Hard drive and/or USB port not working properly.

ADMRifRaf

Reputable
Apr 4, 2014
7
0
4,520
Within the last week, my Toshiba Canvio Basics external hard drive is no longer recognized by my computer. When I plug it in, I get the beep from Windows and the drive spins up, but it doesn't show up under My Computer or Disk Management. I do see it if I look under Device Manager > Disk Drives.
My first thought was that it was a problem with the hard drive itself. However, when plugging it into my laptop, it shows up right away. I've tried every USB port (3.0 and 2.0) on my desktop, but it doesn't work. However, all of my other devices (keyboard and mouse, controller, and other external hard drive) work in each of the ports.
I am not sure on whether it is a problem with the hard drive or my desktop. Any suggestions?
 
Solution
Thanks for the response. In the device manager, I found that the device was disabled. Windows was getting an error trying to re-enable the device. After uninstalling and re-installing the device, it worked. Not quite sure what caused it, but it is fixed now.
What has changed within the last week?

The only possibility I can think of is windows power management.
There are options to reduce power to devices, including USB ports.
If a hard drive does not get sufficient power it may not be detected.
Check selective suspend for usb devices and disable.
 

ADMRifRaf

Reputable
Apr 4, 2014
7
0
4,520
Thanks for the response. In the device manager, I found that the device was disabled. Windows was getting an error trying to re-enable the device. After uninstalling and re-installing the device, it worked. Not quite sure what caused it, but it is fixed now.
 
Solution