An external hard drive is a portable storage device containing an information storage device (HDD or SSD) and a controller for interacting with a computer via USB. When connecting such devices to a PC, some problems are sometimes observed, in particular, the absence of a disk in the “Computer” folder. We will talk about this problem in this article.
There are several reasons for this problem. If a new drive is connected, then Windows may have “forgotten” to inform you about this and offer to install drivers and format the media. In the case of older drives, this may be the creation of partitions on another computer using programs, the presence of a blocking virus, as well as the usual malfunction of the controller, the drive itself, the cable, or the port on the PC.
Another reason is lack of nutrition. Let's start with her.
Reason 1: Nutrition
Quite often, due to the lack of USB ports, users connect several devices to one socket through a hub (splitter). If the connected devices require power from the USB connector, then a power shortage may occur. This leads to a problem: the hard disk may not start and, accordingly, may not appear in the system. The same situation can occur when ports are overloaded with energy-intensive devices.
In this situation, you can do the following: try to free one of the ports for an external drive or, in extreme cases, purchase a hub with additional power. Some portable drives may also require additional power supply, as evidenced by the presence of not only the USB cable in the kit, but also the power cable. Such a cable can have two connectors for connecting to USB or a completely separate PSU.
Reason 2: Unformatted disk
When you connect a new blank disk to a PC, the system usually reports that the media is not formatted and prompts you to do so. In some cases, this does not happen and it may be necessary to do this procedure manually.
- Go to "Control Panel". You can do it from the menu. "Start" or press the keyboard shortcut Win+R and enter the command:
- Next we go to "Administration".
- We find a label with a name "Computer Management".
- Go to the section "Disk Management".
- We are looking for our disk in the list. You can distinguish it from others by size, as well as by the RAW file system.
- Click on disk PKM and select the context menu item "Format".
- Next, select the label (name) and file system. Put a tick opposite "Quick Format" and press OK. It remains only to wait for the end of the process.
- The new disk appeared in the folder "A computer".
Reason 3: Drive letter
This problem may occur when performing disk operations - formatting, partitioning - on another computer using special software.
In such cases, you must specify the letter manually in the snap-in "Disk Management".
Reason 4: Drivers
The operating system is a very complex software and that is why various failures often occur in it. In normal mode, Windows itself installs standard drivers for new devices, but this is not always the case. If the system did not start installing the driver when you connected the external drive, you can try restarting the computer. In most cases, this is sufficient. If the situation does not change, you will have to “work with the handles”.
In the event that the software for the disk could not be installed, you need to check the branch "Disk Devices". If it has a drive with a yellow icon, it means that the OS does not have such a driver or it is damaged.
A forced installation will help solve the problem. You can find the software for the device manually on the manufacturer's website (perhaps there was a driver disk included) or try to download it automatically from the network.
Reason 5: Viruses
Virus programs, among other nasty things, can prevent the initialization of external drives in the system. Most often they are located on the removable drive itself, but they can also be present on your PC. First, check for viruses on your system and, if any, the second hard drive.
Using the tools given in the article above, you will not be able to check the external drive, since it cannot be initialized. Only a bootable USB flash drive with an antivirus scanner, for example, will help here. With it, you can scan the media for viruses without downloading system files and services, and hence the subject of the attack.
Reason 6: Physical problems
Physical malfunctions include a breakdown of the disk or controller itself, failure of ports on the computer, as well as a banal “breaking” of the USB or power cable.
You can do the following to troubleshoot:
- Swap cables with known good ones.
- Connect the drive to other USB ports, if it works, then the connector is faulty.
- Remove the device and connect the drive directly to the motherboard (do not forget to turn off the computer before doing this). If the media is detected, then there is a controller malfunction, if not, then the disk. You can try to restore a non-working HDD at a service center, otherwise it will go directly to the trash can.
Good afternoon.
External hard drives (HDD) are becoming more popular day by day, sometimes it seems that very soon they will be more popular than flash drives. And no wonder, because modern models are some kind of box, the size of a cell phone and contain 1-2 TB of information!
Many users are faced with the fact that the computer does not see the external hard drive. Most often, this happens immediately after buying a new device. Let's try to understand in order, what is the matter here ...
If the new external HDD is not visible
A new one here means a disk that you connected to your computer (laptop) for the first time.
1) First what are you doing, go to computer management .
To do this, go to Control Panel , then in system and security settings -> administration -> computer management . See screenshots below.
2) Pay attention to the column on the left. It has a menu disk management . Let's move on.
All disks (including external ones) connected to the system should be displayed in front of you. Very often, the computer does not see the connected external hard drive due to incorrect drive letter assignment. You then need to change it!
To do this, right-click on the external drive and select " change drive letter... ". Next, assign the one that is not yet in your OS.
3) If the disc is new and you have connected it to your computer for the first time - it may not be formatted! Therefore, it will not be displayed in "my computer".
If this is the case, then you will not be able to change the letter (you simply will not have such a menu). You just need to right click on the external drive and select " create a simple volume... «.
Attention! All data in this process on the disk (HDD) will be deleted! Be careful.
4) Lack of drivers… (Update from 04/05/2015)
If the external hard drive is new and you don't see it in either "my computer" or " disk management“But it works on other devices (for example, a TV or another laptop sees and detects it) - then 99% of the problems are related to Windows and drivers.
Despite the fact that modern Windows 7, 8 operating systems are quite “smart” and, when a new device is detected, they automatically search for a driver for it - this does not always happen ... The fact is that versions of Windows 7, 8 (including all kinds of assemblies from " craftsmen") a huge number, and no one canceled various mistakes. Therefore, I do not recommend excluding this option right away ...
1. Check the USB port if it works. For example, connect your phone or camera, even just a regular flash drive. If the device works, then the USB port has nothing to do with it ...
2. Go to Device Manager (In Windows 7/8: Control Panel/System and Security/Device Manager) and look at the two tabs: Other devices And disk devices.
Windows 7: Device Manager reports that there are no drivers for the "My Passport ULTRA WD" drive in the system.
The screenshot above shows that Windows does not have drivers for an external hard drive, so the computer does not see it. Usually, Windows 7, 8, when you connect a new device, automatically installs a driver for it. If this does not happen to you, there are three options for action:
a) Click on the "Update hardware configuration" command in Device Manager. This is usually followed by the automatic installation of the drivers.
b) Search for drivers using special. programs: ;
c) Reinstall Windows (to install, select a "clean" licensed system, without any assemblies).
Windows 7 - Device Manager: Drivers for external HDD Samsung M3 Portable installed correctly.
If the old external hard drive is not visible
By old here we mean a hard drive that was previously working on your computer, and then stopped.
1. First, go to the disk management menu (see above) and change the drive letter. This is definitely worth doing if you created new partitions on your hard drive.
2. Secondly, check the external HDD for viruses. Many viruses disable the ability to see disks or block them ().
3. Go to the device manager and see if the devices are detected correctly. There should be no yellow exclamation marks (well, or red ones) that signal errors. It is also recommended to reinstall the drivers on the USB controller.
4. Sometimes reinstalling Windows helps. In any case, first check the hard drive on another computer / laptop / netbook, and then try reinstalling.
It is also useful to try to clean your computer from unnecessary junk files and optimize the registry and programs (here is an article with all the utilities: use a couple ...).
5. Try connecting the external HDD to a different USB port. It happened that, for unknown reasons, after connecting to another port, the disk worked fine as if nothing had happened. I noticed this several times on Acer laptops.
6. Check cords.
One time the external hard drive didn't work because the cord was damaged. From the very beginning, I did not notice this and killed for 5-10 minutes in search of the cause ...
External removable media in the form of USB drives have recently become as popular as regular flash drives. There is more space on them, but they are not immune from the occurrence of malfunctions and errors in work. There can be quite a few reasons for this. However, it is not always possible to correct them manually. That is why it is recommended to use system utilities if the system does not see the external hard drive.
Causes of problems
First, let's look at the main reasons that can lead to the fact that an external hard drive is not detected in the operating system. There can be quite a lot of them: system errors, incorrect access settings, lack of power, and even physical damage to the surface of removable media.
BIOS settings
Before turning to the use of utilities, it is worth saying that no program for checking a hard drive will be able to determine it if the device is simply not included in the system. Often the reason may be precisely in the BIOS settings. For example, if you go to the "Device Manager" in the "Control Panel" and set the display of hidden devices, the disk present in the system will be displayed in the list, but the system itself will display a message in the device properties about the need to reconnect.
Connecting an external hard drive, as a rule, is done precisely in the BIOS settings, which are called up on computers or laptops by pressing the Del, F2 or F12 key. It all depends on the manufacturer of the BIOS and the computer terminal itself. In the Boot or Advanced section, you can select priority boot devices and other hardware components. In this case, an external USB hard drive must be connected to the connectors before turning on the terminal. In some cases, you may need to enable disk availability using the Enable parameter.
Driver Issues
If the external hard drive is not detected, you may need to reinstall the drivers. You can do this in the same "Device Manager" or use the original driver disk that comes with the removable device.
Lack of nutrition
Sometimes the cause of errors can be a lack of power. If you have two power cables, both must be turned on. In some cases, if an external hard drive is not detected, you can disassemble it and connect it directly to a computer terminal. But if a person is not a specialist in this field, it is not recommended to perform such a procedure yourself.
Incorrect disk ID assignment
When the system does not see an external hard drive, the reason may also be the incorrect assignment of the letter of this drive or disk partition. It may very well be that it is already being used by another device. In this case, you should go to the computer management system (disk management) and simply change the letter of the removable media.
Correcting errors using standard Windows tools
Windows operating systems have their own tools and utilities for checking or formatting disks and media of all types. Connecting a USB hard drive is done in a standard way. But sometimes a situation may arise when a removable hard drive is visible in the system, for example, in the Device Manager, but there is no access to it from Explorer or any other file manager. In other words, the external hard drive won't open. In this case, you can correct errors using standard operating system tools.
Volume creation
First you need to go to "Disk Management" and select a removable media that is not accessible. By right-clicking the mouse, you can call the volume creation utility. But it allows you to use the "Create a simple volume" command and the "Settings Wizard", in which the media size is first set, then a letter is assigned, and then the external hard drive is formatted with a preliminary selection of the file system type. Please note that in this case, all data on the removable hard drive will be automatically destroyed. Upon completion of the "Wizard", it remains only to click the "Finish" button, after which the removable media with all its characteristics will automatically appear in the system.
If you later need to restore an external hard drive, you can use special applications that allow you to recover data on a removable hard drive even after a full format. But even in this case, it is not always possible to recover information.
Check disk
One of the simplest standard tools of Windows operating systems is a program for checking the hard drive. By right-clicking on the disk icon, you need to open the "Properties" menu and select the "Tools" tab, where you can find the "Perform check" button. At the beginning of the work, you can set the automatic correction of bad sectors.
The program can also be called using the command line, which specifies chkdsk and the external media parameter. But this is the simplest and not always effective way. In this case, it is better to turn to professional utilities that are offered for Windows operating systems by third-party manufacturers.
HDD Scan Software
To date, there are quite a few specialized programs for checking hard drives of all types, including removable media. One of the most popular and most powerful utilities is the HDD Scan software product.
The first advantage of the HDD Scan program is that it does not require installation, that is, it is available as a so-called portable version (Portable). The folder with the program can be placed anywhere on the hard drive or on the same flash drive. To start, an executable file of the same name with the extension .exe is used, after which you can proceed to the main operations.
For inexperienced users, the most preferred mode may be the "smart" scanning of removable media and fixing errors on it, called S.M.A.R.T. After selecting the hard drive, you just need to click on this button. Then the utility will issue detailed characteristics in the form of a table with parameters, in which the attributes that are within the normal range will be marked in green. Yellow and red colors report errors or some incorrect parameters.
A rather interesting function is the Surface Test command, which checks the surface of a removable hard drive. The bug fix is that the clusters of the file system are transferred to undamaged areas of the disk, and the damaged surface is blocked and not used in the future.
In general, this utility has a lot of tools for working with disks of all types. But without knowledge of English, you will have to dig into the interface. This is due to the fact that the application itself has too many functions designed for advanced users.
Norton Disc Doctor
An equally interesting program for working with hard drives is the portable version of the Norton Disc Doctor (NDD) application. It does not require installation and creates absolutely no entries in the system registry. It is also noteworthy that the size of the application is only 15.7 MB.
The operation of this application is very similar to the principles used in other programs, however, this utility is as automated as possible and is designed even for inexperienced users.
After starting the program, the main window appears, in which all hard drives and removable media available in the system are listed. You can tick all or select one component. In this case, we are interested in an external hard drive. We put a tick on it and start the check, having previously checked the box "Fix errors" on the left side.
For more advanced users, there is a settings button on the right, where you can configure the program to your liking. But in most cases this is not required, since the factory settings are optimal for all types of hard drives.
Conclusion
Of course, this is just a small fraction of those programs and features that are designed to help users of computers and laptops if an external hard drive is not detected.
If you compare some programs with each other, then it is impossible to give preference to any one utility. Each program, although it uses almost the same algorithms for working with hard drives, still has its own differences, advantages and disadvantages.
For example, it will not be easy for a novice or inexperienced user to work with the HDD Scan software product. The interface itself may seem somewhat overloaded to many. Yes, and there are a lot of opportunities for fine-tuning here.
To ensure efficient work with removable media, it is better to use applications like Norton Disc Doctor or Ashampoo HDD Control 2. True, it is worth paying attention that in the second case we are dealing with a paid program.
As for free utilities, it is better to use software products from well-known manufacturers that have been leaders in the hard drive technology market for quite a long time. In addition to the use of individual programs, you can give preference to whole complex solutions. But they will have to be installed on the hard drive, and they take up quite a lot of space, not to mention the fact that they have special "inspectors" that work in real time. As a rule, the icon constantly hangs in the system tray (System Tray), and the processes of the applications themselves load the system quite heavily, occupying RAM and using the resources of the central processor.
Finally, it is worth noting that if the use of all these popular utilities does not lead to the desired result, hard drive problems can be much worse. Most likely, this is physical damage to the removable media. So you have to take it in for repair.
Usually, the suspects in this case are software failures, incorrect operating system settings, outdated drivers, malfunctions of the computer's USB ports, adapters, or the drives themselves.
Depending on the causes in each case, the problem manifests itself in different ways. It happens that the computer does not react at all to a USB flash drive or hard drive. In other situations, the sound of connecting a new device is heard, but the drive icon does not appear in the explorer. And sometimes the computer just freezes immediately after contact with the USB device.
What to do if a Windows computer does not see a USB flash drive or external hard drive
First, figure out what exactly the problem is: with a computer, an adapter (if the connection is via a cable), or a drive. Try connecting the USB device through other ports. If that doesn't help and you're using a cable, try replacing it with a spare one. If unsuccessful, check if the drive can be opened on other computers.
If the device works on another PC or you do not have the opportunity to check it
Connect your hard drive or flash drive to your computer and follow these steps in order. If the first fails, move on to the next, and so on.
If another PC also does not see the drive or all of the above tips did not help
In this case, most likely, the problem is in the drive itself.
If you have a flash drive and not a hard drive, you can use special utilities to fix software errors. Such software can usually be found on the manufacturer's website. For example, the JetFlash Online Recovery program is for Transcend drives. And USB Flash Drive Online Recovery is for flash drives of the ADATA brand. But keep in mind that during the recovery process, these utilities erase all data from flash drives.
If none of the above helped, then the problem is probably a physical malfunction of the hard drive or flash drive. Then it is better to show the device to a specialist or return it to the store under warranty.
What to do if Mac does not see a flash drive or external hard drive
On Apple computers, the verification procedure is somewhat different, but follows approximately the same algorithm. We will assume that you have already tried restarting the computer, disconnecting and connecting the USB flash drive, and also made sure that the connection is reliable. If this does not help, you need to do the following:
Open the built-in disk tool ("Programs" → "Utilities" → "Disk Utility") and check if the problematic flash drive is displayed there. If the drive is still visible, try it by clicking the "Erase" button and reconnect it. Keep in mind that all data from the flash drive will be permanently deleted.
A dedicated Mac diagnostic program provides detailed information about all software and hardware components of your computer, including USB devices. Open the Apple menu, then, while holding down the Option key, click "System Information" and go to the USB section in the menu that opens.
If there is a flash drive there, then the problem lies in the software and you can try to restore the disk by referring to the manufacturer's recommendations. If there is no information about the flash drive, then the matter is a physical malfunction, and you should contact the store or service center if the repair makes sense.
What to do if the computer does not see the external hard drive? First, it is advisable to carefully consider the situation and try to understand the cause of the malfunction.
If it is large enough, then the reason for its absence in the File Manager may be insufficient power. The USB interface, depending on the type, produces different power. You can first try to insert the connecting cable sequentially into different USB sockets. As a rule, the current strength in them varies somewhat, and it is quite possible that one of the USB connectors can provide enough power for the device to function normally.
There is a wide range of such accessories on the market today. All of them have different parameters and may have a completely different connection. Some have a separate cable for power connection. This needs to be checked against the data sheet. The possibility that this is exactly the point - the disk was connected as usual, using USB, but they forgot about the additional power cable.
If there is not enough electricity, the disk may partially work, vibrate, it will seem that everything is normal. Sometimes the USB cable itself is a slightly different type - if there is a replacement, you need to try other connectors.
It is advisable to choose a cord for connection as thick as possible and as short as possible in length. All this significantly affects the power transfer. Sometimes a problem with insufficient power can be solved by connecting a cable with two connectors on one end. These two contactors are included in different sockets on the system unit case and thus receive electricity from two sources.
If manipulations with the USB connection do not work, it is useful to check the operation of the device by connecting to another computer. It is possible that it is defective.
Problem in settings
Enter the management interface and see if the disk does not have a name, so the computer cannot identify it. Then you need to give him a letter.
It happens that the device is not detected due to an incorrectly assigned configuration in the BIOS. Go to the BIOS settings and if an external drive is present there, try changing the configuration to another one from the proposed list. After that, you need to restart your computer.
Problems often arise after working with programs such as Alcohol, Acronis and similar applications for managing, creating virtual disks. Sometimes, in the process of working with such programs, the computer switches to communication with virtual disks, and it stops seeing real physical drives. The danger of using such powerful applications is that they are very deeply embedded in the system registry and change the internal settings of the computer.
In this situation, it can help to roll back the system to the previous state, when the disk management program has not yet been installed and has not had time to change anything in the system. Or so - completely remove the program along with all the settings. And do not forget to check if the previously created virtual disks are left in the computer system. They also need to be removed. After that, restart the computer and reset the CMOS settings to the default settings.
File system conflict
Often problems appear after updating the operating system. Especially when switching from Windows XP to Windows 7 or 8. If the device worked normally with Windows XP for a long time, and after a new installation of Windows 8 it stopped being detected, the computer's file system might have changed and now the disk and the operating system seem to speak different languages.
In such a situation, if you forcibly assign a name to it and try to start doing something, the system will most likely say that the disk is not formatted and prompt you to format it immediately. If the data on the disk is not particularly important, you can do so. Then the new operating system itself will set the advising configuration to the external hard drive.
The situation is especially unpleasant if it contains important working documents or valuable files. The simplest solution is to reinstall the previously installed operating system, overwrite information from an external drive, format this drive and change the file system.
After that, install the Windows update again and then it will work with the computer without any problems.
Another option is to change the file system using a special utility that you can download on one of the soft portals. Or use the same above-mentioned Alcohol or Acronis applications to change the file system.
A malfunction can sometimes be identified by ear.
- If you don't hear any movement when you turn it on, but the power lights are on, the drive may be defective.
- If unusual sounds are heard, knocking, ticking, intermittent beats, something has happened to the internal mechanism.
If the device behaves suspiciously, it must be immediately disconnected from the computer and taken to a workshop for verification.
