A guideline for dealing with the problem: external hard disk does not show up in computer

1. External hard disk does not show up in
computer
Today,a portable harddiskcan be a good tool to store your massive data,and we can transfer
data by iteasily. Butwe still face some problemsduringusingthe external harddisk.The most
common situation is you have connected the external hard disk to the USB port of the computer,
but the computerseemsnotrecognized it.Thismakesyoucan’texportorimportthe data
amongexternal harddiskandcomputers.We will gothroughsome factorscontribute tothis
issue anddemonstrate howtosolve themstepbystep.
The Drive letterdoesnotbe assignedtothe computer and the solutionforit.
The drive simplyisnotbeingrecognizedbyWindowsorMac andtherefore won’tevenshow up
on yoursystemat all. You should firstcheckthatwhetheritisshownonDisk Managementin
Windows.Andthe stepsare demonstratedbelow.
Step1: Go to the Start Menu,and type Control Panel intothe search bar, thenselectthe
Control Panel listedinthe results.
Step2: Go and findthe Administrative Toolsoption.

2. Step3: Findthe ComputerManagementoptioninthe Administrative Toolswindow. Thenopen
it withadministrative privilege.

3. Step4: Findandclick Disk Management underthe Storage category on the leftside of the
window.

4. Step5: Checkwhetherthe name of the external harddiskisshowninthe middle of the window.

5. If the external harddrive name isshownin it,that meansithas no drive letterassigned toit.
You shouldgoon to step6. However, if the name of the external harddisk doesn’texistinit,
justunplugthe disk andtry again.
Step6: Right-clickonthe diskandchoose Change Drive Letterand Paths.
Step7: Picka letterforyour drive andyoushouldbe goodto go.
If the drive isshowing,butyou’re gettingmessagesaboutthe drive needtobe formatted, then
readthe nextsectionbelow.
Incompatible formatdrivesforthe harddiskand solutionforit.
Whenit comesto file formats,there are acouple of majorformatsthat are usedabout99% of
the time:FAT32 and NTFS forWindows.Asa result,whenyouconnectanHFS+ formatteddrive
to Windows,you’ll getamessage statingthatthe drive needstobe formattedinordertobe
utilized.
If you see thismessage,itjustmeansthatWindowsdoesnotrecognize the filesystemonthe
drive. Andthe solutionistoconvertyourcurrentdrive formatto a compatible driveformat.
Step1: Findthe diskinDiskManagementbyfollowingthe above actions.
Step2:Right-clickthe harddiskspace and select Formatin the comingdialog.

6. Step3: Make the file systemto use the exFATformat.It’snewerandsupportsmuchlargerfiles.
Thenclick the Start buttonto finishthe setting.
Diskdrive istoo old and solutionforit
Sometimesolddriverscancause a device tomalfunctionwhenconnectedtoWindows.Youcan
try fixingthisby followingundersteps.
Step1: FindandopenCommandPromptinthe Start Menu.
Step2: Type the command set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1intothe CommandPrompt
windowandClickEnterto execute it.

7. Step3: Go to the Start Menu and type Device Managerinthe search bar. Then selectittoopen
the Device Managerwindow.
Step4: Inthe Device Manager window,thenclick Viewoption.Inthe comingoptionlist,select
Show HiddenDevices option.
Step5: ExpandoutPortable Devices,right-clickonanyitemsthatare grayedout and choose
Uninstall.Restartyourcomputerand try to connectthe hard drive again.
USB 3.0 may cause the notshowingupissue andsolutionforit.
If you have a USB 3.0 external harddrive,there are acouple of extra considerationsyouhave to
take intoaccount. Do as follows.
Step1: Make sure youare usingan appropriate cable.
Step2: You mightneedtoupdate the driverinWindows.Again,goto Device Manager,
expand Universal Serial Buscontrollers,right-clickonthe one that has USB 3.0 onthe textand
choose Update Driver Software.