My Computer Is Not Reading My Wd External Hard Drive
Backing up your data is important, and while storing information on the deject has go 2d nature to most, in that location'south still zilch like having everything saved on a physical device.
External drives are uncomplicated: you plug them in, they appear on your figurer, and you can drag files right on over. But if your drive isn't appearing when yous plug information technology in, you might have a problem. Here are a few troubleshooting steps you tin can take to remedy the state of affairs.
Make Certain It's Plugged In and Powered On
Western Digital My Book
I know, I know, only hear me out: just because you plugged the bulldoze into your computer doesn't hateful information technology'due south necessarily receiving the power information technology needs. While some drives tin can depict enough ability from your reckoner's USB port, others—especially larger drives not intended to exist portable, like the Western Digital My Book—may require wall power to spin up.
If your drive came with an AC ability adapter just y'all oasis't plugged information technology in, try hooking information technology up (and pressing the power button, if in that location is ane). If information technology came with 2 USB plugs, make sure they'reboth plugged into your PC. With any luck, your drive will appear usually once it gets the juice it needs.
Try Another USB Port (or Another PC)
(Photo: Cronislaw/Shutterstock)
If the drive even so isn't working, unplug information technology and try a unlike USB port. It'due south possible the port in question is declining, or just existence finicky with your specific drive. If it'due south plugged into a USB 3.0 port, endeavor a USB 2.0 port. If information technology's plugged into a USB hub, endeavour plugging it straight into the PC instead. You might likewise attempt it in another computer.
If y'all're a multi-platform household, I'd especially recommend trying it in a computer that runs another operating system—e.1000., if you can't get the bulldoze showing up on a Windows PC, try plugging it into a Mac. It'southward possible the drive simply isn't formatted for the computer you lot're trying to utilize, and you'll need to re-create that data onto a bulldoze that'southward formatted for cross-compatibility.
Update Your Drivers
Occasionally, Windows runs into driver problems that will render a device unrecognizable. Open the Start menu, type "device manager," and press Enter when the option appears. Expand the Disk Drives menu and the Universal Serial Bus bill of fare to see if your external drive appears in either set. If you come across an entry that looks similar your bulldoze with a yellow exclamation mark, correct-click on the device and cull Properties—you may discover an error code you lot can Google. Y'all can also head to the Driver tab and endeavor updating or uninstalling the driver and rebooting your computer.
Usually, difficult drives but use Windows' built-in USB and hard disk drive drivers, and so this isn't likely to fix a temperamental drive, but it's worth a shot. (Y'all tin also attempt downloading drivers from the bulldoze manufacturer's website, but once again, that'south probably a long shot.) Bank check out our guide to updating your drivers for more than details on this process.
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Enable and Format the Bulldoze in Disk Management
If your drive is powered on but however isn't appearing in File Explorer, it'due south time to exercise some excavation. Open the Commencement carte du jour and type "disk management," and printing Enter when theCreate and Format Hd Partitions pick appears. One time Disk Direction loads, scroll downwardly to see if your disk appears in the list. If information technology does, make sure it'due south online and formatted. If it's offline, right-click the disk'south proper noun (e.1000. "Disk 2") and choose Online.
If the disk hasn't been formatted (it'll say "Unallocated" under a black bar), correct-click it and cullNew Simple Volume. This will too solve the problem if the drive is formatted for another operating organisation, every bit described to a higher place. Be warned that formatting it will erase whatever information on the bulldoze, and then only continue if you're certain you don't need annihilation from it.
Finally, if your drive is online and formatted, but doesn't testify a drive letter next to its proper noun, correct-click the volume and chooseChange Bulldoze Letter of the alphabet and Paths to add together a drive alphabetic character. If yous're lucky, one of these unproblematic steps should go your new bulldoze up and running.
Clean the Deejay and Start From Scratch
In some more specific cases, the drive will appear in Disk Management, simply but formatting the drive won't work. This is extremely common with SD cards formatted with Linux distributions for the Raspberry Pi, for example.
To regain your drive'southward total capacity, you'll need to run Windows' "clean" command, which will return the drive to a completely unformatted land. Again, this will erase anything on it, so only continue if yous have no other options—and make extra sure yous're cleaning the correct disk, or y'all could lose a lot of data.
Open the Starting time card, blazon "diskpart," and press Enter to open the run command. When the prompt appears, type "list disk" and press Enter to see the disks plugged into your arrangement. If you run into the drive in question appear—pay close attention to its size—make a annotation of its proper noun. We'll employ "Disk two" in this example.
Blazon "select disk 2" and press Enter to select the disk you want to clean. Finally, type "clean" and printing Enter. This volition erase the disk, at which indicate you lot tin follow the higher up steps to format it from the Disk Direction console.
Remove and Test the Bare Drive
Sabrent USB 3.0 to SATA External Hard Drive
If none of the above options work, yous should remove the bulldoze from its external enclosure and test the bulldoze on its ain. The components that catechumen that SATA bulldoze into USB can fail, meaning the drive could be just fine if you connect information technology some other style.
If you have a desktop PC bachelor, and the technological know-how, you tin can open information technology upward and plug the drive straight into your motherboard. If not, buy a new external SATA-to-USB adapter dock or enclosure, plug your blank drive into that, then connect that to your PC over USB.
If it works, and so your old enclosure (or its ability supply) may exist dead. If your drive nonetheless isn't recognized, you may have a dead drive. Contact the manufacturer to see if you're still nether warranty, and make sure your other difficult drives are in working order.
Our Favorite External Hard Drives
ADATA HD830 (Photograph: Zlata Ivleva)
If your drive is beyond repair, it might be time for a new ane. Cheque out PCMag's roundup of the best difficult drives, wireless drives, and rugged drives. We too have roundups of the best drives for Mac.
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Source: https://www.pcmag.com/how-to/what-to-do-when-an-external-hard-drive-wont-show-up
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