Is there a problem with the external hard drive not showing up on your computer when you plug it in through the USB port? Well, you can use these methods to modify the problem. However, you need to use one method at a time to make sure you don’t screw it up.
An external hard drive is essential if you want to store more data from your computer. Sometimes, your internal hard drive might not be enough to hold all your important data. So you can use a removable drive to save them.
However, before transferring any data to a removable external hard drive, make sure your computer detects the hard drive. Also, before deleting or formatting your hard drive, make sure you back up important information you don’t want to lose.
1: Provide sufficient power
Some external hard drives require high pressure to boot. If the external hard drive is inserted through the USB port of the notebook, there may be insufficient power supply. This may cause it to not function properly, especially with HDDs.
Therefore, you need to provide adequate power. At the same time, you need to make sure that your power delivery is not faulty.
Also, check advanced power settings or use a separate power supply. If this doesn’t solve the problem, you can try other methods.
2: Replace the USB interface
Here, you will need to connect to the connector with another USB device to see if it works. If the connector is damaged, try connecting to another USB connector.
You might sometimes have a bad USB that doesn’t connect perfectly to the hard drive. Therefore, you can try or buy an alternative that is compatible with your USB port and hard drive.
3: Update the USB driver
Another method is to update the USB driver.
step 1: Click the Windows + X buttons at the same time.
Step 2: In the drop-down menu that appears on the left side of the Windows screen, clickDevice managementr. “
Step 3: On the Device Manager screen, clickUniversal Series Bus Controllerexpand it. You will be able to see various USB options.
Step 4: Right-click a specific USB device and clickUpdate driver software. “
Step 5: When updating USB drivers, follow the proper procedure to make sure you don’t screw up.
4: Set up a new disk
If your external drive is a brand new hard drive, you will need to go into Disk Management to allocate space. You need to create a new partition on the hard drive device.
However, the method differs on different devices. For example, you set up Windows 10 differently than Windows 8.
step 1: Click the Windows + X button. In the drop-down menu, select “Disk management. “
Step 2: On Windows 10, you need to click on the hard drive, right-click and select “new simple roll. ” and then click Next and select the size of the volume in which the hard disk will be created.
Step 3: However, on Windows 8, you would right-click the displayed hard disk and click Shrink Disk. It will start processing. Remember to enter the volume you want to reduce first. The remaining space is the space you can now use to create new hard disk partitions.
Step 4: Right click on unallocated space and click, create a “New Simple Volume”. Follow all steps until done. Remember not to select the “Format Disk” option.
Step 5: That’s it.
5: Format the external hard drive
Another way is to format the external hard drive.
step 1: Click the Windows + X button and select “Disk management. “
Step 2: In the Disk Management window, right-click the external hard drive and click Format.
Step 3: However, make sure to backup all important data/files before deciding to format.
Alternatively, go to File Explorer, right-click the external drive icon, and click Format. This will perform a quick disk format to remove any drive errors.
6: Clean up the disk
There are certain steps you can take if you want to clean up an external hard drive.
step 1: Click the Windows + X button. On the menu bar that appears, click Command Prompt (Admin). This will allow you to open a command prompt as an administrator.
Step 2: In the Command Prompt window, enter “disk section”.
Step 3: After getting the result, write “list disk” to see all the disks and external disks on your computer. So make sure your external disk is plugged in.
Step 4: Type “Select Disk 1” to select the target external hard drive. Then type “clean” to clean.
Step 5: However, be careful not to clear important files.
7: Test the hard drive
If your external hard drive is an M.2 or HDD, you can try connecting it to the motherboard and see if it works. If you don’t know how to disassemble the machine, you can buy this external hard drive case to test it.
This will help to check if your hard drive is fully functional. Sometimes, if your hard drive is new, you may not be sure if it is working properly. So testing can save you a lot of time and stress.
8: Send for inspection and maintenance
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There may be a problem with the hard drive. So send it to a professional repair shop for data recovery. This will help prevent you from losing too much data if you start misbehaving after a while.
However, be sure to consult a good hard drive inspector. A corrupt drive can cause the external drive to fail to load.
in conclusion
All of these methods can solve the problem when your external hard drive is not functioning properly. However, make sure the external drive is properly plugged into your device before assuming it doesn’t work.
There are many reasons why an external hard drive might not show up, and you shouldn’t be a victim – all the best when it comes to troubleshooting external hard drives.
