Windows 10: My PC does not recognize two of my external drives, although it will recognize other...

I am running Windows 11. I have two external SSDs that suddenly my PC does not recognize in File Explorer, File Management, or Device Manager. I have tried using different USB ports without any success although those ports will recognize other external drives. I have also rebooted including turning the pc completely off. I then tried another pc and both SSDs are recognized. How do I get my pc to recognize these two drives? The PC was recognizing them this morning, but then not recognizing them this afternoon.

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External drive not recognized

I have an external drive that is not being recognized. I have unplugged it and and plugged it back in and still not being recognized. I see it listed in device manager and it says it is working properly. In disk management it says Disk 1 Unknown not initialized.
I have tried changing drive letters not able to do that. This happened when I disconnected an hdmi cable, The external drive stopped responded at that point so I unplugged it but when In plugged it back it is not being recognized. I can feel the disk spinning
so it is working. Any suggestions? Thanks in advance

 

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

Hello zbook
#1) I have tested the external drives in three different computers, win10 pro, Win10, and XP. The results are identical. When I plug in the external hard drive windows signals a new device with an audio signal and the light comes on on the external drive. The results on all three pc's is identical in disk manager, file explorer and device manager.
#2) I have tried all solutions presented to me by FreeBooter, from the simplest solution of uninstalling the external drive in device manager and rebooting windows, to using the various third party software that was suggested, obviously with out success.
#3) The attached screen shots will only show one of the drives attached because I don't have enough free USB ports to attach two drives and I didn't think it would have been a good idea to use a hub.
#4) one strange thing about one of the drives is that now device manager lists it as a Toshiba drive although it is a Western Digital.
#5) Sorry but I have no way of getting a photo of BIOS










I look forward to reading your comments