Sometimes when you attach an external drive to your system, there is a message appears, 'External Drive Not Recognized'. Why does this message appear? And moreover, how to fix it? Not to worry, if this error appears on your screen because we are here to help you with fixing the issue of an unrecognized drive. In this article, we are going to tell you some hacks and fixings regarding the ‘External Drive Not Recognized' message. Due to some technical issues, the drive you've attached doesn't recognize by your system. So let us move to the reason that why does this message ‘External Drive Not Recognized' appear and how to fix it.
- Windows 10 Does Not See External Drive
- Windows Not Recognizing External Hard Drive
- Windows 10 Not Recognizing Removable Drive
- External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Windows
Contents
- 1 Why does external drive not recognize error happens?
- 1.2 Basic troubleshooting
- 1.3 Checking disk health/condition
- 1.4 Drive letter to the USB drive
- 1.5 Formatting the drive
- 1.5.6 Step 6:
Why does external drive not recognize error happens?
If the drive you are attaching to your system is not recognized by your system, then there should be some hardware or technical issue responsible for this. So you can check them, if visible. If not, then there should be some internal problem that can be fixed by performing some steps we have mentioned in this article. Here are some reasons that might be responsible for this issue.
The drive is recognized in BIOS but does not show at all in W10 Disk Management. I've read other discussions that the drive may show in DM and the fix is to simply change the drive letter, but DM only shows my primary drive as Disk 0 then my USB drives. No 2nd hard drive. I've also started in Safe Mode but have the same issue, no 2nd hard drive. Fixing External Drive Not Recognized in Windows system. After understanding that why your system showing the message that External Drive Not Recognized, let's move to the solutions. Here are some solutions to fix External Drive Not Recognized in Windows system. Learn: Skype vs Facetime. Basic troubleshooting. Occasionally, Windows runs into driver issues that will render a device unrecognizable. Open the Start menu, type 'Device Manager,' and press Enter when the option appears. Expand the Disk Drives. I have two Western Digital 300GB, USB3, external drives. Suddenly both are not recognized by Windows. 1) Neither appear as a drive in File Explorer 2) Device Manager reports that the 'device is working properly', and the drivers are up to date. There is a message in Events that says 'device not migrated'. After the hard drive is uninstalled, unplug the USB cable. Wait for 1 minute and then reconnect the USB cable. Free dolphins pearl slot. The driver should automatically load. Check for the USB drive in Windows Explorer. Note Connecting your USB external hard drive into a non-powered USB hub can cause a lack of enough power to operate the external drive.
- It might be due to some breakage or internal disturbance (that cannot be fixed).
- Some error due to overloading of files and folder in your system.
- Another reason might be assumed that you'd not assigned to the following drive letter yet.
- The last exception should be that your drive might be corrupted.
Fixing External Drive Not Recognized in Windows system
After understanding that why your system showing the message that External Drive Not Recognized, let's move to the solutions. Here are some solutions to fix External Drive Not Recognized in Windows system.
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Basic troubleshooting
You can start with the basic troubleshooting, as it might be due to some attachment issue or port error, you can fix it simply by following these two steps.
Step 1:
As you can see this message on your system, it might happen that the port in which you have attached your drive, is not working properly. You can try to replace or attach it to another USB port.
Step 2:
If the above solution does not help, you can try to attach it to another system. Maybe the port of your current device is not working properly.
Checking disk health/condition
Another step is that you can check the disk health and condition. Follow these steps to check the disk health and condition.
Step 1:
Right click on the drive which is in the sidebar showing the disks and folders. Now open the Disk Management Role.
Step 2:
Now click Windows icon + R at the same time, there will appear a Run Window on your computer screen. Type diskmgmt.msc in the blank space and click OK.
Step 3:
Now, locate your USB drive to another port.
It may happen that the port can be smaller than your hard drive.
After understanding that why your system showing the message that External Drive Not Recognized, let's move to the solutions. Here are some solutions to fix External Drive Not Recognized in Windows system.
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Basic troubleshooting
You can start with the basic troubleshooting, as it might be due to some attachment issue or port error, you can fix it simply by following these two steps.
Step 1:
As you can see this message on your system, it might happen that the port in which you have attached your drive, is not working properly. You can try to replace or attach it to another USB port.
Step 2:
If the above solution does not help, you can try to attach it to another system. Maybe the port of your current device is not working properly.
Checking disk health/condition
Another step is that you can check the disk health and condition. Follow these steps to check the disk health and condition.
Step 1:
Right click on the drive which is in the sidebar showing the disks and folders. Now open the Disk Management Role.
Step 2:
Now click Windows icon + R at the same time, there will appear a Run Window on your computer screen. Type diskmgmt.msc in the blank space and click OK.
Step 3:
Now, locate your USB drive to another port.
It may happen that the port can be smaller than your hard drive.
Step 4:
Check the list appear, if it is not listed in the Disk Management, then it is the hardware problem.
Step 5:
Check partition on your USB drive.
Step 6:
It says healthy, then ok otherwise if it still unallocated, fix it.
Drive letter to the USB drive
How do you download google chrome on a macbook. When the above two do not work, then you can change the Drive Letter and Path. Follow these steps to do so.
Step 1:
Adobe reader for windows 8 32 bit. Right click on the USB drive's partition in Disk Management. https://herekload577.weebly.com/o-harris-casino.html.
Step 2:
Select the option ‘Change Drive Letter and Paths'.
Step 3:
Now click Add option.
Windows 10 Does Not See External Drive
Step 4:
Now select ‘Assign the Following Drive Letter'.
Step 5:
It will be better to avoid choosing A & B option given below the ‘Assign the Following Drive Letter'.
Step 6:
Close all tabs. Now again recheck the Drive after attaching to the port whether it is working or not.
Formatting the drive
Tried all of them and literally tired of this message not fixing. Then it is clear that there is not any problem in the system, it is your drive that might be corrupted due to some virus or some other issue. Run a scan on another laptop or system after attaching drive in another system. If needed, then format your drive. You can follow these steps to perform the format process.
Step 1:
The disk showing on the screen, right click on the USB drive's partition in Disk Management.
Step 2:
After the right click, there are many options appeared on your system. Select Format.
Step 3:
After tapping format option, select FAT32.
Note:FAT32 has the compatibility with virtually any device that not supports USB drive.
Step 4:
If you are using this only with Windows system, select NTFS.
Step 5:
Uncheck the option showing ‘Perform a quick Format'.
Step 6:
Click OK. Now attach the drive again to your system and recheck whether this message is appearing or not.
Note: We do not give you the 100% assurance with the above methods, as it is not necessary that your drive is in a better condition. If any of the methods does not work out, then it is the time you should have to change your drive only. There should be an internal defect that you cannot see or invisible for you. Better to buy another external drive if needed or if any of the above options worked then you can proceed with your current drive.
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Conclusion :So, this is all we had done to help you out with the ‘External Drive Not Recognized' message. As we already mentioned above that we did not give you 100% assurance with the above methods, as it is not necessary that your drive is in a better condition. If any of the methods did not work out, then it is the time you should have to change your drive. Hope this article helped you with your ‘External Drive Not Recognized' issue. If any of your friend or colleague faces this issue, help them by suggesting this article. Leave your queries and suggestions in the comments section below.
'My 1TB WD external hard drive is not working on my Windows 10 PC and I can do nothing to the drive since it fails to show up in This PC.
I've changed the USB port but it still not working.
I don't know what reasons have made the drive not responding, and neither I know any solutions. I've saved quite a lot of important files inside the drive. If you have any methods to fix my issue and make the WD external hard drive work again, please help me. Thank you.'
Though it's no longer a new problem that external hard drive fails to work or suddenly fail to show up in PC. But it's still a tough issue for ordinary users when their external hard drive, USB or SD card etc devices suddenly become unrecognized, not working or responding in PC. Here below, you'll find 1 quick fix and 4 methods to fix WD external hard drive not working issue. If your external hard drive or storage devices are having this issue, relax and just follow to get your problem fixed right here now.
Quick fix WD external hard drive not showing up/unrecognized/responding error
1. Click Start > Type: devmgmt.msc in the Search box and hit Enter.
2. Open Device Manager > Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
3. Right-click on the USB Root Hub > Select Properties.
Verbatim external hard drive not recognized. 4. Go to Power Management and uncheck Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power.
After this, reboot PC and reconnect WD external hard drive to your PC, then you'll be able to use the drive again.
If this quick fix doesn't work, relax and just follow below-offered methods to repair not working WD external hard drive or devices now.
Fix WD external hard drive not recognized error
Here you have two methods to follow and fix WD external hard drive not recognized or undetectable error in Windows 10/8/7:
Method 1. Reboot PC into Safe Mode to make WD external hard drive recognizable
- Go to Setting > Update & security.
- Tab on Recovery > Advanced Startup > Restart now.
- PC will automatically boot into another Startup Settings screen.
- Press F4 to initiate PC reboot into Safe Mode.
- Then check whether the WD external hard disk can be detected or not.
Method 2. Change drive letter to make unrecognized WD external hard drive detectable
The other way is to change the drive letter with Disk Management tool so to make unrecognized or undetectable WD external hard drive to show up in PC:
- Right-click on This PC/My Computer > Select Manage.
- Go Disk Management > Find your external hard drive and right click it by choosing Change Drive Letter and Path.
- Assign the drive with a new letter that doesn't exist in your PC and mark the Partition as Active.
- Click OK.
- Restart PC and your External hard drive will show up and work again.
Fix WD external hard drive not working/responding issue
When WD external hard drive, USB or other brands of storage devices are not working or not responding to any operations in your PC, don't worry. You can follow below-offered methods to get problems fixed right now:
Method 1. Update WD external hard drive driver to make it work
Play hocus pocus online. 1. Click on Start > Type: devmgmt.msc in Search to open Device Manager by hitting Enter.
2. Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers > Right-click every USB device found there and select Uninstall.
3. Then check out whether any devices show up as unrecognized or not:
- If WD external hard drive shows unrecognized, go to drivers tab and delete/uninstall the driver; Then check out whether the external hard drive shows up in My Computer/My PC or not.
- If it doesn't show up, reboot or restart PC;
- If it shows up but disappears later, repeat above steps and go to Disk Management, change the drive letter of your WD external hard drive and reconnect it to PC to let PC detect it again.
Method 2. Repair corrupted system files/bad sectors on not working WD external hard drive
Corrupted system files or bad sectors on WD external hard drive or other storage devices would block your device from working or responding in Windows PC.
Windows Not Recognizing External Hard Drive
Professional partition manager software from EaseUS will repair bad sectors and fix corrupted system files to make your WD external hard drive work again. Free download, install it and follow below guide steps to fix bad sectors and corrupted system files on your drive now:
Step 1: Open EaseUS Partition Master on your computer. Then locate the disk, right-click the partition you want to check, and choose 'Check File System'.
Step 2: In the Check File System window, keep the 'Try to fix errors if found' option selected and click 'Start'.
Windows 10 Not Recognizing Removable Drive
Step 3: The software will begin checking your partition file system on your disk. When it has completed, click 'Finish'.
Extra Tip: WD external hard drive recovery
External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Windows
After fixing not working external hard drive on your Windows PC, you may continue using it for storing fancy data again.
But if you lost files or valuable data on the drive, don't worry. Professional WD external hard drive recovery solution offered by EaseUS hard drive recovery software is what you exactly need. It will simply restore lost files from WD external hard drive within 3 simple steps on Windows 10/8/7 etc PC.
If you lost files after fixing WD external hard drive not working issue or cannot access saved data in your storage devices, just free download EaseUS hard drive recovery software and let it help now.
