Access denied when trying to access external storage devices

[mike842]

I cannot access any external storage device.  I keep getting access denied messages when I try to open the storage device.  The drives themselves seem to be completely operational when I use my external smart card reader, it operates as it should.  This only happens when it is an external hard drive.  I have attempted to used multiple external hard drives thinking that I may have a bad drive, but the same result.   Access is denied.  I have attempted BIOS updates, changing drive letter designations, changing privileges pretty much you name it.  I have attempted the HP Client Security changes and the same result.  Nothing can give me access to the hard drives (which are fully operational on my other computer).  I have even deleted everything on a full 2TB hard drive and attempted to reformat it.  I am desperate. 

[Riddle_Decipher]

@mike842 An Error Checking Tool is a built-in tool in the Windows system for checking and fixing device errors. If you have access problems on your hard drive, USB, SD card or file folders, you can follow the guidelines below to fix the 'Access Denied' error on your device:

1. 1. Connect an inaccessible device such as a hard drive, external hard drive, USB or SD card to your PC.
2. 2. Open "This PC/My Computer" > Right-click on the inaccessible device or file folder and select "Properties".
3. 3. Click the Tools Tab > Click "Check/Check Now".

If this fixes your problem, you can directly open your drive and continue using data on it.
If this doesn't work, try Quick Fix 2 to continue fixing the "Access Denied" error on your devices.

If the issue persists, here's how to gain permissions to Access Denied hard drives, USBs or file folders

If you don't have permission to access the protected hard drive or USB, files, etc, you will not be able to open the drive and even get the "access denied" error message. 

So, another choice is to gain permission for the inaccessible hard drive, USB or file folders:

1. 1. Right-click the inaccessible hard drive, USB or file folder, and select Properties.
2. 2. Go to Security, click Advanced and navigate to the Owner tab.
3. 3. Click on Edit, click your username under Group or username.

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1. 4. Check all boxes in the Allow column and click OK, then click Apply to gain permissions to access your inaccessible device.

If you have important data, you can try to get all the problems fixed without losing any data; If you don't need the data at all, you can directly format the access denied drive to fix the inaccessible problem at once.

P.S: Welcome to HP Community 😉

Let me know how that pans out,

If you feel I was helpful, simply click on Accept as Solution to help the community grow,

That said, I will have someone follow-up on this to ensure you've been helped,

Just in case you don't get back to us, 

have a good day, ahead.

[mike842]

Neither of these options give me access to the drive.  It continues to say that access is denied and will not allow me to give access to any user group.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@mike842 If none of that worked, I suggest you change drive letter and format to repair the inaccessible external hard drive using the below steps:

1. Right-click on This PC/My Computer > Select Manage;
2. Go Disk Management > Find your external hard drive and right click it by choosing Change Drive Letter and Path...
3. Assign the drive with a new letter that doesn't exist in your PC and mark the Partition as Active > Click OK. 
Then restart PC and your External hard drive will show up and work again.

If it still cannot be accessed, format the drive directly by then. To avoid data loss, you can apply powerful data recovery software to restore data from the inaccessible drive in advance.

Format and reset inaccessible external hard drive:
1. Connect the inaccessible external hard drive to PC and open Disk Management;
2. Find and right-click on inaccessible drive > Select Format volume...
3. Rename and reset the drive to NTFS.
Save all changes and restart PC. There, you shall be able to use the external hard drive again now.

If the issue persists, Run CHKDSK to repair the inaccessible drive

1. 1. Open a Command Prompt and type: chkdsk /f c: (replace c with the drive letter of your inaccessible hard drive).
2. 2. Hit Enter to let the checking process to run.
3. 3. When it's finished, type: exit and hit Enter to finish the process.

This will check and fix file system errors that block you from accessing storage devices.

Keep us posted,

If you wish to thank me for my efforts, you could click on "Accept as solution" on my post as the solution should help others too.

[mike842]

None of the proposed solutions worked.  The only way I was finally able to fix the issue was to completely wipe the computer and reinstall windows without the HP factory installed software.  I was finally able to get full access to my computer in this manner.

[Riddle_Decipher]

@mike842 We usually save the complete reset as the last resort which is why I didn't suggest that to you, considering the data loss, and the time it takes to restore any backups among others, either way, I'm glad you've got that sorted and if you need anything else, feel free to get back to us any time.

If you wish to thank me for my efforts, you could click on "Accept as solution" on my post as the solution should help others too.