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Windows will recognize my portable hard drive but it wont show in my computer

Tags:
  • Drivers
  • Computers
  • Portable Hard Drive
  • Windows 7
Last response: in Windows 7
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August 5, 2012 10:30:31 AM

Hello,
When i plug my WD passport portable hard drive into my computer, the hd will start up (the little LED will eliminate) and windows will make the "usb connection" sound and down the bottom right of the screen i have the option to safely remove my passport 0740. So windows picks up my hd but it just wont show up in my computer, it works on my other computer just not this one. i have tried changing the drive letters and that doesnt seem to help. Any ideas? using windows 7 ultimate

More about : windows recognize portable hard drive wont show computer

August 5, 2012 10:57:48 AM

Is it possible that you have accidentally closed the "drives with removable storage" tab?
And when you plug it in, does the autoplay screen pop up?
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March 16, 2013 10:38:26 PM

mine has that same issue it does not show auto play or on my computer but it is on disk manager. help
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Related resources
a b \ Driver
a b $ Windows 7
March 17, 2013 7:33:14 AM

If it's visible in Disk Management and has no drive letter assigned to it, right-click on it and choose Change Driver Letter & Paths.
Click "Add".
Choose a letter.
Click 'OK' and wait for the system to update itself.
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November 27, 2013 1:15:22 PM

I had the same situation. Plugged in my WD Passport 0704 and nothing came up or showed up as a removable device in "My Computer". Also nothing showed up in Disk Management as well. But it was allowing me to safely eject the drive.

I searched the net and found most of them mention the above "disk management" solution".

If none of the above works..... This worked for me:
suggestion - unplug the drive before trying this... and uninstall all the light-grey devices that will display. I also remove light-grey devices under "WD Drive Management Devices"
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jack4rall - Apr 25, 2012 02:27PM
Hello,
Try this 1
Click on Start --> In search box, type cmd. When it show "Command Prompt" or "cmd.exe" in the search list,
right-click on it and select the option "Open as administrator".
Open the command prompt and type the below commands:

set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1 (--> Press Enter)
start devmgmt.msc (--> Press Enter)

"Device Manager" window will be opened.
Now in the device manager, click on "View" --> Select "Show hidden devices"
Now expand the nodes "Disk Drives" and "Universal serial bus controller" by clicking on "+" symbol. If you find any light-greyed entries --> Right click on it --> Select "Uninstall".
Restart your PC and connect your external drive.
Good Luck
--------------------------------------------------

Found at http://en.kioskea.net/forum/affich-650763-western-digit...
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March 19, 2014 4:49:34 PM

Rokime said:
Hello,
When i plug my WD passport portable hard drive into my computer, the hd will start up (the little LED will eliminate) and windows will make the "usb connection" sound and down the bottom right of the screen i have the option to safely remove my passport 0740. So windows picks up my hd but it just wont show up in my computer, it works on my other computer just not this one. i have tried changing the drive letters and that doesnt seem to help. Any ideas? using windows 7 ultimate


I had te SAME problem as described! I finally solved it, it was some 'Virtual Drives' installed via CloneDVD that created that issue, hope it helps! (I uninstalled all virtual drives and CloneCD/DVD and restarted, now perfect!)

Francis
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September 11, 2014 2:46:21 PM

Guys, use disk management to assign a drive path letter and viola.

My problem:

Win 8.1
All usb periphs fine
Couldn't get Toshiba/wd flash drives to recognize
Could see them as "mass storage device" in device manager
Could see them under disk management but didn't have drive path assigned (no letter designation)
Could _not_ see them in "my computer"

My solution:

Both drives were formatted e:\ and f:\ from my 7 computer....my 8.1 already has internal e:\ and f:\

So, on my 8.1 machine, click file explorer icon > this computer > right click this PC > disk management > drive should be visible minus drive path > right click drive> change drive letter and path > follow instructions and choose a drive path not currently being used i.e. K or L or Q.

Viola, should get notifications that drive is recognized etc. I did check backwards compatibility of the fix. They still work on my 7 machine just fine. I also tried to change the drive path through the 7 machine to one not being utilized on the 8.1 but that didn't work, you have to change the drive path on the 8/8.1 machine for this fix to work....good luck!.
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September 21, 2014 10:38:49 AM

Alamoz28 said:
Guys, use disk management to assign a drive path letter and viola.

My problem:

Win 8.1
All usb periphs fine
Couldn't get Toshiba/wd flash drives to recognize
Could see them as "mass storage device" in device manager
Could see them under disk management but didn't have drive path assigned (no letter designation)
Could _not_ see them in "my computer"

My solution:

Both drives were formatted e:\ and f:\ from my 7 computer....my 8.1 already has internal e:\ and f:\

So, on my 8.1 machine, click file explorer icon > this computer > right click this PC > disk management > drive should be visible minus drive path > right click drive> change drive letter and path > follow instructions and choose a drive path not currently being used i.e. K or L or Q.

Viola, should get notifications that drive is recognized etc. I did check backwards compatibility of the fix. They still work on my 7 machine just fine. I also tried to change the drive path through the 7 machine to one not being utilized on the 8.1 but that didn't work, you have to change the drive path on the 8/8.1 machine for this fix to work....good luck!.


This worked! Thanks.
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