Windows 10: Why isn't my external hard drive being detected?

I have an external hard drive, Seagate 2TB, it worked perfectly until after defragmenting it with the Windows tool for a bit and cancelling it safely, because I needed to shut down the PC, it no longer is recognized by the PC, it doesn't show up on device manager or disk management, not even by diskpart. After a reboot I got the idea to disable Windows Defender and it was immediately detected, all my data is still there, but after that I disconnected it safely to try and see if it wasn't just luck, but after that it isn't recognized again, not even after rebooting or doing the Windows Defender

:)

 

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.

 

My Seagate external hard drive is not detected when plugged in to USB port of my laptop using windows 10?

Thanks for your response.

I have tried all the steps provided, however in vain. The external hard drive is not identified at all in any of the the USB ports when connected. The USB ports identify other external Flash drives and devices. However this drive is detected in another laptop
using Windows 7 OS. Please advise further.

Regards

 

External hard drive not recognised

Thanks for this. I've done what you suggested and been through all the steps mentioned in the article. The hard drive works fine on a Mac computer, and I've managed to copy the information on it. It must be a Surface issue so I'll try to get a chat line tomorrow.