USB 3.0 does not see external hard drive. Why doesn't a computer or laptop see a flash drive and a removable hard drive?

Lately Subscribers often contact me with the following problem: after connecting to the computer, the external HDD. The connection is normal, drivers are installed without errors, but in the list of logical drives Windows Explorer 10 he doesn't appear. Why is this happening. There are several reasons for this problem, both software and hardware.

Before you start troubleshooting, first try disconnecting the removable drive from the computer and reconnecting it to an adjacent port.

On some models, the cable comes with two USB connectors on one side. The first is used for the main connection, and the second provides additional power. If the second one is not connected, then the device may simply not have enough power.

If you connected the gadget to USB ports 3.0 and the computer does not see the external drive, then try connecting it to regular ports. They differ in color. High-speed connectors of the new standard are usually highlighted in color - blue or yellow. Like this:

The usual ones are gray or black. With this step you will exclude possible problems With USB driver 3.0 on a computer or laptop, due to which the removable disk may not be visible.

Now let's move on to software level reasons.
One of the most common cases when a removable external drive is not visible in Explorer is that the operating system Windows system I did not assign a letter for the new logical partition when connecting. Accordingly, it will not appear in the list of logical partitions in Explorer. It's easy to fix.

On the desktop, right-click on the computer icon and select “Computer Management.”
The following window will open:

We find the “Storage Devices” section, and in it - the “Disk Management” item. A list of logical and physical disks should appear on the right side of the window. In it we find our volume external hard disk:

Select a free letter and click on “OK”. Personally, I like to place letters from the very end of the alphabet - X, Y or Z.

Also, if there are problems at work removable USB drive, I would advise opening Device Manager and looking at the “Portable Devices” section:

Your gadget should be displayed here. Right-click on it and select “Properties”.

In the window that appears, on the “General” tab, look in the “Device Status” field. There should be no errors, everything should be fine. Then open the “Driver” tab:

If you still cannot see your external hard drive in Windows 10 Explorer, try updating the driver. In some cases it helps complete removal device and installing the driver again.

P.S.: If all the recommended steps did not bring the expected result, then I would recommend trying to connect your removable drive to another computer or laptop and check its functionality on it, since most likely there is a hardware malfunction.

Every day external HDDs and SSDs are becoming more and more popular. This is not at all surprising, because this small box can contain great amount information – up to 1-6 terabytes! For comparison, today not every PC even has an internal 1TB hard drive.

But what to do when your computer or laptop does not see the external hard drive? In this article we will figure out why this happens and how to solve it correctly. this problem.

If the new external hard drive is not detected

In this situation we mean portable storage, which you just purchased and to your PC. First thing to do:

1. Go to Control Panel/Make sure that “Small Icons”/Administration is selected in the “View” menu.

3. In the left column, go to the “Disk Management” menu.

4. Wait 5-10 seconds for the configuration to update, after which both internal and external media that are connected to a computer or netbook. Quite often, a PC may not read media due to incorrect letter assignment.

This is what needs to be changed. To do this, you need to right-click on our device and select “Change letter”.

Another option why the laptop does not recognize the new hard drive is that it is not formatted

In this case, you won’t even be able to change the name to something else. You need to click on the disk again right key mouse, a menu will be displayed, then click “Create Volume”. However, be careful! In this case, all information will be deleted from the HDD.

A less common problem is motherboard the chip responsible for usb performance ports. In 99% of cases, the solution to the problem is to repair the board.

Lack of drivers is another most common reason

If the hard drive is not visible either in Disk Management or in My Computer, but at the same time functions fully on other equipment, this is precisely the problem. Certainly, modern windows 7, 8, 10 are smart operating systems that search for and install drivers completely automatic mode. However, sometimes they also make mistakes.

In this situation it is necessary:

1. Check USB operation ports (2.0/3.0). If other devices work through them, then the problem is not with them at all.

2. If everything is fine with the USB ports, but the hard drive still doesn’t work:

Go to Control Panel/Make sure that “Small Icons”/Device Manager is selected in the “View” menu and select the “Other devices” and “ Disk devices».

There you can find out whether the drivers for the connected media are installed.

If there are red or yellow identification icons next to the name of the connected device (see screenshot above), it means that the drivers were not installed or were installed with errors; to fix this, you need to do one of the following options:

1. Click “Update hardware configuration”, after which the installation will occur automatically.

2. Use a special installation program necessary drivers « DriverPack Solution, Driver Booster or others"

3. Reinstall Windows OS.

After completing simple steps, the HDD will operate as usual.

If the old external HDD is not displayed

In this case, we are talking about a hard drive that was previously functioning on your PC, but it stopped seeing it. In such a situation you should:

Now you know how to find out the reason why the computer does not show removable storage, and you can solve it yourself!

Despite mass distribution cloud technologies and increasing the speed of data transfer over the Internet, removable USB media information is still actively used in working with computers. Flash drives latest generation transmit large amounts of information at significant speed and do not depend on the connection, provider and network restrictions. This article describes the most common reasons why the personal computer does not see USB flash drive, and provides instructions for solving these problems.

Physical problem with the flash drive

This is not the most common, but the most obvious reason why the computer does not see the flash drive. Inside these devices there are microcircuits that, like any other electronics, can burn out. It is possible that water got inside the case and caused the contacts to short out. Also, due to improper operation, one of the plug contacts could be damaged.

There are even special viruses that burn out all devices connected to a specific USB port personal computer. In this case, nothing can be done to help.

Physical problem with the port

Another obvious reason why the computer does not see the flash drive lies in problems with the port itself on the computer. The condensate that got inside it could oxidize the contacts, which leads to a loss of their performance. The port may have burned out due to a power outage and unstable work power supply.

Also similar problem may occur if the port is not connected to the motherboard. Similar situations often happen with the front panel of a PC case. The controls and ports located on it must be additionally connected to the motherboard. If the wire comes loose, or they simply forgot to connect it, nothing will work.

In this case, you should check the wiring inside yourself. system unit, or contact an assembly specialist.

Drivers for USB 3.0

The USB 3.0 generation, which came into use not so long ago, has not yet completely conquered the market. Typically, such ports are installed in cases along with the still relevant, but slower 2.0. They can be identified by a blue strip of plastic inside the connector itself.

The problem may be that the system you are using BIOS version or a “clean” installed operating system has drivers installed only for the second generation. Regular ports in this case work in normal mode, and the “blues” will not show any signs of life.

The problem is solved by installing drivers on your motherboard. They can be found on the included DVD or downloaded from the official website of the product manufacturer. You can also try updating the operating system - Wizard Windows updates independently pulls up and installs all the necessary patches.

Reinstalling drivers

If you are confident in the operation of your ports and a portable device that the computer cannot read for some reason, you can try reinstalling the driver for the USB port. Extreme caution is recommended when working with installed drivers. Wrong actions can disrupt stable work OS. It is best to create a Windows restore point before following these instructions.

The necessary drivers will be automatically installed on your computer.

Virus infection

If the PC or laptop does not detect the flash drive, perhaps the problem lies in some malicious code. Firstly, there may be a script running on the computer itself that is interfering with correct operation controllers or Windows Explorer. To solve this problem, you need to scan your system for viruses and clean it. This is done using special programs– antiviruses.

If you do not have an antivirus installed, it is highly recommended to download it. you can use free utility from Microsoft – Security Essentials, which can be downloaded from this link https://www.microsoft.com/ru-ru/download/details.aspx?id=5201.

Install the program and run it. In the options menu on the right, select “Full” and click the “Check Now” button. After this, you will need to wait a while while the utility searches for malicious scripts on your system.

An external hard drive is a portable storage device containing a storage device (HDD or SSD) and a controller for interacting with a computer via USB. When connecting such devices to a PC, sometimes some problems are 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 causing this problem. If connected new disk, then perhaps Windows “forgot” to report this and offer to install drivers and format the media. In the case of old 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 disk itself, cable or port on the PC.

Another reason is lack of nutrition. Let's start with it.

Reason 1: Nutrition

Quite often, due to the shortage of USB ports, users connect several devices to one socket via a hub (splitter). If connected devices require power from the USB connector, a power shortage may occur. This leads to a problem: the hard drive may not start and, accordingly, may not appear in the system. The same situation can arise when ports are overloaded with energy-intensive devices.

In this situation, you can do the following: try to free up one of the ports for an external drive or, as a last resort, purchase a hub with additional food. Some portable drives may also require additional energy supply, as evidenced by the presence of not only USB cord included, but also a power cable. Such a cable may have two connectors for connecting to USB or a completely separate power supply.

Reason 2: Unformatted disk

When connecting 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 this procedure manually.

Let's go to "Control Panel". You can do this from the menu "Start" or press the keyboard shortcut Win+R and enter the command:
Next we go to "Administration".
Find the shortcut with the 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 its size, as well as by the RAW file system.
Click on the disk RMB and select the item context menu "Format".
Next, select the label (name) and file system. Place a checkmark opposite « Quick formatting» and press OK. All that remains is to wait for the process to complete.
A new disk has appeared in the folder "Computer".

Reason 3: Drive letter

This problem can arise when performing disk operations - formatting, partitioning - on another computer using special software.

In such cases, you must set the letter manually in the snap-in "Disk Management".

Reason 4: Drivers

The operating system is very complex software and that is why various failures often occur in it. In normal Windows mode installs itself standard drivers for new devices, but this is not always the case. If the system does not start driver installation when you connect an external drive, you can try restarting the computer. In most cases this is enough. If the situation does not change, you will have to “work with your hands.”

If the software for the disk cannot be installed, you need to check the branch "Disk devices". If it has a drive with yellow icon, this means that the OS does not have such a driver or it is damaged.

Will help solve the problem forced installation. You can find software for the device manually on the manufacturer’s website (perhaps it came with a driver disk) 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 at the very removable disk, but may also be present on your PC. First, check your system for viruses and, if so, second hard disk.

Using the means given in the article above, check external storage will fail because it cannot be initialized. Only help here bootable flash drive With antivirus scanner, For example, . You can use it to scan your media for viruses without downloading system files and services, and therefore the subject of attack.

Reason 6: Physical problems

Physical malfunctions include failure of the disk or controller itself, failure of ports on the computer, as well as banal “breaking” USB cable or food.
To determine the problem, you can do the following:

Replace 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 (don't 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 to service center, otherwise it will go straight to the trash bin.

With the widespread use of USB, last years hard disks USB 3.0 is becoming increasingly popular among computer users. Like any other device, external HDDs also have their drawbacks, one of which we will consider in this article. After connecting the drive to USB port 3.0, some users encountered a problem with their drive being unreadable operating system. The drive is not recognized in Windows and does not appear in Explorer.

Don't panic prematurely. Although this problem may seem scary, it can be fixed with a couple of effective solutions we will help you resolve the issue. It is not necessary to look for just one among all the methods listed below. Just gradually follow all the steps and the disk will come back to life.

1. Restart your computer.
2. Check if the hard drive works on another PC.
3. Connect other USB devices to see if they work.

Fix Error External USB 3.0 Drive Not Recognized

Method 1: Update USB Driver

1. Open My computer > select Properties of the system
Alternative way: right click on My computer and select Properties.

2. Open Device Manager located in the left pane.

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3. Open USB controllers and next to what you need, if the controller does not have the most latest driver, yellow will appear Exclamation point. Click the device next to it and select Update drivers.

4. Now click on Automatic search updated drivers to install the latest software. Wait for the process to complete and try connecting the hard drive again.

Method 2: Use Disk Management and let the computer recognize the USB 3.0 HDD

1. Open start menu and go to Control Panel.

2. Go to menu Administration and open Computer management.

3. Once the window opens, click Disk management and find the device you need.

4. Right-click on the drive and select Format.

Additional Help

Format the disk and lose it important information may sound very scary for the user, so we will tell you how you can restore your device without losing the necessary files.

Starus Partition Recovery will become good choice for any user who encounters an unreadability problem hard drive. The program will not only allow you to recover lost data, but also open logically damaged partitions.

Below is brief instructions, which can help you recover information:

1. Connect external hard drive USB disk 3.0 to your computer and run the application. The program will immediately prompt you to scan the device of your choice.

2. Select a logical partition or physical disk, which needs to be scanned.

3. Next, the program will offer you two options for analyzing the disk.
By selecting Quick Scan , the utility will perform a superficial assessment of the device and find all the main files, however, it is worth mentioning that such a check is not deep. Full analysis, in turn, will scan the device as thoroughly as possible, which will allow you to find any information that has left its trace.

Upon completion of the analysis, you can export documents to any safe place on your computer in two clicks, and then format them external hard disk.