Sluggish USB External Hard Drive

I have a Microsoft Surface 2 laptop with Windows 10 Pro (64-bit)
installed.

Every time that I insert my USB external hard drive (WD EasyStore), the
computer freezes for approx. 1-2 minutes.  It does the same thing every
time that I use a program that needs to acces the USB drive.

For instance, when I plug in the WD drive, I have to wait 1-2 minutes
before I can access it with File Explorer.  If I then launch a backup
program to copy files from my c:\ drive to the USB drive, I have to
wait 1-2 minutes before I can press the icon that starts the backup.

This does not happen with any other computer that I use.  (None of them
are Microsoft Surface!)

What could be the reason that causes the Microsoft surface 2 to freeze?

-- 
tb