Windows 10: how to force scan USB drives when plugged into pc

How can I force scan a USB drive when it's plugged in?

:)

 

Toshiba External USB drives not showing in Explorer or Disk Management Plug-in

Thank you for the update.

Looks like your system is unable to detect your external hard drive. Let's see if scanning for new hardware will fix the issue. Follow these steps:

• Press the Windows key to launch the Start menu.
• Type in Device Manager and press Enter.
• Under Device Manager, select Action tab > Scan for hardware changes.
• Wait for your system to install the generic driver for your device and follow the on-screen instructions.

If the issue still persists, we suggest that you perform the following recommendations below:

• Plug in your external USB drives to other USB device port of your system.
• Use other USB cables for your external device to connect to your system.

Keep us updated and we will be glad to assist you further.

 

USB drive not detected in Windows Explorer when plugged in

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



It’s really strange to see that the D Drive is not showing up in file explorer, even though it’s listed under disk management and you are able to open D drive using the navigation bar.



In this scenario, we would suggest you to perform these methods and check if that fix the issue.



Method 1: Restore File explorer to default.

1. Open File explorer and click on View.
   
2. Select on Options and click on Change folder and search options.
   
3. Select on View tab and click on Restore Defaults.
   
4. Click on OK and re-plug the USB and check.

Method 2: Registry change

1. Press Windows + R key to launch Run command. Type Regedit and click Ok.
   
2. Navigate to this location: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\MountedDevices
   
3. On the right pane look for D drive, right click on it and delete.
   
4. Restart the PC and then re-plug the USB to check.

Method 3: New user account

This issue may be due to a profile corruption. Hence, in order to eliminate possibilities, I would suggest you to create a new user account. Follow the steps from the article
Create a local user or administrator account in Windows 10
to create a new user account.



​If issue persists, update chipset and storage drivers from

HP manufacturer website.



Regards,



Aditya Roy

Microsoft Community – Moderator

 

" Keep the USB drive plugged in "

Hello Karar,

Thank you for posting your concern here in Microsoft Community and welcome to the Windows 10 family.

From the description provided, I understand that you are experiencing the error
Keep the USB drive plugged in during Windows Start up.

Before further troubleshooting, I would suggest you to access the computer using Safe Mode with networking and check whether the issue occurs.

Follow the steps to boot to safe mode with networking:

• 
  Press the ‘Windows + R’ key on the keyboard.
  
• 
  In the ‘Run’ windows type ’MSCONFIG’ and click ‘Ok’.
  
• 
  Click the ‘Boot’ tab.
  
• 
  Under ‘Boot Options’, select the ‘Safe Boot’ option.
  
• 
  Choose the type of safe mode by selecting one of the options below the Safe boot check box: Select ‘Network’.
  
• 
  Click OK and then restart your PC.
  

Now follow the below suggested methods and check if irt helps to resolve the issue.

Method 1

Remove all the peripheral devices attached with the computer except for the mouse and keyboard and check with the results.

Method 2

This might also occur due to unrecognizable device due to unknown driver.

Follow the below steps to check for unrecognizable USB devices

• Right click on the Start Menu
• Click on DEVICE MANAGER.
• Now click on USB CONTROLLER.
• Right click and uninstall driver with yellow error icon.
• Now click on Action.
• click on Search for hardware changes.

If the situation does not recover, I would suggest you to
check if the same issue occur when logged in through a different user account.

Ref:
http://windows.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-10/getstarted-set-up-accounts

Hope the above information was helpful. If you need further information, feel free to write to us and we would be happy to help you.

Thank you.