FileHistory no longer recognizes the drive after reformatting from exFAT to NTFS

Question

Connected a usb hard drive with exFAT. Started FileHistory selected that drive and it was running and event viewer showed some filenaming errors that were fixed.

Testing "recover" failed. Found information that the drive must be NTFS.

Stopped FileHistory. Deleted the FileHistory configuration folder contents.

Formated drive to NTFS. Restarted Windows.

FileHistory reports: File History doesn't recognize this drive. Select another drive.

How to get around this?

Can File History be made to "forget" this drive?

Answer 1

To resolve the issue where File History does not recognize the drive after reformatting it to NTFS, you can try the following steps:

1. Check Drive Connection: Ensure that the USB hard drive is properly connected and powered on. Sometimes, issues can arise from loose connections.
2. Reconfigure File History: After formatting the drive to NTFS, you may need to reconfigure File History. Go to Settings > Update & Security > Backup, and set up File History again by selecting the newly formatted NTFS drive.
3. Delete Previous Configuration: If File History still does not recognize the drive, you can try deleting the File History configuration folder contents again. This can sometimes clear any cached settings that may be causing the issue.
4. Restart Your Computer: After making these changes, restart your computer to ensure that all settings are refreshed and the system recognizes the drive correctly.
5. Check for Updates: Ensure that your Windows operating system is up to date, as updates can sometimes resolve compatibility issues with features like File History.

If these steps do not resolve the issue, you may want to consider using a different drive or checking for any specific error messages in the Event Viewer that could provide more insight into the problem.

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References:

• Drive '<drivename>' not found
• New File History feature