Many users complained that their external hard drives are connected but not showing on computer or File Explorer the Windows 10/8/7. Some reported that the USB or external hard drive is not showing up on My Computer or File Explorer but showing in Disk Management. Others said that external hard drive shows in device manager but not disk management. To fix these external hard drive issues, this troubleshooting post will be helpful for you.
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- Computer Can't Find External Hard Drive Windows 7
- Cannot Find External Hard Drive
The trouble is that the drive isn't recognized by my PC at all. When I go into ‘Device Manager', the drive doesn't actually show up. I have tried plugging the drive into my other Windows 7 PC (laptop) and it is recognized perfectly. Additionally, I've tried plugging in a My Passport Drive into the desktop PC and it. If the external drive doesn't have a partition, right-click the 'Unallocated' space, and select the New Simple Volume option. Click the Next button. Click the Next button again. Select the Assign.
- There are many users who opt for external hard drives to store data. Unfortunately, sometimes, the system is not able to read data from the external hard drive. In such a case, the user is stuck and he/she is not able to access his/her data. Now, the question crops up, how one can access the data from the external hard drive that won't read?
- An external hard drive is similar to the type of hard drive (HDD) that you can find inside your computer. An external hard drive is, of course, connected outside of the computer, thus making it portable, and easily transported, stored, and connected to other systems.
Case 1: External hard drive shows up in disk management but not file explorer
You may experience that your USB or external drive has been connected to the computer, but it is not showing in File Explorer or My Computer, but shows in Disk Management instead. Under this situation, it will be regarded as an unknown disk and shows the capacity to be 2048 GB in the Disk Management. To fix the problem, please try following methods.
When external hard drive issue occurs, an external hard drive is not showing files though they still exist. If any important data is in the USB/external hard drive when external hard drive shows up in Disk Management but not File Explorer, you can employ data recovery to retrieve your data before formatting it.
Tip: If your external hard drive shows in device manager but not disk management, you can directly move to the case 2.
1. Assign a Drive Letter to the USB/Hard Drive
Sometimes, the drive might not have been assigned a drive letter by Windows so that USB or external hard drive cannot show on File Explorer but in Disk Management. In this case, you can try to assign a drive letter to the USB or external hard drive in Disk Management.
STEP 1. Navigate to 'Control Panel'> 'System and Security'> 'Administrative Tools'.
STEP 2. Choose 'Computer Management'. Provide an administrative passcode, if asked.
STEP 3. In Disk Management, find out the unlabeled hard drive and right-click on it to choose 'Change drive letter and paths...'
STEP 4. Click 'Add'> 'OK' to pick out the available drive letter.
STEP 5. If the drive letter does not show on the drive, check if the drive is offline. If it is, right-click the disk number and select Online. And then, follow the instructions again.
NOTE:
If you can't finish the operation in Disk Management, you are able to run 'cmd' to change or assign the drive letter.
Open Command Prompt. (CMD) and type 'diskpart'.
At the DISKPART prompt, enter 'list volume'. ( mark down the number of the simple volume whose drive letter you want to assign)
At the DISKPART prompt, enter 'select volume n[volume's number]' (Select the volume whose drive letter you want to assign)
At the DISKPART prompt, enter 'assign letter=N' (N stands for the drive letter you want to assign)
2. Make sure that the hard drive is enabled and online
Make sure the hard drive is enabled
If the drive has been disabled, the disk will be invisible in File Explorer. When the disk is disabled, follow the steps below to Enable it:
STEP 1. Press 'Windows'+ 'R' on the keyboard to activate run box.
STEP 2. Type 'devmgmt.msc' on the run box to open 'Device Manager'.
STEP 3. If a drive is disabled, the disk drive will be marked with a down arrow. Locate the hard drive you want to enable.
STEP 4. Right-click on it and choose 'Properties'> 'View'tab.
STEP 5. Click on 'Enable Device' button > 'OK'.
STEP 6. After that, check if the down arrow is still there.
Make sure that the drive is online
Sometimes, an external hard drive connected but not showing because the drive is offline. To be detected by Windows, you can follow steps below to check the current status of the disk.
Go to 'Control Panel'> 'System and Security'> 'Administrative Tools'.
Choose 'Computer Management', and locate your disk in 'Disk Management'.
Right-click on it and select 'Online'.
3. Update drivers for USB or external hard drive
When your USB/external drive does not show on file explorer on Windows 10/8/7, you can try to update its driver in Device Manager. As we know, an update is created to fix some glitches for the previous version so as to make USB or external drive showing on My computer again.
STEP 1. Press 'Windows'key + 'R'and enter 'devmgmt.msc' on the run box.
STEP 2. Open 'Device Manager'> Click the 'Scan for hardware changes' icon on the menu.
STEP 3. Right-click on the inaccessible USB/external hard drive and choose 'Update Driver Software....'.
STEP 4. After the update is finished, restart your PC and check if the device is accessible.
4. Recover data from hard drive that is not showing
When external hard drive issue occurs, an external hard drive is not showing files though they still exist. If any important data is in the USB/external hard drive when external hard drive shows up in Disk Management but not File Explorer, you can employ data recovery to retrieve your data before formatting it. Here we highly recommend you FonePaw Data Recovery which is capable of recovering data from USB/ external hard drive, supporting Window 10/8/7. To recover data from hard drive, you just need few simple steps.
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STEP 1. Run FonePaw Data Recovery, and then, select the file types you need.
STEP 2. Next, click on 'Scan' button after selecting your USB/external drive.
STEP 3. Select out the files you want to recover.
STEP 4. Finally, click on 'Recover' button to finish data recovery.
STEP 2. Open 'Device Manager'> Click the 'Scan for hardware changes' icon on the menu.
STEP 3. Right-click on the inaccessible USB/external hard drive and choose 'Update Driver Software....'.
STEP 4. After the update is finished, restart your PC and check if the device is accessible.
4. Recover data from hard drive that is not showing
When external hard drive issue occurs, an external hard drive is not showing files though they still exist. If any important data is in the USB/external hard drive when external hard drive shows up in Disk Management but not File Explorer, you can employ data recovery to retrieve your data before formatting it. Here we highly recommend you FonePaw Data Recovery which is capable of recovering data from USB/ external hard drive, supporting Window 10/8/7. To recover data from hard drive, you just need few simple steps.
Download
STEP 1. Run FonePaw Data Recovery, and then, select the file types you need.
STEP 2. Next, click on 'Scan' button after selecting your USB/external drive.
STEP 3. Select out the files you want to recover.
STEP 4. Finally, click on 'Recover' button to finish data recovery.
STEP 5. After that, you can keep on formatting your inaccessible USB/external hard drive.
Case 2: External hard drive shows up in Device Manager but not Disk Management or File Explorer
Unlike case 1, USB or external hard drive sometimes is invisible in File Explorer or Disk Management, but it can be detected in Device Manager, for example, an external HDD won't show up in explorer, but it shows in Device Manager. To fix the issue, several methods can be listed below.
1. Make sure the USB or external hard drive is available. If it is not showing up in Disk Management or File Explorer, you can try to plug it into other USB port of your computer. What's more, you can connect your external drive to other computers to check if it works.
2. Partition and format the external hard drive.
Go to 'Computer Management'. > Right-click on black bar of the invisible drive to choose 'New Partition...'> Follow the instruction to finish the Partition.
Right-click on the drive and select 'Format'.
3. Disable and re-enable the USB controller.
Navigate to 'Device Manager'. > Find 'Unknown USB Device' and right-click on it. > Choose 'Uninstall'.
After restarting your PC, enable the USB controller again.
Now, your issue - external hard drive not showing Windows 10/8/7 has been resolved. To manage the data on USB/external hard drive, read here:
If your computer is not detecting your hard drive, this can be due to a variety of issues involving connectivity. Unfortunately, it can be virtually impossible to fix a hard drive yourself if it has an internal problem, however, if your computer does not recognize your hard drive, you can try a few troubleshooting techniques to test and repair the connection of your hard drive to your computer.
If you've recently installed a new hard drive, don't first assume that the computer does not detect it because it is new. If troubleshooting methods don't work, then it's best to contact the manufacturer of the device. Lastly, before attempting any troubleshooting, make sure the computer is turned off and disconnected from the power source.
Make Sure Hard Drive is 'On' in System Setup
The System Setup of your computer, or BIOS or CMOS, may not have your hard drive switched on. On most personal computers, entering F2 will bring up the System Setup to determine if this is the case. There is a basic On / Off setting in the setup. If the computer does not detect the hard drive, it might be a simple fix of turning it on.
Depending on the make of your computer, there may be different methods to enter the setup, so you should check with the manufacturer first.
Check for Damaged or Unplugged Data Cable
It's possible that the connection on your motherboard or hard drive is faulty or is poor. Your system will not detect the hard drive if the data cable is damaged or connection is incorrect. To test the connection, you can replace the cable with another cable. If the problem continues with a new data cable, then the cable is not the issue.
Test If the Drive is Spinning Up
If you believe the cause is that your hard drive may not be spinning up, you can try these techniques to test its operation:
- You can check to see if your drive is not spinning up by powering off the computer, and then opening up the computer case to remove the data cable from the drive. Turn on the system again and wait for the drive to begin spinning. You should hear or feel a slight vibration coming from the computer, meaning the drive is spinning.
- If the drive is still not operating, make sure there is sufficient power supply to your computer to allow for the hard drive to operate.
A hard drive can not spinning for many different reasons, but one of the more common reasons is physical damage. If you feel that your hard drive was dropped recently, or if it recieved water damage, then there's a good chance that can be the source of the problem.
Computer Cannot read data
Another cause for the computer not being able to detect your hard drive is a result of the data being corrupted. Whether it was a nasty virus, or your data was overwritten, you computer is having accessing the data stored on your hard drive. The simple solution to fix this issue is to delete all data on the hard drive, access backed up versions of your data, and start over again.
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This isn't always the best solution if you are unfamiliar with the process, or if you do not have backed up versions of the data. It is best to give us a call or send us an email if that is the case, and we likely can provide guidance.
In the event that troubleshooting your hard drive connectivity fails, proceed with contacting the hard drive manufacturer. If ever there is loss of data to your hard drive, Data Recovery Group can assist you in recovering any lost information.
Computer Can't Find External Hard Drive Windows 7
Give us a call at 877-315-7111 and we can walk you through what might be wrong with your hard drive
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