The computer does not see the external drive. External hard drive problems: not detected via USB

If, when connecting an external hard drive, your computer does not display its icon, does not respond to the usb port and does not show the contents of the disk, then there may be several reasons. Often, your device simply does not have updated drivers, or they simply do not exist for this model of external hard drive. There is also a failure of the disk to work until the owner formats it - this is also not a rare case. To solve this problem, you do not have to download additional software or third-party programs, since all debugging can be performed with built-in Windows tools. In this article, you will learn how to find an external hard drive on your computer and view its contents.

Why Computer Can't See External Hard Drive - Debugging in Computer Management

There can be many reasons for not detecting an external drive, and many of them are resolved in the Computer Management environment. Here you can format the disk, change its letter, see how it behaves in this case.

• Go to the Start panel, and then to the “Control Panel”.

• Select the category "System and Security", if you do not see such categories as in the screenshot below, then put the categories in the upper right corner. The display will change to something like this.

• Now click on “Administration”, highlighted in green.

• In the window that opens, find the "Computer Management" service. Click on it twice.

• Once the window opens, go to the Disk Management tab.

• Here you will see all the disks that the computer sees at this stage. If your disk does not appear here at all, then it is better to skip directly to the third section of this article, since the problem lies in the drivers. If the drive is visible, but defined incorrectly, then try changing its letter.

• Click on the disk with the right mouse button, select the item "Change drive letter or path to disk" from the drop-down list.

• Wait a few seconds for a small new window to open. In it, click on the "Add" button.

• Assign a new drive letter in the first step. You can change it to any other, try not to choose letters that are close to the current one in the alphabet.
• Click “Ok” to save the changes and exit the window.

Why Computer Can't See External Hard Drive - Formatting

If the disk designation is visible, but it does not react in any way to your actions, and the device, in principle, is not recognized, then it remains to format the device. In doing so, it will be reset and debugged, but you will lose all data from this external drive.

• Return to the Computer Management service and the Disk Management section. Select the device you need, right-click on it and select the “Format” line.

• Formatting does not take long, you can continue to use your computer as usual.
• Check the box next to "Quick Format" and click "OK". Wait a while, reinsert the disc and see what has changed.

Why Computer Can't See External Hard Drive - Update Drivers

The most common reason for a malfunction of a component in a computer is the loss, breakdown, or absence of device drivers. To update the drivers you need, follow the instructions below:

• Go to Control Panel via Computer Start.
• Select the "Hardware and Sound" section.

• In this section you need a new section “Devices and Printers”.
• In the subsections to this item, you will find the desired "Device Manager".

• In Device Manager, you can see all the devices on your computer.
• Click the Disk Devices tab.
• There you will see your external hard drive.

• Right-click on it and select "Update Drivers".
• Wait for the installation to complete.

Your drivers will be updated and the external hard drive detection issues will be fixed.

Recently, subscribers often contact me with the following problem: after connecting to a computer, an external hard drive is not visible. The connection goes well, the drivers are installed without errors, but it does not appear in the list of logical drives in Windows 10 Explorer. Why is this happening. There are several reasons for this trouble, both software and hardware.

Before starting troubleshooting, first try disconnecting the removable storage device from the computer and reconnecting it to an adjacent port.

On some models, the cable comes with two USB connectors on one side. The first is used for the main connection, and the second provides additional power. If the second one is not connected, then the device may simply not have enough power.

If you connected the gadget to the USB 3.0 ports and the computer does not see the external drive, then try connecting it to the regular ports. They differ in color. High speed connectors of the new standard are usually highlighted in blue or yellow. Like this:

The usual ones are gray or black. With this step, you will eliminate possible problems with the USB 3.0 driver on your computer or laptop, due to which the removable disk may not be visible.

Now let's move on to software-level reasons.
One of the most common cases when a removable external drive is not visible in Explorer is that the Windows operating system did not assign a letter to the new logical partition when connecting. Accordingly, it will not appear in the list of logical partitions in the explorer. It is easy to fix.

On the desktop, right-click on the computer icon and select "Computer Management."
This window will open:

We find the section "Storage Devices", and in it - the item "Disk Management". A list of logical and physical drives should appear on the right side of the window. In it, by volume, we find our external hard drive:

Select a free letter and click on "OK". Personally, I like to line up the letters from the very end of the alphabet - X, Y or Z.

Also, if there are problems in the operation of a removable USB drive, I would advise you to open the Device Manager and look in the "Portable Devices" section:

Your gadget should be displayed here. Click on it with the right mouse button and select the "Properties" item.

In the window that appears, on the "General" tab, look in the "Device status" field. There should be no mistakes, everything should be fine. Then open the "Driver" tab:

If you still can't see your external hard drive in Windows 10 Explorer, try updating the driver. In some cases, completely removing the device and reinstalling the driver helps.

P.S .: If all the recommended steps did not bring the expected result, then I would recommend trying to connect your removable drive to another computer or laptop and check its performance on it, since most likely there is a hardware failure.

External HDDs and SSDs are becoming more popular every day. This is not surprising at all, because this small box can hold a huge amount of information - up to 1-6 terabytes! For comparison, today not every PC even has an internal 1TB hard drive.

But what to do when your computer or laptop can't see the external hard drive? In this article, we will figure out why this happens and how to properly solve this problem.

If a new external hard drive is not detected

In this situation, we mean a portable drive that you just purchased for your PC. The first thing to do:

1. Go to the Control Panel / Make sure that the item "Small icons" / Administration is selected in the "View" menu.

3. In the left column, go to the "Disk Management" menu.



4. We are waiting for 5-10 seconds until the configuration is updated, after which both internal and external media that are connected to the computer or netbook will be displayed. Quite often, the PC may not read the media due to the wrong letter assignment.

It is she who should be changed. To do this, you need to right-click on our device and select "Change letter".

Another option why the laptop does not recognize the new hard drive - it is not formatted

In this case, you will not even be able to change the name to something else. You need to click on the disk again with the right mouse button, a menu will appear, and then click "Create volume". However, be careful! This will delete all information from the HDD.

A not so common problem is the chip on the motherboard that is responsible for the operability of the usb ports. In 99% of cases, the solution to the problem is to repair the board.

Lack of drivers is another most common reason

If the hard drive is not visible in either "Disk Management" or "My Computer", but at the same time fully functions on other equipment, this is exactly the problem. Of course, modern windows 7, 8, 10 are smart operating systems that search for and install drivers themselves in a fully automatic mode. However, sometimes they make mistakes.

In this situation, it is necessary:

1. Check the operation of USB ports (2.0 / 3.0). If other devices will work through them, then they are not the point at all.

2. If everything is in order with the USB ports, but the hard drive does not work:

We go to the Control Panel / Make sure that the item "Small icons" / Device Manager is selected in the "View" menu and select the sections "Other devices" and "Disk drives".

There you can find out if the drivers for the connected media are installed.

If there are red or yellow identification icons next to the name of the connected device (see the screenshot above), it means that the drivers were not installed or installed with errors, in order to fix this, you must do one of the following options:

1. Click "Update hardware configuration", after which the installation will take place in automatic mode.

2. Use a special program to install the necessary drivers "DriverPack Solution, Driver Booster or others"

3. Reinstall Windows OS.

After completing simple steps, the HDD will work normally.

If the old external HDD is not displayed

In this case, we mean the hard drive that was previously functioning on your PC, but it stopped seeing it. In such a situation, you should:

Now you know how to find out the reason why the computer does not show the removable storage, and you can solve it yourself!

External removable media in the form of USB drives have recently become as popular as regular flash drives. There is more space on them, but they are not insured against malfunctions and errors in work. There can be many reasons for this. However, it is not always possible to fix them manually. That is why it is recommended to use system utilities if the system does not see an external hard drive.

Causes of problems

First, let's look at the main reasons that can lead to the fact that an external hard drive is not detected in the operating system. There can be a lot of them: system errors, incorrect access settings, lack of power, and even physical damage to the surface of removable media.

BIOS settings

Before turning to the use of utilities, it should be said that no program for checking the hard drive will be able to determine it if the device is simply not included in the system. Often the reason may lie precisely in the BIOS settings. For example, if in the "Control Panel" go to the "Device Manager" and set the display of hidden devices, the disk present in the system will be displayed in the list, but the system itself in the device properties will display a message about the need to reconnect.

Connecting an external hard drive, as a rule, is done in the BIOS settings, which are called up on computers or laptops by pressing the Del, F2 or F12 key. It all depends on the BIOS manufacturer and the computer terminal itself. In the Boot or Advanced section, you can select priority boot devices and other hardware components. In this case, an external USB hard disk must be connected to the connectors before turning on the terminal. In some cases, you may need to enable disk accessibility using the Enable parameter.

Driver problems

If the external hard drive is not detected, you may need to reinstall the drivers. You can do this in the same "Device Manager" or use the original driver disc that comes with the removable device.

Lack of food

Sometimes a lack of power can cause errors. If you have two power cords, both must be plugged in. In some cases, if the external hard drive is not detected, you can disassemble it and connect it directly to the computer terminal. But if a person is not an expert in this area, it is not recommended to perform such a procedure himself.

Incorrect disk ID assignment

When the system does not see the external hard drive, the reason may also be in the incorrect assignment of the letter of this drive or disk partition. It may well be that it is already being used by another device. In this case, you should go to the computer management system (disk management) and just change the letter of the removable media.

Correcting errors using standard Windows tools

Windows operating systems have their own tools and utilities for checking or formatting disks and storage media of all types. The USB hard disk is connected in a standard way. But sometimes a situation may arise when a removable hard drive is visible in the system, for example, in the "Device Manager", but there is no access to it from "Explorer" or any other file manager. In other words, the external hard drive won't open. In this case, errors can be corrected using standard operating system tools.

Volume creation

First, you need to go to "Disk Management" and select a removable media to which there is no access. With the right mouse click, you can call the volume creation utility. But it allows you to use the "Create Simple Volume" command and "Setup Wizard", in which you first set the media size, then assign a letter, and then format the external hard disk with a preliminary selection of the file system type. Please note that in this case, all data on the removable hard drive will be automatically destroyed. Upon completion of the "Wizard", all that remains is to click the "Finish" button, after which the removable medium with all its characteristics will automatically appear in the system.

If in the future you need to restore an external hard drive, you can use special applications that allow you to recover data on a removable hard drive even after a complete formatting. But even in this case, it is not always possible to recover information.

Disk check

One of the simplest standard tools in Windows operating systems is the hard disk checker. Right-click on the disk icon to open the "Properties" menu and select the "Service" tab, where you can find the "Check" button. At the beginning of work, you can set up automatic correction of bad sectors.

The program can also be invoked using the command line, which specifies chkdsk and the external media parameter. But this is the simplest and not always effective way. In this case, it is better to turn to professional utilities that are offered for Windows operating systems by third-party manufacturers.

HDD Scan software

Today there are many specialized programs for checking hard drives of all types, including removable media. One of the most popular and most powerful utilities is the HDD Scan software product.

The first advantage of the HDD Scan program is that it does not require installation, that is, it is available as a so-called portable version. The folder with the program can be placed anywhere on your hard disk or on the same USB flash drive. To start, the executable file of the same name with the extension .exe is used, after which you can proceed to the main operations.

For inexperienced users, the most preferred mode may be a system of "smart" scanning of removable media and correction of errors on it, called S.M.A.R.T. After choosing a hard drive, you just need to click on this button. Then the utility will display detailed characteristics in the form of a table with parameters, in which attributes that are within the normal range will be indicated in green. Yellow and red colors indicate errors or some incorrect parameters.

An interesting enough function is the Surface Test command, which checks the surface of a removable hard drive. The bug fix is \u200b\u200bthat the file system clusters are moved to the undamaged areas of the disk, and the damaged surface is blocked and not used in the future.

In general, this utility has a lot of tools for working with disks of all types. But without knowing English, you will have to dig into the interface. This is due to the fact that the application itself has too many functions designed for advanced users.

Norton Disc Doctor

An equally interesting program for working with hard drives is the portable version of the Norton Disc Doctor (NDD) application. It does not require installation and does not create absolutely any entries in the system registry. It is also noteworthy that the size of the application is only 15.7 MB.

The operation of this application is very similar to the principles used in other programs, however, this utility is as automated as possible and is designed even for inexperienced users.

After starting the program, the main window appears, which lists all hard drives and removable media available in the system. You can check all the boxes or select one component. In this case, we are interested in an external hard drive. Put a check mark on it and run the check, after checking the box in the "Fix errors" box on the left side.

For more advanced users, there is a settings button on the right, where you can configure the program as you wish. But in most cases this is not required, since the factory settings are built in an optimal way for all types of hard drives.

Conclusion

Of course, this is just a small fraction of those programs and features that are designed to help users of computers and laptops, if an external hard drive is not detected.

If we compare some programs with each other, then it is impossible to give preference to any one utility. Although each program uses almost the same algorithms for working with hard drives, it still has its own differences, advantages and disadvantages.

For example, it will not be easy for a beginner or inexperienced user to work with HDD Scan software. The interface itself may seem somewhat overloaded to many. And there are a lot of opportunities for fine-tuning here.

To ensure efficient work with removable media, it is better to use applications like Norton Disc Doctor or Ashampoo HDD Control 2. However, it is worth noting that in the second case we are dealing with a paid program.

As for free utilities, it is better to use software products from well-known manufacturers who have been leaders in the market for hard disk technologies for quite some time. In addition to using individual programs, you can give preference to whole complex solutions. But they will have to be installed on a hard drive, and they take up a lot of space, not to mention the fact that they have special “inspectors” working in real time. As a rule, the icon constantly hangs in the system tray (System Tray), and the processes of the applications themselves load the system quite heavily, taking up RAM and using the resources of the central processor.

Finally, it is worth noting that if the use of all these popular utilities does not lead to the desired result, the problems with the hard disk can be much worse. This is most likely physical damage to the removable media. So you have to carry it to repair.

Almost every computer user has come across a situation when an external media is purchased, the computer does not see the external hard drive. Sometimes the interaction with the media that was already working with the PC stops. There are many ways to solve this problem.

It is a useful device that allows you to store and exchange data with computers. The size of the device may vary, up to a maximum of several terabytes. The device makes it possible to safely store various information for a long time.

Why the PC can't see the external hard drive

If the laptop does not see the external hard drive, you should use a certain algorithm of actions. First, in the Control Panel you should find "System settings" and "Administration"... It is there that you can see the section "Control".

It is important to turn your attention to the left column. You need to go to disk management, there you will see the disks currently connected to the system. Often, the system does not see the external hard drive due to the incorrect assignment of its letter. To change the letter, you need to click on the external media icon and change the drive letter. Then a letter is assigned that is not yet in the system.

If a new disk is not detected and it is connected to the PC for the first time, it is probably not formatted, therefore it is not visible in the list of working devices. In this case, click on the medium to create a simple volume. This action deletes all information on the disk.

If the PC has stopped seeing the external hard drive, most likely this situation is due to a lack of drivers or a system failure. Modern systems are quite smart, and when a new device appears, they quickly search for the appropriate driver. But sometimes, due to accumulated errors in the system, it does not detect the device.

First of all, you need to investigate the USB port. To do this, you can connect a flash drive, camera or smartphone. If the system sees devices, then the port is working.

It is also useful to investigate the constituents of Device Manager, it can be found in "Control panels"... The media icon is in "Other devices" or "Disk devices".

PC drivers may be out of date. By clicking the mouse on the hard drive (opposite it with an exclamation mark), you should select "Update drivers". Finding drivers is provided by special programs or by searching the Internet.

Windows often becomes outdated, this is the answer to why the computer does not see the external hard drive. The system should be reinstalled.

Windows 10 can't see external hard drive

Latest generation operating systems may also not detect old or new media. The media may not be formatted, not have partitions, as a result of which it is not indicated in Explorer.

When you stopped seeing the external hard drive Windows 10, you can go to the "Toolbar", then to the "Security System" and to the "Administration" subsection. Next, you should work with the section "Creating and managing hard disks".

If you enter the command "diskmgmt.msc" in the search, a utility called "Disk Management"... In this case, you can see the media, and its sections will have a blue tint. An unallocated drive is highlighted in black.

Click on the tab "Disc 1", then choose "Initialize Disk"... Then you need to click on the black bar, and then on "New section". In this location, a section is formed, where a free letter is assigned.

Large format discs are divided into several parts. You can format the media with the NTFS file system. When the person presses the button "Done", the system will display the media.

If the PC does not see the external hard drive, provided that it is new, you can enter the BIOS, turn off AHCI, then the computer is rebooted and the disk appears.

Sometimes it is necessary to integrate SATA drivers into the Windows 10 operating system. Only the latest drivers should be installed. It is optimal if this work is entrusted to a competent person.

External media does not show the PC if it was previously exposed to mechanical stress. If the drive has been used for a long time, then you can use special utilities to detect errors and bad blocks.

Infection of the carrier with viruses becomes the reason why the external hard drive is not visible. Windows will block it. Also, the situation often arises due to failures in the motherboard, its diagnostics are shown.

For a device to work optimally, it must be in DMA mode. When the disk is functioning in PIO, you can open "Device Manager"and then "IDE ATA / ATAPI Controllers"... Next, you should find the heading "Extra options" and remove secondary or primary IDE channels. The final step shows a system reboot. In addition, the problem is solved by purchasing an additional loop.

If the drive is overheated, the system can turn it off. If necessary, a cooler is installed and the device is cleaned of dirt.

The PSU that came with the drive may not have enough power. This will cause the system to not see the external hard drive. It is better to use the original cable, it has the desired length and metallized latches.