There is such a problem, the computer does not see the removable disk... It doesn't show up anywhere, although it worked fine until recently. The information there is very important and needs to be saved, so I want to restore access to the removable hard drive without contacting the specialists in the service center.
Read the article carefully and perhaps it will help solve the problem.
The easiest way to check the health or save information on another medium is to connect a removable hard drive to another computer. If the hard drive is detected on another computer, then the problem is in your computer.
Another way is to try recover removable hard drive on their own using the means of their computer. To do this, right-click on the "My Computer" icon, select "Management" in the context menu. 
In the window that opens, select "Disk Management", here you will see all the disks connected to the computer, and if your disk is working properly, it will certainly be displayed here. 
To open a removable hard drive, it is enough to rename the drive and restore access to it. To do this, right-click on the required disk and select "Change drive letter or path to disk" from the context menu. 
In the window that opens, select the letter and click "OK" sometimes you need to reboot, but more often than not.
If your removable hard drive is not visible in Disk Management, then the problem is probably in the hard drive itself or a conflict between the controller and the computer.
Here is a little about the device of a removable hard disk. To put it simply, this is a regular hard drive in a box. The box also contains a controller responsible for information input - output.
If you have the skills to work with components for a computer, then the health of the hard drive itself can be checked. To do this, disassemble the removable disk and disconnect the HDD, then remove the cover from the system unit and connect the hard disk directly to the motherboard. Practice shows that the motherboard detects disks many times more stable than controllers. We turn on the computer, if the disk is detected, then the controller is to blame.
If the above means did not help, then it is better to contact the service center.
And finally, if you decide to buy a removable hard drive, buy devices from well-known companies, they fail much less often.
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- Nobel
I have such a problem that the computer does not see the removable hard drive, but the laptop does. Can I reinstall the operating system?
- Nikolay
Disassembling the removable disk and connecting it to the motherboard helped.
- Azamat
Thanks! Previously, this problem seemed to me to be simply insoluble.
It helped! - Alexander
Thanks!!!
- Camille
Thanks! Everything worked out!
- Dmitriy
I can not initialize the hard drive writes: The request was not completed due to an I / O error on the device
- admin
Dmitry, here's what they write about this on the Microsoft website:
“This issue can occur if Windows is using a transfer mode not supported by this CD-ROM drive.
The solution is to change the transfer mode for the CD-ROM drive in the IDE channel properties. To do this, follow these steps.
From the Start menu, right-click My Computer and select Manage.
In the Computer (local) management group, select Device Manager.
In the right pane, expand the IDE ATA / ATAPI Controllers node.
Right-click the channel to which the CD-ROM drive is connected and select Properties. This is usually the IDE Secondary Channel.
On the Advanced Options tab, select PIO Only in the Transfer Mode field for the CD-ROM drive. This is usually Device 1. Then click OK.
If the issue persists after changing the transfer mode for Secondary IDE Channel 1 device, it is likely that the device is not the correct CD-ROM drive. Change the transfer mode to DMA again using the above procedure, if available. Then repeat the steps to change the transfer mode for IDE devices in the following order until the problem is resolved.
Primary IDE channel, device 1
Secondary IDE channel, device 0
Note. The primary IDE channel, device 1, corresponds to the boot disk. This is the hard drive on which the operating system is usually installed. " - Andrey
A removable 4TB hard drive works non-stop for the second day, regardless of whether the computer is turned on or not, whether it is connected via USB or not. Not a single computer sees it (logged in both from XP, and from 8; I searched through disk management, turned on the display of hidden and system files, even restored the system just in case, rebooted the computer several times: I can't stop it). If I cut it off from the network, I will kill the hard drive (judging by the sound and temperature, it works with all its might). How can you stop it so that it does not lead to mechanical damage?
- admin
Andrey, why are you so sure that you will kill the disk when disconnected from the network? It is also possible that there is nothing to kill.
- andrei
Thanks!!! It helped !!!)))
- Sergey
It didn't help if everything was so easy), the computer also does not see the hard one in control, although when you connect it, it detects and the light is on (works), a virus sits on it, threw it off on hard films, stopped opening the same films, threw Windows on the laptop a little did not fly, saved the antivirus. Maybe there is some other way to open it or format it
- uncle apo
Thanks. Renaming helped!
- Irina
Switched to another usb port helped - sees!
- Denis 02/10/2015
Good day! There is a problem with the Seagate FA GoFlex Desk USB Device External Drive. In the "Devices and Printers" menu, the computer sees the disk, when you call the context menu, it says that it works fine and that you do not need to update the drivers. The disk cannot be seen through the "Computer". Through "Computer Management" in the "Disk Management" field in the upper part it is also absent (that is, the letter cannot be changed), but it is in the lower part with the "Not initialized" status. When trying to initialize, it throws an error. And also it is displayed in the "Device Manager" in the submenu "Disk devices".
I tried to connect it to another connector, and to the old computer - no result. When you try to turn it off and on again, it starts to make noise, as if something is twisting and cannot scroll to the end and dies down.
I tried, as written above, to deploy controllers, I have only one there: Intel (R) 8 Series…. and in its properties there is no "Additional parameters" tab, and in those tabs that are there, there is no "Transfer mode" in them.
Please tell me what you can do. - Tatiana
Good day! Problem with External ADATA HDD CH94 USB Devise
In the "Devices and Printers" menu, the computer sees the disk, when you call the context menu, it says that it works fine and that you do not need to update the drivers. Through the "Computer" drive does not see .. And it is also displayed in the "Device Manager" in the submenu "Disk devices".
When I try to turn it off and on again, I don’t get the result. The driver was updated. Please tell me what else you can do. The other computer does not open either. Shows that the disk is working, but I can not open it. When loading, it requires formatting, but I have important information there, I'm afraid it will be erased. Help me please. And he writes about the shutdown; "The device is not removable and cannot be removed" - Irina
Thank you so much !!! You helped me a lot! Everything was explained simply and easily - and everything worked !!!
Hello, dear site visitors!
It so happened that I needed to format it. It's just that this hard drive is from a laptop, and when I gave the laptop for warranty repair, instead of an SSD drive, I installed the HDD back. Yesterday I took the laptop from the repair and put the railway back in my pocket.
I connected it to the computer on which the information was stored in order to upload it to an external HDD, but it is not detected. Rather, it is detected, Windows signals that a device is connected, an icon appears on the notification bar that a USB device is connected, and it is even possible to remove it.
In the device manager, the external HDD is also displayed and works properly. But the whole problem is that the drive is not showing up in Windows Explorer. You go into my computer, and it is not there.
I connected this external hard disk drive to a laptop, everything is the same. Detected, but not visible in the explorer. Yeah, so it's the disk itself.
I thought a little, then googled it and realized that the disk was simply not allocated and it was necessary to create a partition on it. We will create a standard Windows tool for working with hard drives, which I wrote about.
At this point, it was already possible to finish the article, but I made some screenshots, so I will show and tell everything with a real example and how you like ˜– with pictures :).
We need to open the disk management tool. To do this, open Start and right click on A computer... Please select Control.
On the left, select Disk management... And this is what I saw (screenshot below). Disc 0- this is my SSD drive, there are partitions created there. A Disc 1, this is already my external hard drive, which was not displayed in the explorer. It says Not allocated... Now let's distribute :).
Right click on it and select Create Simple Volume ...
We need to specify a size for the section we are creating. If you want to create one section, then you can not change anything, but just click Further... The simple volume size field already contains the maximum size for the partition we are creating.
In the next window, you need to assign a drive letter. I advise you to just click on and not change anything.
Volume formatting. I advise you to leave everything as it is. You can change the volume label (this is its name). We press Further.
We check the correctness of the parameters we entered and press the button Ready.
External hard drives have become a common feature of today's PC users. Possessing quite impressive volumes, they are used to work with large amounts of data, while being quite convenient to store and carry. But there are also situations in which an external hard drive is no longer displayed among the drives connected to the computer. In this article I will tell you what to do if the external hard drive does not appear on my computer, what causes the indicated dysfunction, and how to fix it.
In many cases, the connected external drive simply does not appear among the available drives in My Computer. This often happens in situations where this disk has been connected to a computer before and has worked hitherto without any problems.
If you also have problems in order to - then follow the link and read the instructions on how to solve it.
The reasons why the external hard drive is not visible on my computer may be the following:
- Incorrect assignment of the letter of this drive (for example, it coincides with the drive already on the PC);
- The new drive being connected has not yet been formatted;
- Malignant activity of viral programs;
- The operating system, for some reason, does not have drivers that support the operation of this disk;
- The specific USB port through which this disk is connected to the computer does not work;
- The operating system registry is corrupted;
- The cable is damaged, due to which the external hard drive is connected to the PC.
After we have figured out the reasons why the computer does not see the external hard drive, let's move on to the detailed instructions for solving this problem.
Turn on the display of the external hard drive on the PC
What to do in a situation when Windows does not see the external hard drive. I recommend following the procedure below:
- Try to simply restart your computer, sometimes it can be effective;
- You need to use another YUSB connector to connect your device (perhaps the previous one is simply damaged and does not work correctly);
- It is necessary to use a different cord, possibly the previously used one is damaged;
- Make sure your external drive is turned on (if there is an autonomous power supply);
- Assign the correct drive letter to the external drive;
- Click on the "Start" button, type diskmgmt.msc in the search bar and press enter.
This will open the Disk Management window, which should also display your disk. Hover over it, right-click, select "Change drive letter ...", and assign your drive a letter that is not used on your system. This must be done to display an external hard drive in My Computer;
- If your disk is not visible in the disk management menu, then it is either physically unusable, or there are no drivers for it in the Windows OS. Go to Device Manager (click on "Start", type devmgmt.msc in the search bar and press enter), and check if there are any unidentified devices with a yellow exclamation mark in the list. If there are any, you need to install drivers for it.
To do this, do the following:
A) Click on the "Action" option at the top and select "Update hardware configuration" there;
B) Use special programs for automatic installation of drivers (DriverPack Solution level), which will automatically select the right driver for your device and install it on your PC;
C) Use the unique identifier of the device to search for drivers for it on the network. Go to Device Manager, right-click on the unidentified device and select "Properties". In the properties menu, go to the "Details" tab, select the "Hardware ID" property, copy the longest lower value and try to search for the driver by it by entering this value into the search engine;
D) Run Command Prompt as administrator, and there enter:
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices = 1
Then go to Device Manager, click on "View" and select the "Show hidden devices" option. If your device appears among such devices, try right-clicking on it and selecting "Delete". Then turn off your computer, unplug the devices, turn on the PC again, let the system boot, and then try to reconnect your device;
E) If you are having problems connecting USB, then go to Device Manager, delete all devices under the "USB Controllers" parameter, and then reboot the system. These controllers will be reinstalled, and it is quite possible that the OS will see your external drive.
Conclusion
If the external hard drive does not appear on my computer, then it is worth following the whole complex of tips I listed above. Please note that if the disk is just purchased, you need to format it and assign it the correct letter, in the case of a previously used disk, it is worth checking the physical performance, starting from the USB socket and the cord, and ending with the device itself. In some cases, the latter may need a thorough repair at the nearest service center.
In contact with
My external hard drive is not detected what to do about it? - a fairly common question on the Internet, which can be found on a large number of forums. And every day the number of such questions increases. There were no portable hdds - there were no problems, as they say :-). But in fact, portable hdds are very convenient storage media that are becoming more and more common and become everyday and familiar, like ordinary flash drives. Like all devices, they can be faulty. It happens that the computer cannot recognize the drive connected to it. What if the external hard drive is not detected?
First steps if the external hard drive is not detected
If you have this kind of problem - the reason for this may be:
- the disk itself;
- or a problem with your computer.
You need to start looking for the problem by checking the USB ports in your computer. Connecting a portable hdd must be done using a different port or a different computer. If the other computer recognizes the external hard drive, then you should troubleshoot the USB port. If the computer refuses to detect other devices, then you should check the USB support and connect it by going into the BIOS.
Updating the device driver
The external drive is not detected if there is a problem with the driver. To eliminate it, you need to do the following: right-click on the "My Computer" shortcut and select "Device Manager" (1):
Click on the line "Disk devices" (2), and select the external hdd (3), right-click on it and select the item "Update drivers"
If the update does not bring the desired result, then the driver should be removed, restart the computer and install it again.
Changing hdd designation in the system
It is possible that the external hard drive is not detected due to the fact that the system has assigned it a letter of the already connected drive. To fix this error, you need to go along the following path:
Start-> Control Panel-> Performance and Maintenance-> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management
Select the item "Disk Management" (4) and right-click, find your hdd (5) and select the item "Change drive letter or path to disk" (6) and assign a different drive letter, which is free:
Lack of food
If checking the USB ports shows that they are working properly, then the external hard drive may not be detected because it does not have enough power. This can be caused by the use of an extension cord in which there is a lot of energy loss. To avoid such a problem, it is recommended to connect the external drive using the standard cable included in the kit. Connect through the port on the rear panel.
Using the power supply
In cases where the drive has two connectors required to connect to two USB ports, then both should be connected. Also, if the storage device has an optional power supply, it should be used.
When the external drive is not detected, the reason for this may be the shortcomings of the power supply, caused either by its obsolescence or by a large amount of equipment installed on it. In this case, the best solution would be to install a power supply unit with a higher wattage.
Mechanical damage to hdd
If the external hard drive is not detected, then it is its malfunction that may be to blame. This is verified by energizing it. If at the same time the device is silent (there are no characteristic sounds), then you should not try to cope with the problem on your own. After all, the causes of a malfunction may lie in magnetic heads, bearing jamming, spindle motor winding, controller or microcircuit. It is not necessary to reconnect the drive over and over again, thus you can permanently disable it. In this case, it must be taken to a service center. Only specialists with devices with the necessary knowledge and experience can accurately determine the malfunction, fix it, if possible, and answer your question: why the external hard drive is not detected.
If you have any problems connecting an external hard drive (USB HDD) to a PC in the form of the impossibility of accessing its data when the windows OS does not recognize removable media as usual in Explorer, then the reasons when the computer “does not see” the hard drive can be solve like this:
- You need to check if your USB hard drive is detected in the Disk Management menu. In order to get into it, click "Start" and select "Control Panel". Switch to viewing small icons and follow the path "Administration | Computer Management ". In windows 8, 10, and 7 versions, you can quickly access this menu by pressing the right mouse button on the item "This computer" in the "Explorer".
- In the "Computer Management" tab you will find the required "Disk Management" menu. On the right side, you will see a list of all mapped drives in your PC and their respective partitions, marked with colors. If windows "sees" the external drive, and it appears in the list, you can only exclude the power failure of the hard drive or USB cable.
- Then check if the attached external hard drive is assigned a letter. If there is no letter, right-click on the drive area and select the "Change drive letter or drive path ..." option. In the window that appears, click the "Add" button and set the drive to any free letter from A to Z. After confirming the changes, the USB HDD will become active and will appear in the "My Computer" menu ("This computer", depending on the version of windows).
- If the above tips for connecting a portable hard drive did not bring any effect, then the drive is probably not formatted for the file system of your operating system. In this case, again right-click on the disk area and select "Format". Keep in mind that with this manipulation, all data on the disk will be completely deleted.
MediaPure.ru
The computer does not see the external hard drive: what is the reason, how to fix it
A question from a user ...
Hello. My 1TB Seagate Expansion external hard drive (without power adapter) was purchased in 2015.Since then it has worked well, I have used it as additional memory for music, photos, videos (I have a computer and a laptop - it is convenient to transfer data between them).
The other day I connect it to the USB port and I see that the computer does not see the external hard drive at all! I tried to connect it to a laptop - the same thing, even the LED is off. Do not tell me what could be the reason, how can I fix it (I didn’t drop the disc, didn’t hit it, didn’t pour it over, in general I was very careful with it)? There are no particularly necessary documents on the disk, but there is a large archive of interesting files accumulated recently. Thank you in advance.
Good day!
In general, there are quite a few reasons why this could happen: for example, a USB cable has become unusable. In this article I will try to give the most basic reasons for this "invisibility" problem. By going through them, you and many other users will be able to fix a similar problem on their own, thereby saving you time and money 😉. So...
Reasons for invisible external hard drive
The first thing I want to start this article with is with "external signs", because it is by them that you can determine whether there are problems with the hardware itself. And you see them earlier than all other parameters and settings in windows.
When connecting a disk to a USB port, you must:
- LED on: almost all external drives are equipped with LEDs that will light up (blink) when they are connected. If the LED is off, there may be a problem with the USB cable, USB port (it is recommended to try connecting to another USB port, other devices: computer, laptop). Also, if the LED is off, there may be a problem not with the drive itself inside the case, but with the board (controller). If there is no important data on the disk, you can try to open it and connect it directly (how to do it - the link below).
- trying to repair an external hard drive at home - https://ocomp.info/remont-vneshnego-zhestkogo-diska.html
- the same characteristic sound is produced in windows;
- you can hear the sound of movement inside the disc, a very slight "hiss" (subtle). Just do not confuse this sound with loud clicks, intermittent beats, ticks, etc. - all this indicates a problem with the disk mechanics, and in this case, the disk needs to be carried to the service (especially if it contains important data). Note: some models of disks may emit slight subtle clicks during operation (this occurs repositioning of the heads). If the disk has already been in use, then you probably know how your device "makes noise" 😆.
Why all of the above is written: just if, when the disk is connected to the computer, it does not show any signs of life (the LED is off, the sound of movement inside is inaudible), then it makes no sense to look further for the cause of its "invisibility"; there is a problem with iron (with wires, with the disk itself, with USB ports).
Drive letter conflict
Each storage medium: hard disk, optical disk, floppy disk, etc. - when connected to a computer, a letter is assigned automatically (C: \, D: \, E: \, etc.). It happens that windows, as a result of some kind of failure or conflict, assigns the wrong letter - as a result, the media is not displayed. Moreover, this happens not so rarely ...
How to open disk management (windows 7/8/10):
- press the Win + R buttons;
- enter the command diskmgmt.msc;
- press Enter (see screen below).
Disk Management - How to Open
In the list of drives, select an external hard drive (if it is not there, go to the next paragraph of the article: to the problem with drivers), right-click on this line, and in the pop-up context menu select "Change drive letter or path to drive ... "(as in the screenshot below).
Change drive letter
Then select any other letter, and click change (see screenshot below).
Change letter
Filesystem problem
In Disk Management, pay attention to how the disk is displayed. If a black stripe "burns" above it and says "Not allocated", then the disk is simply not formatted.
If the hard disk is new, then this happens quite often (not all manufacturers format the disk).
To format a disk - open disk management (it is described how to do it just above in the article), select it in the list, and right-click on it - then select "Create a simple volume" from the menu (see screenshot below).
Note! Formatting will erase all data on the disk! If you had files on it before, then most likely a failure occurred, try first to fix errors on the disk, more on that below.
The disk is not formatted
In the next step, you will need to specify the drive letter (choose any free one), the file system (I recommend NTFS), and set the volume size (usually on external hard drives this parameter is not changed, making one single volume for the entire disk size).
If your external hard drive has already been formatted and you have not already copied files to it, then the display of "unallocated area" (or RAW file system) may occur due to:
- incorrect disconnection of the disk from the USB port (for example, when the information was being copied, and you abruptly "pulled out" the USB cord);
- a power outage could occur: for example, during a power outage, its surges;
- when infected with some types of viruses;
- in case of malfunction of the piece of iron.
Most often, all the same, the display of the RAW file system is associated with an incorrect disk disconnection. In this case, as a rule, you can quickly fix errors and bring the disk back to life.
How to check the disk (data will not be deleted, everything will remain in place!)
First you need to run the command line. How to do it:
- press the key combination Win + R;
- in the open line enter cmd press Enter.
How to start the command line - the universal way for windows 7, 8, 10
Next, at the command prompt, type chkdsk e: / f (where e: is your drive letter). Verification takes only a few minutes. In many cases, after such a simple procedure, the computer begins to see the disk, files and folders remain intact.
Check disk // chkdsk
A few words about the TV ...
In my practice, I came across another interesting reason due to which the disk becomes invisible. New modern TV (with some SmartTV functions) - when connecting a disk, asked the user to agree with its layout. He agreed, and everything seemed to be recorded on him normally. But when he connected it to a computer, he refused to see. The bottom line is that the TV formatted the drive to a different file system. After formatting to the NTFS file system, everything began to work "as needed" (the problem is fixed - also, through disk management, no additional programs are required) ...
Driver conflict or missing
If your external hard drive is not visible in disk management, I recommend checking if the drivers are installed on it.
Little remark ...
In general, windows 7, 8, 10, when connecting a USB flash drive or the same external drive to a computer, automatically installs drivers. But in some cases, this does not happen (it is difficult to say why, whether the disk is not "normal" and there are no standard drivers for it in the system "store", or there is some kind of error and conflict with other drivers, or else due to why ...).
If the driver for your disk is not installed, then you will not find your disk in Disk Management !!!
To check the driver installation, open Device Manager. For this:
- press the key combination WIN + R;
- in the window that appears, enter the command devmgmt.msc and press Enter (screen below, works in windows 7, 8, 10).
How to start device manager
In Device Manager, click the Disk Devices tab. Next, notice that:
- Whether your device is listed or displayed at all;
- Also check the "Other devices" tab - it displays devices for which there are no drivers.
- Is there a yellow exclamation mark in front of your disk (if there is, then the driver for your disk is not installed). An example is shown in the screenshot below.
Left: everything is fine with the driver (WD Elements) // Right: no driver (yellow exclamation mark) WD My Passport
How to update the driver for the disc:
Lack of food
Quite often, problems with external drives happen due to a lack of power. Especially if you have several devices connected to one USB port at once.
A characteristic feature when there is a lack of power: the disk at first seems to be displayed normally, but as soon as you want to copy or read something to it, it becomes inaccessible (or simply hangs).
How you can fix the problem: try to buy a Y-shaped lanyard (photo is shown below) and connect the drive to two USB ports at once. I have had this happen with some disks, which become invisible after a few seconds, when trying to connect them to the USB ports of the laptop.
Advice! If you are connecting an external HDD to a laptop, try connecting to a stationary computer (or to another device). It is possible that on another device - the disk will work as expected.
USB Y-cord for connecting an external HDD
A USB hub with an additional power supply can also be a good solution. An example of such a splitter is shown in the photo below.
USB hub with power supply
Some types of viruses (and antiviruses, by the way) can block the connection of external media and devices. Therefore, I recommend the same:
This concludes the article, I hope you solve the problem (or at least find out what is the reason)!
For additions on the topic - I am grateful in advance. Good luck!
ocomp.info
Why the computer does not detect the removable hard drive
There are situations when there is a catastrophic lack of hard disk space. For PC users, the problem can be solved by self-installing a second hard drive in the system unit, but if you own a laptop, then you will have to contact a service center to replace the media. One of the ways out of this situation is to purchase an external hard drive.
It is a very useful device for storing and exchanging data between PCs, with a decent amount of up to several terabytes and the size of a smartphone. But also, like any electronic device, it is not immune from errors and malfunctions. The user is faced with a situation when, when connected, the computer does not see the external hard drive.
External hard drive not recognized
Most often, when connecting to a computer, an error occurs that the windows operating system cannot recognize the USB device and it does not work correctly. Why does this situation arise?
First, try plugging it into a different USB port. If the external hard drive is recognized by a different port, the problem is most likely a problem with the USB controller of that port.
When the error appears when connecting to a different port, you should check on a different computer. If another PC sees a removable drive, you should check if USB support is enabled in the BIOS.
There may be a problem with the drivers. You should check the "serviceability" of the drivers in the "Device Manager", which can be accessed from the "Control Panel". Go to the "Disk drives" tab and see if there is an exclamation mark in a yellow triangle next to the removable drive. If so, we try to update the driver. First, uninstall the removable storage driver by right-clicking on the “Uninstall” item from the pop-up menu. Unplug and plug the device back into the USB port after about a minute. The driver should be automatically detected.
If the above steps did not bring the expected result, then the windows operating system cannot correctly determine the drivers for the external drive. In that case, download them from the official site. If you have a new external hard drive, then the drivers must be written on it. Extract them on another computer that successfully recognizes the device.
Sometimes the computer does not see removable media due to lack of power. This problem appears when you are using a USB hub to which several devices are already connected. Try plugging it directly into the port. Some external drives have two connectors, you need to connect both, although on a second computer removable media can work without problems on one.
Sometimes due to lack of power, the device is not recognized when connected to the front USB ports, please reconnect it to the rear port. There are situations when the front ports were not connected when assembling the computer.
The computer does not see the external hard drive due to mechanical failures of the device itself or due to breaks in the connecting cable. If the cable can be changed on your own, then in case of mechanical breakdowns, you should definitely contact the service center.
Device recognized but not displayed
Sometimes after connecting an external drive, an icon appears in the tray, the system sees it, but it is not displayed on the "My Computer" tab or in the file manager. Why it happens? This situation is quite common if the hard drive is "detailed" into local disks. windows can assign an existing local drive letter to an external device.
You can fix the letter on the Disk Management tab in the Computer Management section, which in turn can be invoked from the command line with the compmgmt.msc command.
Right-click on the rectangle with the name of the external hard drive and in the drop-down menu click on the item "Change drive letter or path to drive". The system displays all "unoccupied" letters, you can select any.
Sometimes a removable hard drive does not appear on the My Computer tab because it is not formatted. To do this, on the "Disk Management" tab, right-click on it and select "Format" in the drop-down menu.
InstComputer.ru
5 reasons why your computer can't see your external hard drive
What if my computer can't see my external hard drive? Typically, these drives are easy to use because they are adapted for everyday use by the mass consumer. But there are situations when the HDD is not recognized after connecting to a computer with a windows operating system or to another device with a USB port. 
Possible reasons
Most often, a computer or laptop does not see a removable hard drive due to a partition formatting error, an incorrect file system, a broken USB port, or the lack of necessary drivers, but there may be other reasons. In the worst case, this may mean that the hard drive is out of order. It should be noted that the principle of operation of large external HDDs and pocket flash drives is identical, so the problems associated with them are usually solved in the same way. Here you can familiarize yourself with the identical material on the invisibility of memory cards on various devices.
First of all, you need to find out why the external hard drive is not detected. To do this, you need to connect the external drive to your computer. If this is a full-fledged hard drive, then you must turn on the power on it. Some heavy removable HDDs can even be plugged in from the mains using a separate cable. After connecting, you need to open the storage management tool. To do this, use the key combination windows + R. In the line that appears, enter diskmgmt.msc and press Enter.
You should now see your external HDD listed with all available drives. It will appear here even if Explorer on windows XP does not recognize it due to the lack of partitions. If the external hard drive is detected, but does not open, then it needs to be formatted properly, after which it will be recognized by various devices. In the case when the drive could not be detected even here, the reason may be something else.
What if the external hard drive is not detected? This can be caused by a hardware breakdown of the USB port, lack of the necessary driver, or failure of the drive. First of all, you need to try to start the disk through another free slot. If after such a procedure the opened HDD works normally, then the reason was in the broken USB port. It happens that the connectors on the front of the computer case have limited functionality and cannot support the normal operation of an external hard drive. We recommend using the rear USB ports.
Computer problems
Why can't my computer see my external drive? If the portable drive does not appear in the disk management manager on windows 7 even after connecting to a different connector, then it remains to find out if everything is in order with the PC and the external drive. When the computer does not see the disk, but there is another PC at hand, then you need to try to connect the drive to it. In the case when the available computers do not detect the external drive, it can be concluded that it is broken and cannot be recovered.
If windows 10 does not see the drive, but it is recognized on other computers, then the operating system does not have the necessary drivers to detect it. You can probably find out using the Device Manager on your computer. To open it, you need to call the command line using windows + R, enter devmgmt.msc there and press Enter.
In the window that opens, the user should check all available disks for the presence of an icon in the form of a yellow exclamation mark. If such a picture is found, then the problem is with the drivers. You need to right-click on the device with a yellow sign, go to properties and read a message that reveals the essence of the error. If you literally copy this inscription into the Google search engine, then, with a high degree of probability, the results found will help solve the problem, because other users have probably already encountered such a disaster.
System errors like these can be difficult to fix. If the computer stopped seeing the drive relatively recently, then you can run System Restore. In Device Manager, it is also recommended to try updating the driver or rolling it back to a previous version, as a result of which the HDD may start to open. You also need to try to remove the device from the list in the hope that when you reconnect, Windows XP will be able to configure it correctly.
File system and formatting
You can use Disk Manager to fix problems with partitions and file system. If the visible disk in the image is full and there is unallocated space on it, then you need to create a new partition on it, so that it can open. To do this, right-click inside the unallocated space and create a new partition.
If the HDD is divided into sectors, but the computer stopped seeing the external drive, then you need to make sure that it received a designation in the form of a certain letter. The computer that sees the disk should do this automatically, but in some cases the user accidentally deletes the letter, which is why the disk cannot be detected. If the letter is missing, you need to enter it manually.
Why can't my PC see my external hard drive? There is always the possibility that the drive is not readable because it is using the wrong file system. The drive can be formatted with ext4 for Linux or HFS Plus for Mac. At the same time, Macbook does not see ext4, and Linux does not see HFS Plus. Even the tablet does not work with such file systems, so the drive will need to be reformatted with NTFS or the older FAT32 in case the computer cannot see it. To do this, you need to right-click on the disk and select the appropriate system. Note that this will delete all files on the disk. When MacBook does not see your external hard drive, you need to format it with HFS Plus.
If the external HDD is no longer detected from another device, such as a disk player, smart TV, game console or multimedia center, then the reason may be in the NTFS file system. Many devices refuse to work with it, including the Xbox 360. In this case, you need to remove and format the portable disk using the old FAT32 file system. It should be borne in mind that this process will lead to the deletion of files on the external drive, so they must first be copied somewhere.
All of the above recommendations did not help to solve the problem, and windows does not see the HDD? In this case, we can conclude that the external hard drive is out of order, cannot be recovered, and information cannot be retrieved from it. Unfortunately, this technique quite often breaks down after several years of intensive use, and this is quite normal. The proposed video will help you understand in more detail the question of why the computer does not see the external hard drive.
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The computer does not see the external hard drive: instructions for solving the problem
What if my computer can't see my external hard drive? First, it is advisable to carefully consider the situation and try to understand the cause of the malfunction.
If it is large enough, then insufficient power may be the reason for its absence in File Manager. The USB interface, depending on the type, delivers different power. You can start by trying to insert the connecting cable in series into different USB sockets. As a rule, the amperage in them differs slightly and it is quite possible that one of the USB connectors will be able to provide sufficient power for the normal operation of the device.
There is a wide range of such accessories on the market today. They all have different parameters and can have a completely different connection. Some have a separate cable for power connection. This needs to be checked against the datasheet. The possibility that this is the whole point - the drive was connected as usual, using USB, and they forgot about the additional power cable.
If there is not enough electricity, the disk may work partially, vibrate, and it will seem that everything is normal. Sometimes the USB cable itself is a slightly different type - if there is a replacement, you should try different connectors.
It is advisable to choose a cord for connection as thick and short in length as possible. All of this significantly affects the transmission of power. Sometimes the problem with insufficient power can be solved by connecting a cable with two connectors at one end. These two contactors are plugged into different slots on the case of the system unit and thus receive electricity from two sources.
If manipulations with the USB connection do not work, it is useful to test the device's performance by connecting to another computer. It is possible that it is defective.
Settings problem
Enter the management interface and see if the drive has no name, so the computer cannot identify it. Then you need to ask him some letter.
It so happens that the device is not detected due to an incorrectly assigned configuration in the BIOS. Go to the BIOS settings and if there is an external drive there, try changing the configuration to another one from the proposed list. After that, you need to restart your computer.
Problems often arise after working with programs such as Alcohol, Acronis and similar applications for managing, creating virtual disks. Sometimes, in the process of working with such programs, the computer switches to communication with virtual disks, and ceases to see real physical drives. The danger of using such powerful applications is that they are very deeply embedded in the system registry and change the internal settings of the computer.
In this situation, rollback of the system to a previous state, when the program for disk management has not yet been installed and has not had time to change anything in the system, can help. Or so - completely uninstall the program along with all the settings. And do not forget to check whether previously created virtual disks remain in the computer system. They also need to be removed. Then restart your computer and reset CMOS settings to default settings.
File system conflict
Problems often appear after updating the operating system. Especially when switching from windows XP to windows 7 or 8. If the device worked normally with windows XP for a long time, and after a fresh installation of windows 8 it was no longer detected, the file system of the computer could change and now the disk and the operating system seem to speak different languages.
In such a situation, if you forcefully assign a name to it and try to start doing something, the system will most likely say that the disk is not formatted and will prompt you to format it immediately. If the data on the disk is not particularly important, you can do so. Then the new operating system itself will set the advisory configuration to the external hard drive.
The situation is especially unpleasant if it contains important working documents or valuable files. The simplest solution is to reinstall the previously installed operating system, overwrite information from the external drive, format this drive and change the file system.
After that, install the windows update again and then it will already work with the computer without any problems.
Another option is to change the file system using a special utility that can be downloaded from one of the software portals. Or use the same Alcohol or Acronis applications mentioned above to change the file system.
The malfunction can sometimes be identified by ear.
- If you don't hear any movement when turned on and the power indicators are on, the drive may be defective.
- If you hear unusual sounds, knocking, ticking, intermittent banging, something has happened to the internal mechanism.
If the device behaves suspiciously, it must be immediately disconnected from the computer and taken to a workshop for inspection.
