i plugged in my external hard drive after a while but the contents arent showing up in everything

[BigDan]

I unplugged my external drive for a couple weeks. Now I've plugged it back in. This is the G Drive. I can see the contents in Windows Explorer but when I type in G: in Everything it's blank. I do see the G drive mentioned under Options/Indexes/NTFS so that's not the issue.

Help please!

[void]

Is your G: drive included in your index?:

• In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the NTFS tab on left.
• Uncheck Automatically remove offline volumes.
• Select your G: drive.
• Check Include in database.
• Click OK.

Is your G: drive is showing as (offline)?
-If so, your G: drive might be formatted with exFAT.
Please try adding your G: drive as a folder index:

• In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the Folders tab.
• Click Add....
• Select your G: drive and click OK.
• Click OK.

Otherwise, if your G: drive is an NTFS volume, please try forcing an index rebuild:

• In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the Indexes tab on the left.
• Click Force Rebuild.
• Click OK.

[BigDan]

Hi, thanks for this!

So I actually ended up solving the problem just before you posted, by going to Folders and adding the G: there.

I've also followed the steps you gave just to make sure I did it all. When you said uncheck automatically remove offline volumes what does that do? If I unplug the external drive will the contents still remain there as a result of this?

> Is your G: drive is showing as (offline)?

I didnt understand this. Showing offline where? In Win Explorer its showing up fine.

Is there a way of knowing if my external drive is exFAT and NTFS? And btw, do the 3 external drives change which letter is associated with them when they're plugged into diff USB slots?

[void]

When you said uncheck automatically remove offline volumes what does that do?

This will keep your NTFS volumes in your index.
Even when they are offline.
Otherwise, NTFS volumes are removed from your index when they go offline.

If I unplug the external drive will the contents still remain there as a result of this?

Only if your external drive is an NTFS volume.
Folder indexes (folders under Tools -> Options -> Folders) are always kept in your index.

Is your G: drive is showing as (offline)?

I didnt understand this. Showing offline where? In Win Explorer its showing up fine.

Showing the text (offline) in Everything -> Tools -> Options -> NTFS -> G:

Is there a way of knowing if my external drive is exFAT and NTFS?

In Windows Explorer, right click your G: drive and click Properties.
File system will show NTFS or exFAT.

And btw, do the 3 external drives change which letter is associated with them when they're plugged into diff USB slots?

Windows will try to keep the same drive letter for your external drives.

[BigDan]

OK yes my G drive is NTFS

In Indexes none of them show up as offline.

For the first part, why did we uncheck automatically remove offline volumes? Isnt it a good thing for files to not show up if they've been removed / are no longer connected?

[void]

For the first part, why did we uncheck automatically remove offline volumes?

In case Everything was Everything was automatically removing your G: drive.
You can leave Automatically remove offline volumes enabled if you prefer this functionality.



Is your G: drive listed under Tools -> Options -> NTFS?

If so, for the best performance:

• In Everything, from the Tools menu, click Options.
• Click the Folders tab on the left.
• Select G: and click Remove.
• Click the NTFS tab on the left.
• Select your G: drive and check Include in database.
  (Please consider enabling automatically include new fixed volumes)