Windows 10: External Hard drive is not being recognized by Windows 11 PC, please help me connect to it!

I have a Smartdisk Crossfire Model XF160 external hard drive. I am trying to connect to it to get some old photos and music off from it from my windows 11 PC. I am unable to get the hard drive to show up anywhere to access it. Is there something I can do to access it?

:)

 

Toshiba external hard drive not recognized

Hi Philip,

Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.

I understand that the external hard drive is not recognized by the PC. I appreciate your efforts in trying to resolve the issue.
It would be great if you can answer these questions to assist you in a better way.

• Did you try connecting the Hardrive to different USB Port?
  
• Does the Hardrive get detected if you try connecting it to a different PC?
  
• Are you aware of any changes made to the computer recently?
  

I suggest you refer and follow the steps mentioned in the KB article and check if that resolves the issueError:
“USB Device not recognized” when you try to access a USB external hard drive

Note: Ignore method 2 & 5 from the above article.

Let us know how it goes.

Regards,

Zaki

 

External Hard Drive Not Recognized by Windows 10

Hi Thomas,

Sometimes, PCs fail to recognize the External Hard Drive even after confirming a successful connection. This is usually due to a corrupted or outdated device driver. However, for us to isolate the issue, we need additional information. Kindly answer the
questions below:

• Have you tired to plug your external hard drive to another port or to another device to make sure that it is working properly?
• Are you getting any error messages when you plug in your external hard drive?

In the meantime, we suggest that you run the Hardware and Device Troubleshooter. This automated tool will check the hardware/USB connected to your PC for any known issue and resolve it automatically. Refer to this link to access the troubleshooter:
Find and fix problems with devices and hardware.

Update us on how it goes.

 

Hard drive not recognized Windows 10

Hi Curtis,

Thank you for posting in Community.

We understand your concern and we will provide the assistance you required to resolve the issue.

Before we proceed, I would like you to provide the information stated below:

1. Is the portable hard drive connected to your PC via USB cable?

2. Did you get any error message that the drive was not recognize by your PC?

For now, I would suggest that you check if the USB cable that connects the hard drive and the PC is not damaged. If not, then I would suggest that you connect your hard drive to another PC and check if the device is recognized in that particular computer.

If the device gets recognized, then I would suggest that you connect the external hard drive, open File Explorer and check if the drive has an assigned letter. If not, open Disk Management while the drive is connected to the system and follow the steps below.

1. Right click on the Start Menu and select Disk Management

2. Right click on the external drive>Select New Simple Volume and
assign letter to the drive.

Hope this helps