total - 487526 MB, Free - 38700 MB

The first issue to note is that you have insufficient free space on C drive
You should always maintain an absolute minimum of 10%

Re the drive start here
https://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=14095
with particular attention to

If this is a 2.5" external drive, ensure the Y-cable is connected securely to the drive, and if necessary use both USB connectors. This will provide extra power. If you are connecting to a PC, use the USB ports at the back of the PC, and not any ports at the front. Again, do not connect via a USB hub, connect the drive directly.

but also the other advice in the link

If you cannot make progress with that see this
https://support.wdc.com/knowledgebase/answer.aspx?ID=17354

 

I tried it in the front and in the back USB ports. It has no power cord to plugin, it gets power from the USB port.
I ran Disk Management. It says it is alive and healthy. So does the WD Disktool Utility.
Nevertheless, I cannot access the drive.
Here is an image from Disk Management. It is the EasyStore L: drive.
I don't know what a Y connector is. There USB is normal on one end and a WD connector on the other. So a regular USB-MicroUSB won't work. I tried it with 2 different cords. One I took from a drive that I know works because I can access it. Still nothing
..............
I deleted my Windows.old and gained another 40 GB, that got my within paragmeters. I think I will need to remove some programs from the C: drive or get another one. I will have to look at what junk is on there ans see if I can get rid of it. Steam likes to install games on C: drives, they take up room.
.............Update on EasyStore drive.....................
It works in my Android tablet. All the files are there, I even played a movie briefly on it to make sure the files worked.
Why won't my EasyStore work on my PC?

Thanks for all the help.

 

If that disk management report is correct according to that there is less than 7GB of free space on a 4TB drive
What happens when you try to access the drive I know you say you cannot, but is there any error report or merely nothing.

 

It just says it cannot access the drive. There is no error number or anything like that.

 

I would connect the drive to another computer if you have one, or to your android device and save what data you need
Check if the drive can be accessed in safe mode
You can use a Windows 1o installation DVD to open notepad
Then you may be able to access the drive from there and backup to another drive the data you need
https://answers.microsoft.com/en-us...pdate/rescue-files-when-windows-wont-start/862c143f-9239-4e63-8968-635e8ba9efd6

I appreciate that this link shows the use of notepad when windows will not load, but it maybe that you can access the drive from the cmd prompt - and notepad

Alternatively use a Linux based boot to access the drive and backup your data
See please my posts 12 onwards here
https://forums.techguy.org/threads/lost-personal-files-after-win-10-upgrade.1192134/

After you have your data secure I recommend a chkdsk /f on the drive from a cmd prompt
That is as here

chkdsk L: /f

 

I tried what you said and could not get it to work but I read this post and may have made some progress (although it is still not working)
https://www.easeus.com/storage-media-recovery/wd-my-passport-access-denied-in-windows-10.html

I did all of that and got this error message.

I could see all the file names and directories as it undid the security, so it is all there. The drive just does not know that I am allowed to access it.
Somehow, upgrading to the 8350 CPU may have changed something. I don't know.

Here is an important question:
If I format all my new Seagate and WD drives will that kill the encryption process. I think this is an encryption process in the drive that has malfunctioned.
Maybe it is, maybe it isn't but will formatting a new drive kill the encryption so it is accessible on any PC?

 

So are you telling me that the drive could not be accessed using Puppy Linux
and have you tried a chkdsk /f on it ?
IF the problem is windows based then Puppy Linux which runs in ram cannot possibly be affected by anything connected with Windows
whereas the problem you describe above is windows related
The correct procedure for what you have shown in the link is
https://www.thewindowsclub.com/fix-failed-to-enumerate-objects-in-the-container

That said I do not think that the problem is as described in the link

 

I was not smart enough to try Puppy Linux but I was smart enough to get a program called Recuva. I don't think it was quite designed for this but when it looked for the EasyStore drive to recover it I was shown directory structure of that drive. I knew what I needed.
From the "Browse for Folder" > "Select Location" window. I right clicked on the folder I wanted and said "copy", Win 10 copied the thing and then I sent it to my new 8 TB drive. So I recoverd about 1/2 the files.
I am currently copying the other half of the files, which are a bunch of ISOs.
Once I have those copied I will try the chkdsk in Puppy Linux.

If I can recover the disk, with the contents intact, that would be great. If not, I think this will work too.
I know the drive itself is fine. Will a complete format get rid of this access issue? I want to be able to plug my EasyStore into anything, anywhere. I also want to make a run at this from the Puppy Linux side and see what it is. I have never heard of it.

ANd
Thanks for all your help

..........................Edit..................
I thought I would try the Puppy Linux but I don't know how. Which one do I want?
the picture is not great, so it is from here:
http://puppylinux.com/faq.html
.
.

 

Solved.
When I went to Macboatmaster's permission changing post i saw something new and was able to add another User. I can't explain what I did but I did get lucky.

This first things I did after I had the files safe is look for Linux Puppy but I was not smart enough for that. So I went back into Recuva and used their navigation menu to find the volume information file. Next I right clicked and used a program called File Shredder to delete the volume information file. This still left me with an un accessible drive. Then I followed Macboatmaster's URL on permissions and was able to get a new user into the system (I was not able to before for whatever reason). I gave the new user permission to do anything and I had access to the drive.

Also,
When I plugged it into my Netgear R6100 it put a DNLA file on it. I shredded that too. You guys are probably smart enough to know what happened, I am just grateful that it worked.
.............................New Problem with 2nd EasyStore.....................
Now I have another problem. I have 2 Easystore portable drives. The second drive I have is not recognized in Windows 10 My PC, so I cannot go to Security to change permissions.
This device does show up in Device Manager. I have uninstalled and reinstalled the driver, it is still invisible to Win 10. I also ran WD Drive Utility, it says the drive is fine too.
So I just need to get windows to see it so I can access it. any ideas
Oh yeah, Recuva data recovery does not see the drive either. So I can't access and copy the files to make sure they are safe.

solved again:
I fixed this by going to Disk Management and giving the volume a label.
per this video:

Thank you to everyone for all the help. Wow.
What do you think caused all of this. Upgrading the CPU? I don't get it.

 

Cheers
Puppy Linux was only a means of accessing the drive to get you data
Not for the suggested chkdsk /f which is a windows cmd
That said pleased you sorted it

Personally I doubt it was upgrading the CPU, as you report that you ran windows updates afterwards and the external drive should not have been effected, as it would be simply like connecting it to another system in effect

My GUESS is with the more or less total lack of free space on the drive and the resulting file corruption when the opening of the drive tried to access the master file table
When you open a drive the display of the data on the drive is from the entries in the MFT otherwise of course you would have to wait while the whole of the 4TB drive was searched to display its contents

 

Your guess makes sense, a lot more than the CPU change. THanks for all the help getting this thing sorted out.