Hi Jim - and welcome to the Forum.
I'm not good on hardware, but can you tell us:
1. what Linux versions you are using (on your pc and external HDD).
2. how you tried to remove the operating system.
Finally: please
1. plug the HDD into a USB port
2. start a Terminal session by using the key combination
Ctrl+Alt+t 3. copy the following code
(click on
[Select] and copy the code)
4. paste the code into your terminal using the key combination
Ctrl+Shift+v5. copy all the output by highlighting it then (
Ctrl+Shift+c) and paste it into your next post.
Keith