Windows 10: Why can I see my external hard drive is not in file manager, data mgt, or diskpart but I...

Hi. I have an external drive that does not show up in file manager windows 10. In data management, it does not show any partitions, is labeled disk 1, unknown, and not initialized. Right mouse clicking it "initialize" is greyed out. In diskpart, I see disk 1 with status of online, size of 0, free 0. When trying to create a primary partition, I get a message of "DiskPart has encountered an error: The request failed due to a fatal device hardware error. See the System Event Log for more information." I pulled up the eventvwr but do not know how to find the log. I thought of trashing the drive.

:)

 

external hard drive

Hi Chrpee,

If you can't find external hard drive on Disk management than the next step is using the diskpart via command line, please follow the steps below:-

On the keyboard hit ((Windows logo key + R key)) than type ((CMD))

Now the windows command line will appear, the next steps is to type ((diskpart))

After that type ((list disk)) to show you the list of hard disks with partitions

If you found your external hard drive one of the list than you need to type ((select disk number)), note: the number is a disk number

Once you selected the hard disk or partitions than type ((clean))

than type ((create partition primary))

than type ((select partition 1))

than type ((active))

than type ((format fs=ntfs quick))

than type ((assign))

last type ((exit))

Check if the external hard drive appeared, if not please see the link below for more info and let me know if you need any assist

https://uk.pcmag.com/dvd-burners/120624/what-to...

 

External Hard Drive

Hi John,

We suggest that you try the troubleshooting steps below:

• Open your External Hard Drive file in File Explorer.
• Type the name of the file you want to search on the search box and click Enter.

The file will show up in Search Results and you will be able to move it to the correct folder.

Let us know if you need further help.

 

external hard drive. Why won't file manager see it.

Hi,



Thank you for writing to Microsoft Community Forums.



I understand that your external hard drive is not shown in File Manager. I'll certainly assist you with the issue.



However, please let us know:

• Does the issue occur only with the external hard driver or with all the USB drives?
• Are you aware of any changes made to the computer prior to this issue?

• Which build version of Windows 10 is installed on the computer? Refer
  Which version of Windows operating system am I running?

I would suggest you to check if the hard drive is detected in Disk Management. To check press
Windows logo key + X and select Disk Management and see if that hard drive is detected.



You can also share the screenshot of Disk Management to know more about the issue. Please refer

how to include a screenshot in your post to upload the screenshot.



Note: Make sure you don't capture any personal information while taking the screenshot.



Meanwhile, you may want to refer the troubleshooting steps from the article Error:
“USB Device not recognized" when you try to access a USB external hard drive except Method 2 and see if that makes any difference.



You can also connect the external hard drive to a different PC and check if it gets detected.



Let us know the results, we will be glad to help you further.



Regards,

Nikhar Khare

Microsoft Community – Moderator