A Complete Guide To Fix The Error Device Is Not Ready

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Summary:

The error Device is not ready occurs when you try to access data from any device like hard drives, USB flash drive or even CD/DVD drives. In this article, you will find the best ways to fix the error and also recover data from the drive which is inaccessible.

The “device is not ready” is the common error seen in the Windows 10/8/7 versions. The error not only occurs when you connect external drives but also occurs while working on virtual disk manager or Diskpart.  Let’s see how the error device not ready is indicated while initializing hard drive in the next section.

Quick Navigation:

  • What Does the Error Device not ready mean?
  • Recover Data from the Drive showing Device not ready
  • How to Fix Windows error Device not ready?

    What Does Device Not Ready Mean?

    Error Message – Location is not available. The device is not ready

    On Flash drives or external drives, the error Device is not ready indicates communication error between the device and the system.

    the error device is not ready

    The device not ready on the Virtual disk manager occurs when there is no appropriate permissions or if there is a problem mapping the drive between the OS and the VM manager.

    the error device is not ready in VM manager

    On Diskpart you will encounter the error if your disk is failed, damaged or the storage controller on your main board is corrupted.

    Diskpart error

    In all the above mentioned circumstances your drive becomes inaccessible, and it can be due to software and hardware malfunction

    I have connected several 3.5″ and 3″ external drives to my computer via USB and whenever I try to access data from the drive I receive the “the device is not ready” error message. Help me accessing my data and fix the error.

    In the above case the computer is recognizing the external drive but your data is not accessible. You can easily retrieve this inaccessible data from a backup. If you have not taken a backup previously and your USB drive goes unrecognized , it doesn’t mean that you data is completely lost. You can recover data using safe and trusted hard drive recovery tool.

    SFWare hard drive recovery is a highly recommended tool to recover data from the inaccessible partitions and drives. With an efficient scanning algorithm, the tool goes into each and every sector of your drive to find the files. The tool is proven successful even in most complex data loss situations. Download the software now and get access back on your data.

    Free Download for WindowsFree Download for Mac

    How recover data from the drive returning Device is not ready error?

    Once you download the Software, install it and launch the software. From the main screen select Partition Recovery.
    SFWare to recover data from SSD
    In the next screen, select the drive from which you want to recover data. It initializes the scanning process. After the completion of scanning process, the tool displays all the files that were found.

    Select the drive to recover files from the partition

     

    Use File Type View or the Data Type View option to view recovered files. You can also Preview the files by double clicking on them. If you are satisfied with the results save the recovered files from error drive in any desired location.
    View recoverable files from drive in Data View or File Type View
    After the completion of data recovery process from the error causing drive, move on to the next section to follow the methods to fix the error.

    How to fix the error Device is not ready error in Windows 10/8/7?

    To fix the error Device is not ready in external drive, flash drives or Diskpart or virtual disk manager try some basic troubleshooting methods explained below.

    Basic Troubleshooting methods to fix the error device are not ready

    Use the following steps to verify the connections between the device and the computer:

    1. Try reconnecting your device to different computer and see if it is working fine there.
    2. Reconnect your device to another USB port and verify it
    3. Remove the device and reconnect again to check if there any connection issue occurs.

    If the device is still not ready, then the error should be related to the File system or damaged drive. The device’s file system can be corrupted even when working on Disk Management. So let us have look at the table showing the cause for the error and the methods to fix the same.

    What is your cause for the error Device is not ready?
    Solutions to fix the error Device is not ready
    Faulty or damaged drive Run Hardware and Device Troubleshooter
    Bad sectors in the drive / File system error Use CHKDSK command or Run SFC scan
    Corrupt USB controller drivers Uninstall the USB driver and reinstall
    Incompatible device drivers Update Device drivers
    Problem with the drive letter Changer the drive letter or assign the new drive letter

    Follow the methods one after the other until the error is fixed. After the each method verify whether the error persists. If the error still pops up on the screen, follow the next methods described.

    Run Hardware and Device Troubleshooter

    Follow the steps mentioned below to fix the error device is not ready in diskpart

    1. Type Troubleshooting in the search bar and press Enter.
    2. On the left panel of the Troubleshooting window click on View all option
    3. Click on Hardware and Devices and follow on the instruction displays on the screen.

    Trouble shoot the error

    Fix Device is not ready using CHKDSK utility 

    1. Type cmd in the search box, right click on the Command Prompt and select Run as administrator.
    2. Type chkdsk G:/fin the command prompt and Enter to run it.

    Replace G: with the error causing drive letter.

    Run CHKDSK to fix the error

    Run SFC scan to fix the corrupt or damage file system

    1. Open the command prompt and run as administrator.
    2. Type sfc /scannow in the window and hit Enter. This is ensures that your corrupt or damaged data is replaced with the healthy file.
      Run SFC to fix the error

    If your files are severely damaged or corrupted, thus method would not be much useful. On such situations, it is suggested to repair and recover data from the corrupt external drive and later perform the further steps.

    Re-install the USB driver

    If the error is due to faulty or incompatible device drivers, uninstalling and reinstalling of the USB driver helps to fix the error easily. Follow the steps to uninstall and reinstall the USB driver below-

    1. Right-click on Start button and select Device Manager.
    2. On the right pane expand and navigate to  Disk drives or devices to find out the device that is not ready.
    3. Right-click on your device and select Uninstall. Now, unplug the drive.
    4. Restart PC and then reconnect your drive to check whether the device is not ready external hard drive error has been solved.

    Device manger to fix the error

    Note: Sometimes Windows stops the working in Device manger because it reports the unspecified problem (code 43).

    If you still receive the error after trying the above 2 solutions, you can open Disk Management interface and see if it is a problem with driver letter.

    Change the Drive Letter

    There are many cases where the drive letter is conflicting with another one which is already reserved by the system. Try fixing the error device is not ready in Disk management.

    1. Press Windows + R, type diskmgmt.msc in the dialogue box and press Enter.
    2. Once in disk management, right-click on your drive and select Change Drive Letter and Paths.
    3. Click on Change button and from the list; select another drive letter to set.
    4. After changing the drive letter, disconnect the external drive and after connecting it again, check if you can access it without any problems.

    Update the device Drivers to fix the error

    This method helps to fix the error caused due to faulty device drivers

    1. Open Device manager from the search box and select your device driver
    2. Right-click on the same and select Update the device driver software
    3. In the next window, choose Search automatically for updated driver software from the open window
    4. After the completion of the process restart your PC and check for the error

    If you were successful in fixing the error with the help of the article, please share your thoughts in the comment section below.

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