How to Fix External Hard Disk not Detected in Windows?
Summary: USB devices like Hard Drives, Pen drives, Memory cards, etc. are an easy way to store and transfer data from one computer to another. These USB drives are portable and easy to handle, but sometimes you might face the Hard disk not detecting a problem with Windows PC. This happen when the USB port did not recognize the external USB drives. |
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When you try to access the data from the hard drive or USB device, you see the following USB Device Not Recognized error message:
“One of the USB devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it for assistance in solving this problem, click this message.”
इस पोस्ट को हिंदी में पढ़ने के लिए यहां क्लिक करें।
Table of Content
How to fix External Hard Disk not Detected in Windows?
Disconnect the power supply
Sometimes, a very simple trick can fix an external hard disk not detecting a problem. Follow the below steps to apply this trick.
- Shut Down your computer
- Disconnect the power cable from your computer and wait for a few minutes
- Reconnect the power cable and Start your computer.
Disconnect USB Device
- Disconnect the USB devices from your computer
- Restart your computer
- Reconnect USB devices to your computer
[NOTE]: If the current USB port doesn’t detect the hard drive then, try to connect it with another USB port. If it is recognized by other USB ports then, there could be a hardware problem with one of the USB ports. If no USB port recognizes the device then, try another solution. Don’t use any USB hub to connect the device to the computer. |
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Update USB Device Drivers
If all USB ports are working fine then you need to check for the latest USB driver installed on the computer. Because sometimes old drivers can prevent the drive to connect to the PC and shows the hard disk not detected an error. To check driver status follow the below steps.
- Press Windows + R key together and then, type devmgmt.msc in the run dialogue box and click on OK.
- Expand disk drivers and right-click on the connected external USB drive.
- Click on properties and select the Driver tab.
- Click on Update Driver Software and follow the further instruction to update the driver.
[NOTE]: if this method doesn’t work, then download and install the updated USB drivers from the computer manufacturer’s website. This is useful in case if you are trying to install a driver for a printer, scanner, and other input/output USB device. |
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Change Drive Letter
Check whether you can see your external USB Drive in Disk Management, then rename or change the drive letter. To do this follow the below steps.
1. Right-click on This PC or My Computer and click on Manage.
2. Select Disk Management.
3. Right-click on the connected external drive and choose Change Drive Letter and Paths.
4. Click Add, and then assign a new drive letter from the drop-down list and click OK.
Fix USB Root Hub
- Press Windows + R key together and then type devmgmt.msc and click on OK.
- Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers.
- Right-click on USB Root Hub and click Properties.
- Select Power Management and uncheck the Allow the computer to turn off this device to save the power checkbox. Click ok and save changes.
[NOTE]: Repeat this process for all available USB Root Hubs. Save changes for each process and then restart your PC. If still you see a USB device not recognized problem then go back to the power management tab for each one and check the box again. |
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Change USB Selective Suspend Settings
1. Go to Control Panel and click on Hardware and Sound.
2. Click on Power Options.
3. Select Change Plan Settings under preferred plans. Balanced (recommended).
4. Click on Change advanced power settings.
5. Expand USB settings and USB selective suspend settings.
6. Select Disable from the drop-down menu.
7. Click “Apply” and “OK” to save the settings.
[NOTE]: If you use the laptop, then you’ll see two options: On Battery and Plugged in. So, select disable for both settings respectively. |
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Contact Data Recovery Service Provider
If all the above-mentioned solutions don’t fix the external hard drive not detect the problem. And you are still getting the same error; then there are high chances that your hard drive has become dead. In this situation, you need to take the help of a Professional Hard Drive Recovery service provider.
If your problem is resolved, then it is advised that you should take a backup of your hard drive data; to avoid any data loss in the future.
Different situations of Hard Disk have not detected errors
Hard drive not detected error/issue can be caused by the following situations:
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- The USB driver has become unstable, outdated, or corrupt
- USB ports become faulty, damaged, or broken
- Partition issues on your external USB device
- The USB device is malfunctioned or damaged
- The wrong file system in an external drive
- Virus-infected PC
If the problem still persists after implementing the above steps then possibility that your hard drive is severely corrupted or damaged. In that case, you can approach a reliable data recovery service provider.
The article is very informative, when I was using my external hard drive and connected to my laptop, it was not detecting, but when connected to the desktop the hard drive successfully detected. Now I can access my Hard Drive DATA. The article helps me to fix my hard drive issue. Thanks !
My PC is not recognizing the external hard drive, I also checked into the disk management. It is not showing. I don’t know what happened with my Hard Drive. Can you please help me.
Hello,
If your external hard drive is not detecting anywhere and you also checked into Disk Management, then it may be the cause of Physical failure.
At the stage of Hard Drive Physical failure, you have no option except replacing Hard Drive. And you need to go for data recovery services to recover your data stored in hard drive.
Great Article. But I need to know that what is the cost of Hard Drive recovery? I heard that hard drive recovery is a little bit costly. Is it true?
Hi Vijay,
No, it is a myth. The cost of data recovery depends on many factors such as the condition of devices, devices type, how much data you want to recover, etc. So that first we do media analysis and provides all estimation to the customer. Moreover, we perform data recovery after customer approval.
My Hitachi external hard disk is not detecting by the system, also not showing in Disk Management section. Please give me a solution how can I recover data from my undetected hard disk.
Dear Priyanka,
There can be many reasons a hard drive not detected, you can check it with service center. As you said your hard drive is not detecting in Disk Management can be problematic. May be you have to compromise with your data.
Thanks, this blog is quite informative.
Hello Jandrina,
We feel glad that you like our post.
This is really helpful, thanks.
Hello Hannah,
We feel glad that you find it helpful.
I spent a lot of time to find something such as this. Thanks
Hello,
We feel glad that you find it helpful.
this is nice & informative blog.. My External Hard Drive was not recognized, i feared for the worse… but this article helped me fix the hard drive. I had formatting drive issue.. thank you very much
Hi Kiaan,
We feel glad that you find it helpful.
My Seagate external hard disk is not detecting on PC or Mac – in Windows not show up in disk manager, but it shows up in Device Manager.
Any possibility for data recovery from this drive – and what is your or market cost criteria for data recovery. Please also let me know if you are open on Saturdays and Sundays so that I can visit you to get my drive checked.
Hi Vivek,
It seems like you have tried for the possible solution. But still, your hard drive is not Detected. Yes, we can recover data from an external hard drive not detected.
The cost of data recovery is not fixed, and it depends on various factors such as devices type, the size of data, how you lost data etc. You can submit your hard drive for analysis. Our Data recovery experts will do the analysis of your hard drive and provide you best possible solution.
We are open on Saturday. Drop your media at your nearest location: https://www.stellarinfo.co.in/company/contact.php
Howdy! Just wanted to say I love reading your blog and look forward to all your posts!
Carry on the superb work!
Thank You !!
Hello,
I have tried all the possible option given here but still unable to see my data. Please let me know if any other free option is available ?
Hi,
Thanks for recommending our blog to solve your hard disk problem. As it seems no free solution available except above, I will recommend you to get in touch with the data recovery service provider. It can be bit costly, but you will get upto 100% data. Remember do not apply hit and try methods that may be prone to further data loss.
I have Seagate external hard disk it is not showing but on Computer Management it is showing as “Unidentified Partition” also showing its space that is 935 gb. This partition colour is Black and other partitions colour is Blue which are working. Please tell me what to do?
Hello,
Can you please elaborate more so that we understand what the exact problem is?
My external HDD not detecting in my PC and disk management but working fine on another laptop.
I have WD 4tb external hard drive.
Connect your hard drive to another laptop and take back up of your data, first. There can be the problem in port, so I suggest you check the port once.
Thanks for the wonderful post !!
Thank you for your feedback.
Thank you for the wonderful article
Thank you for your feedback.
I have resolved my problem… Thanks for posting this blog !!
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