Windows 10: If external drive does NOT show in Disk Management...is it done?

I have an 2TB WD My Ultra Passport external drive which has always worked fine but today I plugged it in and it took long for the drive icon to show up in Windows Explorer. When i clicked it - my system was frozen until I physically disconnected it.
I tried different ports and different computers. Same thing. Also, the WD Drive Utilities is not recognizing it. The little light is on, and I hear it spinning but its cyclical like a regular rhythmic pattern.

It's used as a backup so losing the data would only mean losing a copy and I'd have to replace the drive.

Is there anything else I can do to test it before I conclude that it has finished its life?

:)

 

external hard drive showing up in device management but not disk management

Hi,

I recently tried to use a brand new Seagate 2TB External HD, but it is not showing up. It initially showed up, but after I tried reformatting it to exFAT32, it disappeared from the disk management list.

I then tried:

• refreshing the disk management list,
• inserting into a different USB port,
• re-starting my computer, and
• uninstalling the device from device manager/letting it refresh,

I still can't see it. There is no yellow error in the USB controller list.

I'm on Windows 10.

Intel i5-3317U @ 1.7GHz

Any suggestions? Thanks!

 

External disk drive not showing up

Check if the drive is assigned a drive letter.

Press Windows key + X

Click Disk Management

If you see your drive listed there, but no drive letter, right click it

Click Change Drive Letter and Paths

Click Add

Click Assign the following drive letter

Click in the Drive letter list box

Choose a drive letter - try choosing letters near the end of the alphabet

Click OK

Click OK again

If that does not work...

Press Windows key + X

Click Device Manager

Expand Disk drives

Right click the external drive

Click uninstall

Exit Device Manager, restart then check if its detected.

or

Step 1. Press Windows key + R to open the Run dialog

Step 2. Type regedit and press Enter

Step 3. Navigate to the following path:

HKEY_LOCAL_Machine > SYSTEM > CurrentControlSet > Services > USB

Step 4. If the USB key does not exist into the list, then create a new key USB under Services. Now create a new DWORD value under the key that you’ve just created

Step 5. Keep the USB key selected and right-click on the blank space at the right pane

Step 6. Select New > DWORD value from the context menu

Step 7.Rename this newly created DWORD value as DisableSelectiveSuspend

Step 8. Right-click on DisableSelectiveSuspend and select Modify

Step 9. Put 1 in Value data field and then click OK

Step 10. Reboot your PC

 

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.