Windows 10 forced update broke my computer

First check if your External HD is mounted or can be mounted.

To check if your external hard disk is mounted (i.e., recognized and assigned a drive letter) on a Windows system, and what to do if it’s not, follow these steps:

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🧭 Step 1: Check if the Drive Is Mounted

✅ Method 1: Use Command Line to List Volumes

Open Command Prompt and type:

diskpart list volume

This will show all mounted volumes. Look for your external drive by size or label.

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✅ Method 2: Use File Explorer

- Open **File Explorer** (`Windows + E`)
- Look under **This PC** for your external drive
- If it appears with a drive letter (e.g., E:, F:), it is mounted

✅ Method 3: Use Disk Management

1. Press `Windows + X` and select **Disk Management**
   2. Look for your external drive in the list of disks
    - If it shows up with a **drive letter**, it's mounted
    - If it shows as **“Healthy”** but has **no drive letter**, it's not mounted
      - If it shows as **“Unallocated”** or **“RAW”**, it’s not properly formatted or partitioned

🛠️ Step 2: If the Drive Is Not Mounted

🔹 Case 1: No Drive Letter Assigned

1. In **Disk Management**, right-click the partition on the external drive
   2. Choose **Change Drive Letter and Paths**
   3. Click **Add**, then assign a drive letter
   4. Click **OK**

🔹 Case 2: Drive Shows as “RAW”

This means the file system is corrupted or missing. You can:
- Try running `chkdsk` (though it may not work on RAW drives)
- You may want to use data recovery tools.
- After recovery, reformat the drive

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If your external drive is not being recognized as formatted, you can try using the `chkdsk` command in Command Prompt to check and repair file system errors. Here's a simple and commonly used command:

chkdsk X: /f

🔍 Explanation:

- `X:` — Replace this with the actual drive letter of your external drive.
- `/f` — This option tells `chkdsk` to fix any errors it finds on the disk.

✅ Example:

If your external drive is assigned the letter `E:`, you would run:

chkdsk E: /f

⚠️ Important Notes:

- If the drive is severely corrupted or unformatted, `chkdsk` might not run and could display a message like “The type of the file system is RAW.” In that case, `chkdsk` cannot repair it because it only works on recognized file systems like NTFS or FAT32.
- If the drive shows as RAW, you might need to use data recovery tools before attempting to reformat.