Portable Hard Drive not recognized by Windows 7, working on another PC

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Ashton Costa

Reputable
Nov 17, 2014
7
0
4,510
I have a 1 TB WD Elements portable hard drive. It works fine with my Windows 8 Laptop. I have just finished rebuilding my desktop running Windows 7, and it will not work. It shows up in device manager as an "Unknown Device", and it can't be seen in disk manager.

I have been searching for a solution for a long time to no avail. I have tried uninstalling the driver, disconnecting it and restarting, I have tried multiple known working USB ports, and a handful of other solutions that worked for other users with no luck. The drive is working without any problems on other PCs, just not this one.

Any help is greatly appreciated!
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
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Hey there, Ashton!

You definitely did a great job with the basic troubleshooting steps on your WD Elements!
Have you tried other devices on your PC build?
It looks to me that the problem is with the mobo. I'd suggest to get the latest update on the BIOS from your mobo manufacturer's website. See if that will resolve the issue.
Another thing you can try is to backup the data from it on your Windows 8 laptop and format the WD Elements there.
Afterwards plug it to your Windows 7 rig and see if it gets detected.
I'm almost sure that the problem is with the mobo though.

Keep me posted! Hope this helps! :)
SuperSoph_WD
 
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Ashton Costa

Reputable
Nov 17, 2014
7
0
4,510


I have updated the BIOS, and tried formatting the WD drive, it is still not being recognized.
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
3
45,960

I'm sorry to hear about that, Ashton! :(

Did you try with a different USB cable besides the multiple USB ports as well?
If it does power up when you plug it in, then it might be in the hidden devices. Try this and let me know if it helps:
Click on the Start menu > type cmd and press Enter > "Command Prompt" will be opened
Type these commands:
set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 > Press Enter
cd\ > Press Enter
cd windows\system32 > Press Enter
start devmgmt.msc > Press Enter > "Device Manager" will open
> When in the device manager, click on "View" > Select "Show hidden devices"
> Then expand all the nodes by clicking on "+" symbol.
> If you find a grayed entry > Right click on it > Select "Uninstall".
> Restart your PC > then try connecting your WD Elements again.

Hope this works out! Keep me posted though!
SuperSoph_WD
 
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A

Ashton Costa

Reputable
Nov 17, 2014
7
0
4,510


I followed your instructions, still no luck :(
 
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SuperSoph_WD

SuperSoph_WD

Glorious
Jul 30, 2014
6,758
3
45,960

Does it even spin up on Windows 7 when you plug it in? Are you sure the problem is not with the cable itself?
Maybe it's not supplying the WD Elements with enough power to get recognized.
It does still work on Windows 8 though, right?

Maybe it's going to be a good idea to contact our tech support personally, I believe they would be much more helpful and give you a detailed step-by-step how to proceed with this:
http://support.wdc.com/contact/contact.asp?lang=en

Keep me posted though!
SuperSoph_WD
 
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Ashton Costa

Reputable
Nov 17, 2014
7
0
4,510


Yes the drive spins up, the power light comes on and flashes, and the drive does get a little warmer as most do after being powered on.

I'll try going through WD tech support and update if I find a solution.
 
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A

Ashton Costa

Reputable
Nov 17, 2014
7
0
4,510
UPDATE: I contacted WD Support, after a few hours of troubleshooting, the support tech couldn't find what the problem was and decided to replace the drive. Received the new drive today and it is working properly.
 
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