Update: It's been over 3 years and I'm still using it as a hot swap and hard drive format tool. Despite its cheap cost it's holding up great.USB 3.0 SATA 2.5. Open the Start menu, type 'Device Manager,' and press Enter when the option appears. Expand the Disk Drives menu and the Universal Serial Bus menu to see if your external drive appears in either. Solved: My External Hard Drive Says It Needs to Be Formatted; Solved: My External Hard Drive Says It Needs to Be Formatted. In this post, we will tell why my external hard drive says it needs to be formatted in Windows 10/8/7. Besides, you can learn how to solve the 'hard disk asking for format' problem easily. WD USB hard drive showing as local disk I plugged my WD 'my passport' 5oogb hard drive into USB yesterday and it showed up as local disk on my computer with 0Gb used and 0Gb available. In disk manager it shows up as 500GB WD harddrive but in RAW format with 1 partition in use.I cannot carry out disk checkker as windows cannot access hard.
Many users complained that their external hard drives are connected but not showing on computer or File Explorer the Windows 10/8/7. Some reported that the USB or external hard drive is not showing up on My Computer or File Explorer but showing in Disk Management. Others said that external hard drive shows in device manager but not disk management. To fix these external hard drive issues, this troubleshooting post will be helpful for you.
Case 1: External hard drive shows up in disk management but not file explorer
You may experience that your USB or external drive has been connected to the computer, but it is not showing in File Explorer or My Computer, but shows in Disk Management instead. Under this situation, it will be regarded as an unknown disk and shows the capacity to be 2048 GB in the Disk Management. To fix the problem, please try following methods.
Tip: If your external hard drive shows in device manager but not disk management, you can directly move to the case 2.
1. Assign a Drive Letter to the USB/Hard Drive
Sometimes, the drive might not have been assigned a drive letter by Windows so that USB or external hard drive cannot show on File Explorer but in Disk Management. In this case, you can try to assign a drive letter to the USB or external hard drive in Disk Management.
STEP 1. Navigate to 'Control Panel'> 'System and Security'> 'Administrative Tools'.
STEP 2. Choose 'Computer Management'. Provide an administrative passcode, if asked.
STEP 3. In Disk Management, find out the unlabeled hard drive and right-click on it to choose 'Change drive letter and paths..'
STEP 4. Click 'Add'> 'OK' to pick out the available drive letter.
STEP 5. If the drive letter does not show on the drive, check if the drive is offline. If it is, right-click the disk number and select Online. And then, follow the instructions again.
NOTE:
If you can't finish the operation in Disk Management, you are able to run 'cmd' to change or assign the drive letter.
Open Command Prompt. (CMD) and type 'diskpart'.
At the DISKPART prompt, enter 'list volume'. ( mark down the number of the simple volume whose drive letter you want to assign)
At the DISKPART prompt, enter 'select volume n[volume's number]' (Select the volume whose drive letter you want to assign)
At the DISKPART prompt, enter 'assign letter=N' (N stands for the drive letter you want to assign)
2. Make sure that the hard drive is enabled and online
Make sure the hard drive is enabled
If the drive has been disabled, the disk will be invisible in File Explorer. When the disk is disabled, follow the steps below to Enable it:
STEP 1. Press 'Windows'+ 'R' on the keyboard to activate run box.
STEP 2. Type 'devmgmt.msc' on the run box to open 'Device Manager'.
STEP 3. If a drive is disabled, the disk drive will be marked with a down arrow. Locate the hard drive you want to enable.
STEP 4. Right-click on it and choose 'Properties'> 'View'tab.
STEP 5. Click on 'Enable Device' button > 'OK'.
STEP 6. After that, check if the down arrow is still there.
Make sure that the drive is online
Sometimes, an external hard drive connected but not showing because the drive is offline. To be detected by Windows, you can follow steps below to check the current status of the disk.
Go to 'Control Panel'> 'System and Security'> 'Administrative Tools'.
Choose 'Computer Management', and locate your disk in 'Disk Management'.
Right-click on it and select 'Online'.
3. Update drivers for USB or external hard drive
When your USB/external drive does not show on file explorer on Windows 10/8/7, you can try to update its driver in Device Manager. As we know, an update is created to fix some glitches for the previous version so as to make USB or external drive showing on My computer again.
STEP 1. Press 'Windows'key + 'R'and enter 'devmgmt.msc' on the run box.
STEP 2. Open 'Device Manager'> Click the 'Scan for hardware changes' icon on the menu.
STEP 3. Right-click on the inaccessible USB/external hard drive and choose 'Update Driver Software..'.
STEP 4. After the update is finished, restart your PC and check if the device is accessible.
4. Recover data from hard drive that is not showing
When external hard drive issue occurs, an external hard drive is not showing files though they still exist. If any important data is in the USB/external hard drive when external hard drive shows up in Disk Management but not File Explorer, you can employ data recovery to retrieve your data before formatting it. Here we highly recommend you FonePaw Data Recovery which is capable of recovering data from USB/ external hard drive, supporting Window 10/8/7. To recover data from hard drive, you just need few simple steps.
Download
STEP 1. Run FonePaw Data Recovery, and then, select the file types you need.
STEP 2. Next, click on 'Scan' button after selecting your USB/external drive.
My Drive External Mobile Hard Disk Drives
STEP 3. Select out the files you want to recover.
STEP 4. Finally, click on 'Recover' button to finish data recovery.
STEP 5. After that, you can keep on formatting your inaccessible USB/external hard drive.
Case 2: External hard drive shows up in Device Manager but not Disk Management or File Explorer
Unlike case 1, USB or external hard drive sometimes is invisible in File Explorer or Disk Management, but it can be detected in Device Manager, for example, an external HDD won't show up in explorer, but it shows in Device Manager. To fix the issue, several methods can be listed below.
1. Make sure the USB or external hard drive is available. If it is not showing up in Disk Management or File Explorer, you can try to plug it into other USB port of your computer. What's more, you can connect your external drive to other computers to check if it works.
Adobe premiere elements vs powerdirector 15. 2. Partition and format the external hard drive.
Go to 'Computer Management'. > Right-click on black bar of the invisible drive to choose 'New Partition..'> Follow the instruction to finish the Partition.
Right-click on the drive and select 'Format'.
3. Disable and re-enable the USB controller.
Navigate to 'Device Manager'. > Find 'Unknown USB Device' and right-click on it. > Choose 'Uninstall'.
After restarting your PC, enable the USB controller again.
Now, your issue - external hard drive not showing Windows 10/8/7 has been resolved. To manage the data on USB/external hard drive, read here:
An external hard disk is a very valuable thing, but it happens that drive suddenly stops working or responding. This article is dedicated to such a situation. Here you will find out:
- the reasons for this issue
- methods how to fix the external hard drive, that not working
NOTE:
If you can't finish the operation in Disk Management, you are able to run 'cmd' to change or assign the drive letter.
Open Command Prompt. (CMD) and type 'diskpart'.
At the DISKPART prompt, enter 'list volume'. ( mark down the number of the simple volume whose drive letter you want to assign)
At the DISKPART prompt, enter 'select volume n[volume's number]' (Select the volume whose drive letter you want to assign)
At the DISKPART prompt, enter 'assign letter=N' (N stands for the drive letter you want to assign)
2. Make sure that the hard drive is enabled and online
Make sure the hard drive is enabled
If the drive has been disabled, the disk will be invisible in File Explorer. When the disk is disabled, follow the steps below to Enable it:
STEP 1. Press 'Windows'+ 'R' on the keyboard to activate run box.
STEP 2. Type 'devmgmt.msc' on the run box to open 'Device Manager'.
STEP 3. If a drive is disabled, the disk drive will be marked with a down arrow. Locate the hard drive you want to enable.
STEP 4. Right-click on it and choose 'Properties'> 'View'tab.
STEP 5. Click on 'Enable Device' button > 'OK'.
STEP 6. After that, check if the down arrow is still there.
Make sure that the drive is online
Sometimes, an external hard drive connected but not showing because the drive is offline. To be detected by Windows, you can follow steps below to check the current status of the disk.
Go to 'Control Panel'> 'System and Security'> 'Administrative Tools'.
Choose 'Computer Management', and locate your disk in 'Disk Management'.
Right-click on it and select 'Online'.
3. Update drivers for USB or external hard drive
When your USB/external drive does not show on file explorer on Windows 10/8/7, you can try to update its driver in Device Manager. As we know, an update is created to fix some glitches for the previous version so as to make USB or external drive showing on My computer again.
STEP 1. Press 'Windows'key + 'R'and enter 'devmgmt.msc' on the run box.
STEP 2. Open 'Device Manager'> Click the 'Scan for hardware changes' icon on the menu.
STEP 3. Right-click on the inaccessible USB/external hard drive and choose 'Update Driver Software..'.
STEP 4. After the update is finished, restart your PC and check if the device is accessible.
4. Recover data from hard drive that is not showing
When external hard drive issue occurs, an external hard drive is not showing files though they still exist. If any important data is in the USB/external hard drive when external hard drive shows up in Disk Management but not File Explorer, you can employ data recovery to retrieve your data before formatting it. Here we highly recommend you FonePaw Data Recovery which is capable of recovering data from USB/ external hard drive, supporting Window 10/8/7. To recover data from hard drive, you just need few simple steps.
Download
STEP 1. Run FonePaw Data Recovery, and then, select the file types you need.
STEP 2. Next, click on 'Scan' button after selecting your USB/external drive.
My Drive External Mobile Hard Disk Drives
STEP 3. Select out the files you want to recover.
STEP 4. Finally, click on 'Recover' button to finish data recovery.
STEP 5. After that, you can keep on formatting your inaccessible USB/external hard drive.
Case 2: External hard drive shows up in Device Manager but not Disk Management or File Explorer
Unlike case 1, USB or external hard drive sometimes is invisible in File Explorer or Disk Management, but it can be detected in Device Manager, for example, an external HDD won't show up in explorer, but it shows in Device Manager. To fix the issue, several methods can be listed below.
1. Make sure the USB or external hard drive is available. If it is not showing up in Disk Management or File Explorer, you can try to plug it into other USB port of your computer. What's more, you can connect your external drive to other computers to check if it works.
Adobe premiere elements vs powerdirector 15. 2. Partition and format the external hard drive.
Go to 'Computer Management'. > Right-click on black bar of the invisible drive to choose 'New Partition..'> Follow the instruction to finish the Partition.
Right-click on the drive and select 'Format'.
3. Disable and re-enable the USB controller.
Navigate to 'Device Manager'. > Find 'Unknown USB Device' and right-click on it. > Choose 'Uninstall'.
After restarting your PC, enable the USB controller again.
Now, your issue - external hard drive not showing Windows 10/8/7 has been resolved. To manage the data on USB/external hard drive, read here:
An external hard disk is a very valuable thing, but it happens that drive suddenly stops working or responding. This article is dedicated to such a situation. Here you will find out:
- the reasons for this issue
- methods how to fix the external hard drive, that not working
- how DiskInternals can help you
Are you ready? Let's read!
Basic reasons why the external hard drive is not responding
Your external hard drive is not responding? Let's see why this happened.
Firstly, quite often an external hard drive may be damaged by a virus or other kind of malicious program that you installed completely by accident.
Secondly, an external hard drive can simply have mechanical damage to the components.
Third, bad sectors can cause a disk to fail.
And fourthly, outdated or corrupted drivers also may lead to damage to the external hard drive.
Sure, there are more than just four reasons why your external hard drive is not responding, but these are the most common reasons. Now, most likely you will have one most important question: what to do if your hard drive is not working? You will learn the answer by studying this article.
There are 7 steps, and each of them can be your solution. Steps are moving from the simplest to the most difficult, so there is the point why it is better to move in this order.
Step 1. Power management setting
There is a chance that your computer is set up to save energy and independently disconnect an external hard drive. Mostly, that situation happens with laptops, not with PCs. It is easy to check and fix the power settings of the computer.
So, left-click on Start and, in the search line, enter devmgmt.msc. Now press the Enter key.
Next, select Device Manager, find the Universal Serial Bus Controllers tab and click on it. From the list, select your external device and right-click on it. Select Properties, then click on the Power Management tab.
If you see that the box 'Allow your computer to turn off this device to save energy' is selected, that means your computer can turn off any device to save its energy. Deselect the box and click OK.
Restart the computer and check the operation of the external hard drive. If the external hard drive is still not working, proceed to the next method.
External Hard Drive Pc
Step 2. Let the Device Manager work
In this case, you need the Device Manager to reinstall the external hard drive. Often, this method helps to fix the error 'external hard drive not responding.'
So, right-click on Start and select Device Manager.
Now click on Disk Drivers and find among the devices your external hard drive. Click on Delete -> Ok. After the process is complete, disconnect the external hard drive and restart the computer. Windows will prompt you to automatically install an external hard drive the moment you re-attach it.
If that step doesn't solve your problem, and the external hard drive is still not responding, proceed to step 3.
Step 3. Run anti-virus
It looks too simple, but the virus may have damaged the disk, so run an antivirus and scan your external hard drive. For the scan results to be correct, make sure the antivirus itself is of good quality and with the latest update.
If no viruses are detected, congratulations! The problem is not solved, but having no maleficent soft on your computer is a good sign.
Step 4. Reinstallation of drivers
Again, it looks too simple, but damaged and outdated driver can cause a lot of damage to an external hard drive. Therefore, reinstalling the drivers, as well as updating them, can solve the 'external hard drive not responding' problem.
Using the Device Manager, you can simply reinstall the drivers. Log in to it and select the 'Drives' tab. Select your external device by right-clicking. Click Delete, and then click OK. Wait until the removal is complete and restart the computer. Driver installation will occur automatically.
If the external hard drive is not working now, try updating the drivers. To do this, go to the official website of the manufacturer and get the latest driver updates from it.
It is a pity if after this method your external hard drive is not working, but do not be discouraged in advance, keep reading.
Step 5. Lost file recovery time
Before moving on to the last two steps that can be your solution, if there is a need to restore files - it's time to do it. If you neglect this step, you are likely to lose all files from an external hard drive.
If you can simply copy all your files from the external device - then great! If you can't due to some files being deleted - you need to restore them first.
The easiest way to recover all kinds of data from an external hard drive is with the help of the good professional software known as DiskInternals Uneraser. There are no restrictions on the amount of data to be restored; besides you can restore files of any type. The software works with many types of file systems: FAT, FAT12, FAT16, FAT32, Ext2, 3, and 4, HFS +, ReFS, ExFAT, NTFS, NTFS5, UFS, XFS, and ZFS. DiskInternals Uneraser has a simple and user-friendly interface, which is equipped with a Recovery Wizard. With this feature, you will not have any problem, even if you are a regular user. Professionals can work with the application both manually and using the Wizard.
The free Preview function prevents you from wasting money since by viewing the files you find, you will be assured of the quality and correctness of their recovery. There is also a free promotional version of this product that you can try to use right now.
Step 6. CHKDSK - very helpful
Windows utility CHKDSK perfectly works to repair the external hard drive. After using it, your disk will run smoothly. The only minus is that this method is likely to damage the recoverability of your data - it will cut them into small fragments of 512 Kb, and there will be no chance to recover deleted files properly.
That is why step 5 is so important.
Step 7. Think about formatting
Backup and restore all files from external storage, and then format it.
Here's how to do the formatting: Right-click on Start and select Disk Management. Select your external hard drive. Now click Volume Format (preferably NTFS or FAT32 format).
After formatting, restart the computer. Now the 'external hard drive not responding' error should not bother you anymore.
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