How To Fix External Hard Disk Drive Not Recognized 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 detected a problem with Windows PC. This happen when the USB port did not recognize the external USB drives. |
When you try to access the data from the hard drive or USB device or any operating system, you see the following Hard Drive is not Showing or 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
- Symptoms of Hard Disk Detection Issues
- Reasons for External Hard Disk Not Detected
- How to fix External Hard Disk not Detected in Windows?
- Case Study – Data Recovery From External Hard Drive Not Detecting
- Contact Data Recovery Service Provider
- FAQs – Different situations of Hard Drive not detected errors
Symptoms of Hard Disk Recognition Issues
You might notice signs like access denial, file system errors, outdated device drivers, ‘device not formatted’ alerts, unsupported file system messages, or errors indicating fatal hardware issues. These symptoms suggest the hard drive might not be detected properly.
Reasons for External Hard Disk Not Recognized
- Connection Issues: Ensure the hard drive’s power and data cables are securely connected.
- File System Compatibility: Check if the hard drive’s file system is compatible with your operating system.
- Drive Letter Conflicts: Make sure the hard drive’s assigned letter doesn’t conflict with other drives.
- Driver Updates: Keep your hard drive’s drivers up to date through Device Manager.
- Drive Initialization: Ensure the hard drive is initialized and not showing as unallocated in Disk Management.
- Physical Damage: Be aware that physical damage or corruption can prevent a hard drive from being detected.
Additional Reading: Hard Disk Not Showing In Disk Management
How to Fix External Hard Disk not Recognized (Detected) in Windows?
1. Disconnect the Power Supply of Hard Disk not Detected
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.
2. 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 disk drives then, try to connect external hard drive with another USB port. If it is recognized by another USB cable or SATA cable then, there could be a hardware problem with one of the USB ports. And if no USB cable recognizes the device then, try another solution. Don’t use any USB hub to connect the device to the computer. |
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3. 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 show the HDD not detecting 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 drives and right-click on the connected external USB drive.
- Click on properties and select the Driver tab.
- Click on Update Driver Software and follow further instructions to update the driver.
[NOTE]: if this method doesn’t work, then download and install the updated USB HDD not detected 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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4. 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 and open Device Manager.
2. Select Disk Management.
3. Right-click on the connect external hard 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.
5. 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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Also Check : Seagate External Hard Disk Light Not Blinking Not Detected [2024]
6. 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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Also Check : Seagate Hard Disk Data Recovery – ST1000LM035 SATA Laptop Drive
7. Run Troubleshooter for Hard Drives
Windows comes with a tool that can check and fix hard drive issues. Here’s how to use it:
- Open Command Prompt as an administrator by searching for it and right-clicking to select ‘Run as administrator‘.
- Type msdt.exe -id DeviceDiagnostic and press Enter. This starts the troubleshooter.
- Choose ‘Advanced‘ and make sure ‘Apply repairs automatically‘ is selected.
- Follow the prompts to run the scan and fix issues.
If issues persist, consider contacting the hard drive’s manufacturer for further help.
8. Formatting an External Hard Drive to NTFS
To make your external hard drive compatible with more systems, you might need to format it to NTFS:
- Open Disk Management by right-clicking ‘This PC‘ and selecting ‘Manage‘, then ‘Disk Management‘.
- Find your external drive, right-click it, and select ‘Format‘.
- Choose NTFS as the file system and follow the prompts to complete the format. Remember, formatting will erase all data on the drive, so back up first.
Also Read: Recover Data from Undetected Seagate External Hard Drive [2024]
What if your External Hard Drive still can’t be detected after these remedies?
If none of the remedies work, it’s likely due to physical issues with the drive, such as damaged platters, heads, or scratches. Data recovery is possible but requires a detailed diagnosis in a Class 100 clean room to prevent further damage. Replacement parts might be needed, followed by cloning and logical analysis with specialised tools to recover the data.
At Stellar Data Recovery Service, we have the infrastructure, technical expertise, and tools required to recover your data from an external hard drive that won’t be detected.
Additional Reading: Fix WD My Passport Hard Drive Not Detected, But LED is Blinking
Case Study – Data Recovery From External Hard Drive Not Recognizing
Client Name: Individual
Goal: To recover data from External Hard Disk not Detected
Approach: Stellar Data Recovery successfully recovered data from the External Hard Disk which is not detecting and also Broken.
The challenges faced by the Client:
- The external hard drive was broken, not detecting, and not usable on the client end.
- The client has personal data on a 1 TB external hard disk, but he is unable to access it.
Stellar Data Recovery Process:
- During the initial analysis, we detected that the external hard drive was in a working condition. However, the external hard drive was found with few Bad Sectors.
- After an examination of the external hard disk, it was determined that the client’s required data could be recovered. Stellar Data Recovery got the requirement from the client and the data was successfully recovered from the external hard drive which was not detecting.
Client Feedback:
The client was extremely happy with the services provided by Stellar Data Recovery and fully satisfied with the data recovery process and with the cooperative staff.
Contact Data Recovery Service Provider
If all the above-mentioned solutions don’t fix the external HDD not detected the problem. If you are still getting the same error; then there is a high chance that your Seagate external 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 Seagate hard drive not working– data; to avoid any data loss in the future.
Different situations of Hard Drive not detected errors
Hard drive not detected error/issue can be caused by the following situations:
- The USB driver has become unstable, outdated, or corrupt
- USB ports become faulty, physically damaged, or broken
- Partition issues on your external USB device
- The USB device is malfunctioning or damaged
- The wrong file system in a connected external hard drive
- Virus-infected PC
If the problem still persists after implementing the above steps then possibility that your internal hard drive is severely corrupted or physically damaged. In that case, you can approach a reliable data recovery service provider such as Stellar Data Recovery service. They have a total of 14 Branches within India, which provides data recovery service in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Kochi, Coimbatore, Vashi, Gurgaon, Hyderabad, Pune, Noida, Bangalore, Chennai, Ahmedabad, Chandigarh.
FAQs – Different Situations of Hard Drive not Recognized Errors:
Q1. What should I do if my computer says "USB device not recognized" when I connect my external hard drive?
Try disconnecting and reconnecting your external hard drive. If the issue persists, use a different USB port or cable.
Q2. How can I fix a USB device not recognized error and access my external hard drive?
Update your USB and hard drive drivers through Device Manager, and ensure the drive is properly connected to your PC.
Q3. What steps should I follow to connect an external hard drive that my computer doesn't detect?
Check the drive’s connection, try a different USB port, and ensure the drive is powered on. If unsuccessful, the drive may need troubleshooting.
Q4. How do I recover an undetected external hard drive?
For how to recover data from an external hard disk which is not detecting, use data recovery software or consult a professional service.
Q5. How do I fix an undetected hard drive?
To fix a USB device not recognized error, check your drive’s connections, update drivers, and try the drive on another computer.
Q6. How do I fix my external hard drive not detected by Windows?
Ensure your external hard disk not detecting is properly connected, try different USB ports, and check Disk Management to see if the drive appears.
Q7. How do I get Windows 10 to recognize my external hard drive?
If no hard drive detected or hard drive not showing up in My Computer, connect the drive to another port and check the Device Manager for issues.
Additional Reading: Troubleshooting “Seagate External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Windows 11”
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 !!