External Hardrive not showing up in "This PC"

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Emma_6

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Dec 28, 2015
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My external hard drive is not showing up in "This PC", or the Disk Management section of admin tools... When i plug it in the light comes on the hard-drive and but nothing else happens. I've also plugged it into my sisters computer so it's not an issue with the hard-drive. it worked fine a few days ago.

I have a HP Pavilion with Windows 8.1
 
Solution
D_Know_WD
As none of the USB ports work, you can go to the computer manufacturer's website and reinstall the USB 3.0 drivers.
Yet, it seems that all of this could be hardware related.
My suggestion would be to just back up the data stored on your internal HDD in case the computer crashes.
After that, you can perform some troubleshooting(HDD, RMA, temperature, stress testing, etc.). Though, it may be a better idea to just contact the manufacturer on that. I guess it is still under warranty right?

D_Know_WD
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

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Jul 30, 2014
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Hi there Emma_6,

This is unpleasant. :(
Is the drive powering up?

One thing you can try is to use a different USB cable. In case the issue persists and the drive is not recognized even by Disk Management, then you can:
- Just RMA the drive if it is under warranty. In that case you will not get your data back.
- In case the data stored on it is crucial, you will need to contact a data recovery company.
- Some users take the drive out of the enclosure. If the issue is caused by a faulty enclosure, this may work. Yet, keep in mind that this will void the warranty. Also, it will not work if the drive features hardware encryption or has proprietary connectors.

Let me know in case you have some more questions,
D_Know_WD
 
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Emma_6

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Dec 28, 2015
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Thanks for your reply, I don't think the problem is the hard drive. It powers up and makes a little whirring noise. The hard drive works in other computers, I think the problem may be the USB ports... No other USB work in my computer.

My computer (which isn't old, only about 18months) has started going topsy turvy in the last 2 days. Programs not working, touchscreen not working and now the USB ports.
 
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D_Know_WD

D_Know_WD

Judicious
Jul 30, 2014
6,633
3
35,960
As none of the USB ports work, you can go to the computer manufacturer's website and reinstall the USB 3.0 drivers.
Yet, it seems that all of this could be hardware related.
My suggestion would be to just back up the data stored on your internal HDD in case the computer crashes.
After that, you can perform some troubleshooting(HDD, RMA, temperature, stress testing, etc.). Though, it may be a better idea to just contact the manufacturer on that. I guess it is still under warranty right?

D_Know_WD
 
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Solution
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Emma_6

Reputable
Dec 28, 2015
5
0
4,510
Thank you, I will definitely contact the manufacturer. I think it is still under warranty... I'll have to wait a few weeks until I'm home from holidays to check :-(

Hopefully I can get it working again. Thank you so much for all your help :)
 
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