Sees the external hard drive does not open. External hard drive not detected

Question from a user...

Hello. My 1 TB Seagate Expansion external hard drive (without power adapter) was purchased in 2015. Since then it has worked well, I have used it as additional memory for music, photos, videos (I have a computer and a laptop - it’s convenient to transfer data between them).

The other day I connect it to a USB port and see that the computer does not see the external hard drive at all! I tried to connect it to the laptop - the same thing, even the LED does not light up. Could you please tell me what could be the reason, how can I fix it (didn’t drop the disc, didn’t hit it, didn’t splash it, generally handled it very carefully)?

There are no particularly necessary documents on the disk, but a large archive of interesting files accumulated recently.

Thank you in advance.

Good day!

In general, there are quite a few reasons why this could happen: for example, the USB cord has become unusable. In this article I will try to give the most basic reasons why such a problem of “invisibility” arises. By going through them, you and many other users will be able to fix a similar problem yourself, which will save you time and money ✌.

Problem with hardware // can be identified by external signs

The first thing I want to start this article with is with "external signs" , because it is by them that you can determine whether there are problems with the hardware itself. Yes, and you see them earlier than all other parameters and settings in Windows.

When connecting a drive to a USB port, you must:

To help!

Repairing an external hard drive at home // an attempt to restore functionality -

Why all the above written: It’s just that if, when connecting a disk to several computers, it does not show any signs of life (the LED does not light up, the sound of movement inside is inaudible), then there is no point in looking further for the reason for its “invisibility”, because There is clearly a problem with the hardware (with the wires, with the disk itself, with the USB ports).

Drive letter conflict

Each storage medium: hard disk, optical disk, floppy disk, etc. - when connecting to a computer, a letter is automatically assigned (C:\, D:\, E:\, etc.). It happens that Windows, as a result of some kind of failure or conflict, assigns the wrong letter (or doesn't do it at all!)- as a result, the media is not displayed. Moreover, this happens not so rarely...

How to open Disk Management (Windows 7/8/10):

1. press buttons Win+R;
2. enter the command diskmgmt.msc;
3. press Enter(see screenshot below).

Select your external hard drive from the list of drives (if it is not there, go to the next point in the article: the problem with drivers), right-click on this line and select from the pop-up context menu "Change drive letter or drive path..." (as in the screenshot below).

After that, select any other letter and click change (see screenshot below).

To help!

My computer does not display external drives and flash drives because... Windows does not assign letters to connected drives -

File system problem

IN disk management Notice how the drive is displayed. If there is a black bar above it and it says “Not distributed”, this means that the disk is simply not formatted.

If the hard drive is new - this happens quite often (not all manufacturers format the disk).

To format a disk - in disk management select it in the list and right-click on it, then click on the option "Create Simple Volume"(see screenshot below).

Note! Formatting will delete all data on the disk! If you had files on it before, then most likely there was a failure, try first correcting the errors on the disk, more on that below.

In the next step, you will need to specify the drive letter (choose any free one), the file system (I recommend NTFS), and set the volume size (usually on external hard drives this parameter is not changed, making one single volume for the entire disk size).

To help!

How to format a hard drive: methods -

If your external hard drive has already been formatted , and you have not already copied files to it, then the display of “unmarked area” (or RAW file system) may occur due to:

• incorrectly disconnecting the disk from the USB port (for example, when information was being copied and you suddenly “pulled out” the USB cord);
• a power outage could occur: for example, during a power outage or surge;
• when infected with certain types of viruses;
• in case of hardware failure.

Most often, however, the display of the RAW file system is associated with improper disconnection of the disk. In this case, as a rule, it is possible to quickly correct errors and bring the disk back to life.

How to check the disk (data will not be deleted, everything will remain in place!)

First you need to run command line.:

1. press a combination of buttons Win+R ;
2. enter in the open line cmd click Enter.

Next, in the command line, type the command chkdsk e:/f(Where " e:" is the letter of your drive). The check takes only a few minutes. In many cases, after such a simple procedure, the computer begins to see the disk, files and folders remain safe and sound.

Disk check // chkdsk

An alternative option for running the scan: go to "My Computer", right-click on the disk (which you want to check) and select from the menu properties(see screenshot below).

A few words about TV...

In my practice, I came across another interesting reason due to which the disk becomes invisible. A new modern TV (with some SmartTV functions) - when connecting the disk, asked the user to agree with its layout. He agreed, and everything seemed to be recorded normally on him.

But when I connected the disk to the computer, it refused to see it. The bottom line is that the TV formatted the disk into a different file system. After formatting to the NTFS file system, everything began to work as it should. (the problem is fixed - also through disk management, no additional programs are required).

Driver conflict or missing

If your external hard drive is not visible in disk management - I recommend checking whether the drivers are installed on it.

A small note...

In general, Windows 7, 8, 10, when you connect a flash drive or the same external drive to a computer, drivers are automatically installed. But in some cases, this does not happen (it’s difficult to say why, either the disk is not “ordinary” and there are no standard drivers for it in the system’s stash, or some kind of error occurs and a conflict with other drivers occurs, or because for what...).

If the driver for your disk is not installed, then disk management you won't find your disk!!!

To check the driver installation, open device Manager . For this:

1. press a combination of buttons WIN+R ;
2. in the window that appears, enter the command devmgmt.msc and press Enter(screen below, works in Windows 7, 8, 10).

To help!

How to open Device Manager (including in Windows 10): several ways -

IN device manager open the tab "Disk devices". Next, pay attention to:

• Is your device in the list, is it displayed at all;
• Also check the "Other Devices" tab - it displays devices for which there are no drivers.
• Is there a yellow exclamation mark next to your disk (if there is, it means the driver for your disk is not installed). An example is shown in the screenshot below.

Left: everything is fine with the driver (WD Elements) // Right: no driver (yellow exclamation mark) WD My Passport

How to update the disk driver:

Lack of nutrition

Quite often, problems with external drives occur due to lack of power. Especially if you have several devices connected to one USB port at once.

A characteristic feature when there is a lack of power: the disk appears to be displayed normally at first, but as soon as you want to copy or read something to it, it becomes inaccessible (or simply freezes).

How to fix the problem: try buying a Y-shaped cord (photo below) and connect the drive to two USB ports at once. This happened to me with some drives that became invisible after a few seconds when I tried to connect them to the USB ports of the laptop.

Y-shaped USB cord for connecting an external HDD

Advice! If you connect an external HDD to a laptop and it doesn’t see it, try connecting it to a desktop computer (or other device). It is possible that on another device the disk will work as expected.

A USB splitter with an additional power source can also be a good solution. An example of such a splitter is shown in the photo below.

PS

Some types of viruses (and antiviruses, by the way) can block the connection of external media and devices. Therefore, I also recommend:

1. try connecting your drive to another PC/laptop;
2. check your PC for viruses using alternative software. How to do this is described in this instruction: .

This concludes the article, I hope you solve the problem (or at least find out what the reason is)!

from 270 rub.

RUB

Many personal computer users are familiar with the following unpleasant situation: while working on the computer, there is an urgent need to extract information from the hard drive, but when you connect the HDD, you discover that the hard drive does not start.

Don't rush to sound the alarm. You can immediately contact a specialist, or try to resuscitate the railway yourself.

If the hard drive does not boot, then its operation has malfunctioned, and a message may appear on the monitor screen about a screw failure during boot, or an error, or that it is impossible to find the hard drive in the BIOS settings. There are two main root causes for the hard drive not booting:. The latter is explained by the fact that the user formatted the disk or accidentally deleted unnecessary folders. Here you can try to take action yourself.

But if the screw is mechanically damaged, you cannot do without professional help. There are, of course, other reasons that the hard drive does not open, for example, viruses that block the operation of the hard drive and other special cases.

What can you do if your hard drive is unreadable:

• First, test your hard drive on another computer; perhaps the problem is not in the hard drive at all. Just in case, connect the screw to another connector; it happens that the HDD starts working in another port.
  
  
  It happens that connectors become corroded over time, in this case it is necessary remove corrosion with a regular eraser. If, nevertheless, the screw does not start, then we continue to perform the following steps.
• Check to see if all cables are connected to the hard drive correctly. If there is a cable coming off the plug, or you find that the cords are not connected correctly, this could very well be the reason why the hard drive will not start.
  
  
  Check the cables along their entire length; mechanical damage to the cable cannot be ruled out. You are lucky if this is the reason for the screw being unreadable, since this is the most easily remedied problem. You just need to replace the faulty cord.
• Check if your hard drive is reading the hard drive controller. True, not in all cases the controller does not see the disk if it does not start.



• If you have already used this hard drive, and it was working properly before the breakdown, then you need to change the drive letter in the disk management menu.
  
  
  This action is especially relevant if you formatted new partitions on the hard drive.
• Be sure to check the magnetic drive for viruses; in this case, you need to install anti-virus programs.
• You need to check whether the disks are detected correctly. You can see this in Device Manager. There should be no yellow or red exclamation marks to indicate an error.



• Reinstall the drivers on the hard drive controller.
• Reinstall the Windows operating system, sometimes this measure is effective.
• It wouldn't hurt to clean your computer of temporary folders. Then optimize the Registry and Utilities service.

What to do when a hard drive that has not yet been used does not start?

So, you turn on the new hard drive for the first time, but it does not open:

If everything is in order with the software, Windows, cords and USB, but the hard drive does not start, then you need to find a breakdown of the device itself. Winchester consists of:

A) printed circuit board(green part at the bottom of the disk, consisting of many electronic controllers). The board's task is to convert codes into commands accessible to the computer;

b) “pancakes” (magnetic disks), on these thin glass or metal magnetic plates all computer information is stored. The maximum number of revolutions per minute of such plates is 7200, the minimum is 5900;


V) set of magnetic heads, on each side of the “pancake” of the hard drive there is one magnetic head, that is, two heads per “pancake”. The heads do not contact the surface of the “pancake”, but upon impact, the heads come into contact with the disk, and the information on the drive is destroyed;

G) firmware, which provides control over the processing of incoming information. If the problem is in the firmware, then the data from the disk will not be available. The firmware on a computer's hard drive cannot be updated, like, for example, on a telephone.

If the hard drive does not boot, then the problem is in the circuit board (99% of all cases). Modern hard drives have their own unique microcode, so replacing the board, unfortunately, will give you practically nothing; on the contrary, if you try to replace the board yourself, you risk losing all the information from the disk.

The printed circuit board deteriorates due to changes in electrical voltage, when semiconductor devices (TVS diodes) on it burn out, protecting the board from overvoltage.

The board has one diode for 5 Volts, the second for 12 Volts.

You can check the health of the diodes with a multimeter, if the device shows zero ohms, then the diodes are burned out. In this case, you can replace them, and the board will work normally.

When replacing diodes, keep in mind that without these devices the hard drive is completely defenseless against power surges.

If the semiconductor devices did not burn out, then, unfortunately, the printed circuit board itself failed. You can try to replace it. To do this, unsolder or disconnect the permanent memory unit with a unique code and solder it to the new board. Check the connectors for the magnetic heads; if there is corrosion on them, remove it with an eraser. Corrosion may be the reason why your hard drive won't boot.

How to start a hard drive

Another reason that the hard drive does not start may be its absence in the BIOS, that is, the disk has the “Disabled” option in the settings. Change the setting to Enabled.


How to reload drivers if the problem is with them.

Typically, the suspects in this case are software failures, incorrect operating system settings, outdated drivers, malfunctions of computer USB ports, adapters, or the drives themselves.

Depending on the reasons, the problem manifests itself differently in each case. It happens that the computer does not react at all to a 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 Explorer. And sometimes the computer simply freezes immediately after contact with the USB device.

What to do if your Windows computer does not see a flash drive or external hard drive

First, figure out what exactly the problem is with: the computer, the adapter (if the connection is via a cable) or the drive. Try connecting the USB device through other ports. If this does not help and you are using a cable, try replacing it with a spare one. If unsuccessful, check whether the drive opens 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 does not help, move on to the next and so on.

If the other 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 rather than 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 ADATA brand flash drives. But keep in mind that during the recovery process, these utilities erase all data from flash drives.

If none of the above helped, then it 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 slightly different, but follows approximately the same algorithm. We will assume that you have already tried restarting the computer, disconnecting and connecting the 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.

Mac diagnostic software provides detailed information about all software and hardware components on your computer, including USB devices. Open the Apple menu, then hold down the Option key, click "System Information" and go to the USB section in the menu that opens.

If the flash drive is 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 a store or service center if repairs make sense.

Many PC users using portable HDDs are faced with the problem that the external hard drive does not open. Such a nuisance can happen for various reasons. Sometimes they can be serious and require professional attention, and sometimes they can be fixed on your own without losing data. So what should you do if your external hard drive won't open?

The computer sees the hard drive, but does not open it

It often happens that when you connect an external drive, the computer reports that “a USB device has been connected,” and the HDD is even visible in the PC explorer, but when you try to open it, the computer freezes or a message appears stating that the drive needs to be formatted for further use. This, of course, cannot be done if you value the information that is stored on it. But if all you care about is the performance of the disk, then formatting can often solve the problem.

There can be many reasons why an external hard drive does not open. For example, a logical failure of the file system, the presence of unreadable sectors, errors in the service area of ​​the device, or a malfunction of the magnetic head unit. Very often, there are also problems with the disk box; the controller may fail or the USB connector may become loose. During stable operation, the HDD should open without any difficulties.

What to do if the external hard drive does not open

Sometimes the problem may not be a mechanical fault with the hard drive; the external drive may not open due to the fact that it is not distributed in the operating system; this can be fixed in a few clicks. To do this, you need to go to Disk Management, select the desired drive and assign a letter. Most often, after this the problem is solved and you can use the device again.

If these steps did not help identify and solve the problem, then the portable hard drive probably cannot be opened due to a more serious problem, and it is unlikely that you can solve it yourself without losing data on the drive. If you hear that the disk is making unusual sounds (for example, beeping), it is better to disconnect the device from the computer as soon as possible and contact a specialist. Trying to “treat” it yourself may harm the surface of the magnetic platters of the hard drive. The result is damage to the integrity of information on the HDD (complete or partial loss of data). Use your common sense and don't try to fix the problem yourself if your computer won't open your external hard drive after being dropped or exposed to moisture. In such cases, the problem is most likely mechanical in nature, and only specialists with relevant experience can help solve it.

Professional diagnostics of the device will help to accurately determine the reason why the external hard drive does not open. In the AIKEN laboratory, diagnostics are carried out free of charge: in 10-15 minutes we will explain the problem, as well as the methods and cost of solving it.

As always, at the most inopportune moment, you turn on your PC and realize that the external hard drive does not open? Or it is not even necessary that there is such a problem with the portable media; perhaps the internal computer hard drive is not detected or does not want to open at all. If you are not afraid of breaking everything even more, and your hands are growing from the right place, then you can try to find the cause of this unpleasant situation and try to eliminate it. If you do not consider all sorts of ridiculous situations and very exotic problems, then there are not so many reasons.

Why the hard drive does not open, reasons

• These could be all sorts of problems with the operating system itself, driver errors, or even problems with the BIOS. It is worth checking the disk for openability on another computer or laptop.
• The interface cable or power cable is not connected or is coming off. Try connecting the hard drive with a different cable.
• There are often cases when a removable hard drive does not open due to lack of power. This happens especially often when connecting an external USB drive to the front connectors on the PC case.
• When attempting to open a disk, the operating system may ask you to format it or display the “Insert disk” message. Such signs may indicate violations in the partition table or boot sector. If there is important data on the disk, perhaps some program from the Internet will help restore it; if the necessary files are not there, try formatting the HDD.
• Remote disks have their own specific problems. If the USB hard drive does not open, this may indicate a failure of the USB adapter or bridge when the adapter is not removable. Replacing the external box or connecting the HDD directly to the computer with a SATA cable can help here.
• Also, in cases where the hard drive does not open, there is a high probability of a hardware problem: electronics malfunction, problems with the magnetic head unit, the presence of unreadable sectors, damage to the service area, or others. In such situations, nothing can be done without special equipment and professional skills. And if there is important data on the hard drive, then we highly recommend not doing anything, but immediately contacting professionals.

This is not a complete list of problems when a portable hard drive does not open or a regular internal SATA and the computer does not see the hard drive in Explorer. Problems can also be caused by a poor-quality power supply, malware or viruses, a disabled channel in the BIOS, an incorrectly installed jumper on the IDE disk, and other reasons.

Any disk can stop opening

• Manufacturers: WD, Seagate, Hitachi (HGST), Samsung, IBM, Maxtor, Fujitsu, Toshiba, Transcend, A-Data, Buffalo, Silicon Power, Prestigio, 3Q, Iomega, Verbatim, etc.
• Size: 3.5″, 2.5″, 1.8″, etc.
• Interfaces: USB (2.0, 3.0), SATA, SAS, IDE, SCSI, ZIF, FireWire,
  eSATA, etc.
• Type and Application: Internal - computer, laptop, server, storage system, NAS, portable. External, removable, portable, video camera, player, and any other purpose.

Have you tried to open your hard drive on your own without success? You have a direct path to professionals like us. Having extensive experience and all the necessary professional equipment, our specialists will do everything possible so that the HDD begins to open or recover all important data from it.