Remote hard disk is not read. External HDD is not defined? Tips how to fix. Insufficient food of the external drive

As you know over time, the computer's memory is filled with various information, such as favorite films or music. And then the time comes when they have to delete since you have no free space on your computer to download new files. But what to do if you do not want to delete the files you need or favorite movies?

There is a way out of this situation, you just need to buy outdoor hard disk. On a portable hard drive, you can always move the files important for you and thereby free the memory of the computer.

But unfortunately, not all people know how to install external hard drives and that they are personal Computer Does not see the drive they begin to accuse the seller that he sold the non-working device. Do not hurry and count the instructions for installing external hard disk, And if you do not have this article to read this article to the end.

So, if your computer does not see an external hard drive you need to do several simple actions described slightly below.

Step-by-step plan

1. We bring the mouse pointer to the "My Computer" label and click on the right button, in the list that appears you will need to select the "Management" item. Next, you should open the same as I have a window:

2. Now click on the "Disk Management" item as shown in the screenshot and find "disc 2".

3. Click on it right-click Mouse and you will have a list in which you need to choose "Create a simple Tom" and then follow the instructions for creating a simple volume.

4. After you have done all these actions, go to "My Computer" and see your external hard drive. If there is nothing there, it means the problem really in the drive itself and, in this case, I recommend immediately running to the store to change it to a new one. And the actions listed above should always be performed when connected new hard external drive.

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Question from user ...

Hello. My external hard disk on 1 TB Seagate Expansion (without a power adapter) was purchased in 2015. Since that time, he worked regularly, I used it as an additional memory for music, photo, video (I have a computer and laptop - it is convenient to transfer data between with them).

The other day I connect it to the USB port and see that the computer does not see the external hard drive completely! I tried to connect to a laptop - the same, even the LED is not lit. Do not tell me what could be the reason how can I fix it (the disk did not drop, did not hit, did not pourer, I generally turned to him very carefully)?

On the disk, so there is no particular necessary documentsBut a large archive of interesting files accumulated lately.

Thanks in advance.

Good day!

In general, the reasons because of which it could have happened - quite a lot: for example, a USB lace has annectable. In this article I will try to give the most basic reasons because of which there is a similar problem of "invisibility". Having come across them, you and many other users will be able to correct a similar problem independently, thanks to which they will save on time and money.

Problem with iron // can be determined by external signs

The first thing I want to start this article is with "External signs" For it is possible to determine if you can determine if there are problems with the iron itself. Yes, and watch them earlier than all other parameters and settings in Windows.

When the disk is connected to the USB port, must:

To help!

Repairs outdoor hard Disk at home // Attempt to restore performance -

What is the above written: Just if when connecting a disk to several computers - it does not submit any signs of life (the LED is not lit, the sound of the movement inside) is not on the cause of its "invisibility", because it does not make any sense, because On face the problem with iron (with wires, with the disk, with USB ports).

Conflict letters disks

Each carrier of information: hard disk, optical disk, diskette, etc. - When connected to a computer, a letter is assigned automatically (C: \\, D: \\, E: \\, etc.). It happens that Windows, as a result of any failure or conflict, assigns an incorrect letter (or does not do this!) - As a result, the carrier is not displayed. Moreover, it happens not so rarely ...

How to open drives (Windows 7/8/10):

press buttons Win + R.;
enter the command diskmgmt.msc.;
press ENTER (See Screen below).

In the disk list, select an external hard drive. (if it is not there - go to the next item: to the problem with drivers), Click on this line with the right mouse button, and in the pop-up context menu, select "Change the letter of the disk or the path to the disk ..." (as on the screen below).

After that, select any other letter and click Edit (see Screenshot below).

To help!

In my computer, no external discs and flash drives are displayed, because Windows does not assign letters to connected drives -

File System Problem

IN drive control Pay attention to how the disk is displayed. If the black band is "burning" above it and it is written "not distributed" - then this means that the disk is simply not formatted.

If the hard drive is new - This happens quite often (not all manufacturers format the disk).

To format disk - in disk management Select it in the list, and right-click on it, then click Option "Create a simple volume" (see screen below).

Note! During formatting all data on the disk will be deleted! If you have previously filed files, you most likely fail, try to first correct the disk errors, just below.

In the next step, you will need to specify the drive letter (choose any free), file System (I recommend NTFS), and set the size of the volume (usually on external hard disks This parameter does not change, making one single volume on the entire size of the disk).

To help!

How to format a hard drive: ways -

If your external hard disk has already been formatted And you have not already copied files, then the display "not marked area" (or the RAW file system) - may occur due to:

incorrect disabling disk from a USB port (for example, when the information was copied, and you sharply "pulled out" USB lace);
a power failure may occur: for example, when the electricity is disconnected, his jumps;
when infected by some types of viruses;
if the piece of iron is malfunction.

Most often, after all, the display of the RAW file system is associated with incorrect disk disconnection. In this case, as a rule, it is possible to quickly correct the errors and return the disk to life.

How to check the disk (data will not be deleted, everything will remain in place!)

First you need to start command line.:

press the button combination Win + R. ;
enter in the string cmd. click ENTER.

Further B. command line Dial the command chkdsk E: / F (where " e:"- This is the letter of your disk). Checking takes just a few minutes. In many cases, after such a simple procedure, the computer begins to see the disk, files and folders remain intimate and unharmed.

Disc Check // Chkdsk

Alternative to start checking: Go to "My Computer", right-click on the disk (which you want to check) and select the Select menu properties (See Screenshot below).

A few words about the TV ...

In his practice, it was still faced with one interesting reason, because of which the disk becomes invisible. A new modern TV (with some SmartTV functions) - when the disk is connected, asked the user to agree with its markup. He agreed, and everything seems to be normally recorded on him.

But when the disk is connected to the computer - he refused to see it. The essence is that the TV formatted the disk to another file system. After formatting into the file nTFS system - Everything began to work "as needed" (The problem is corrected - just, through the drives, no additional program is required).

Conflict or lack of driver

If your external hard drive is not visible in drive control - I recommend checking, and whether the drivers are installed on it.

Little remark ...

In general, Windows 7, 8, 10 when connecting to a computer of a flash drive or the same external disk, automatically install the drivers. But in some cases, this does not happen (it is difficult to say why, whether the disk is not "ordinary" and there is no standard drivers in the "honeycomb" system, whether there is some error and conflict with other drivers, whether For what ...).

If the driver for your disk is not installed - then drive control You will not find your disc !!!

To check the driver installation, open device Manager . For this:

press the button combination Win + R. ;
in the window that appears, enter the command devmgmt.msc. and press ENTER (Screen below, works in Windows 7, 8, 10).

To help!

How to Open Device Manager (including in Windows 10): Several ways -

IN device Manager Open tab "Disk devices". Next, pay attention to:

Does your device in the list, is it displayed at all;
Check the "Other Devices" tab - the devices for which there are no drivers are displayed in it.
There is no exclamation yellow sign opposite your disk (if there is - it means the driver for your disk is not installed). An example is shown on the screen below.

Left: everything is fine with the driver (WD Elements) // Right: no driver (yellow exclamation mark) WD My Passport

How to update the drive driver:

Non-food

Quite often, problems with external discs happen due to lack of food. Especially if you have several devices at once to one USB port.

Characteristic feature, with lack of food: The disk first seems to be displayed normally, but as soon as you want to copy something to it or read, it becomes inaccessible (or simply freezes).

How can I fix the problem: try buying a Y-shaped lace (photo is presented below) and connect the disk immediately to two uSB ports. I had this happened to some discs that became invisible after a few seconds, when you try to connect to the USB ports of the laptop.

Y-shaped USB lace to connect external HDD

Tip! If you connect an external HDD to a laptop, and it does not see it - try to connect it to a stationary computer (or to another device). It is possible that on another device - the disk will work as it should be.

Same good output There may be a USB splitter with an additional power source. An example of such a splitter is shown in the photo below.

PS.

Some types of viruses (and antiviruses, by the way) can block connection external carriers and devices. Therefore, I recommend the same:

try to connect your disc to another PC / laptop;
check PC to viruses alternative software. How to do this, told in this instruction :.

I complete this article, I hope to solve the problem (or at least learn what is the reason)!

Do not throw out HDD ahead of time. This problem may occur for various reasons. For example, because of outdated Driver or incorrect setting volumes. Such errors are easy to eliminate.

If you are sure that the drive is working and the point is not in the hardware breakdown, try to do the following:

Connect the hard drive to another USB port.
Sometimes the conductor "does not see" a hard disk due to malicious software. Check if there are viruses on the carrier. But how to do it, because the device is not displayed? Connect it to another computer (for example, from familiar or at work).
Format the hard drive. If it is stored important data, pre-copy them to another place.

Driver

If it did not work, and the conductor still "does not see" a hard disk, perhaps the driver. See whether the new device is determined when connected. The system must establish a suitable software for it. You can do it and manually.

Did not help? Try to find the program yourself.

Search Driver

You can use utilities for automobile driver. For example, "Driver Booster" or " Driver Updater." They define the type of equipment, seek software for it, download and install. And there is no risk that will be installed inappropriate or defective program.

Disc management

All drivers on site and devices are connected correctly, but the outer hard disk is "not visible" in the conductor? Perhaps he was not assigned Tom labeled. Or it coincides with the existing one. This is the Latin "letter" that is needed to identify in the file system. Winchester should have a name. For example, there is " Local disk C », reserved system. Directory in it have their own addresses (C: \\ any_pad).

To assign a tag to the drive:

Other utilities

Download from the site support.microsoft.com utility "Automatic diagnostics of problems with USB". To do this, enter its name in the search string.
Run this program.
In the window that opens, click "Next".
The service will propose to extract the verified device. Check it and click on "Next" again.
The utility will give a list of errors associated with USB devices. Some of them will be corrected. If you see what is the problem, it is easier to solve it.

USBoblivion.

After windows updates The registry may remain records that relate to previous connections of the drive. Because of these "unnecessary" data, the system cannot get actual information About Winchester. The USBoblivion program will come here. It is free.

Find it on the network, download and run.
Check the "Clean" options and "Save the cancel file".
Pull all USB devices.
In the utility, click on the "Clean" button.
Restart PC.
Connect all gadgets.

If a hard disk is not displayed in the explorer, this does not mean that it is broken. Update the drivers and assign a volume label to the Winchestera. Or upload a USB troubleshooting program.

External hard drive is a portable storage device containing information storage (HDD or SSD) and a controller to interact with a computer via USB. When connecting such devices to the PC, some problems are sometimes observed, in particular - the absence of a disk in the "Computer" folder. About this problem and let's talk in this article.

The reasons causing such a problem, several. If connected new Disc, Make sure, Windows "Forgot" report it and suggest installing drivers, format the carrier. In the case of old drives, it can be the creation of sections on another computer using programs, the presence of a blocking virus, as well as the usual fault of the controller, the disk, cable or port on the PC.

Another reason is a lack of nutrition. From her and let's start.

Cause 1: Nutrition

Quite often, users, in view of the USB port deficiency, connect several devices to one jack through the hub (splitter). If the connected devices require power from a USB connector, then the lack of electricity may occur. Hence the problem: the hard disk may not start and, accordingly, do not appear in the system. The same situation may occur when the ports are overloaded with energy-intensive devices.

You can make in this situation: try to free one of the ports for an external drive or, as a last resort, get a hub with additional nutrition. Some portable discs may also require additional power supply, which is indicated by the presence of not only USB cord included, but also the power cable. Such a cable can have two connections to connect to USB or alone separately.

Cause 2: Unformatted Disc

When connecting a new pure disc to the PC, the system usually reports that the carrier is not formatted and offers to do it. In some cases, this does not happen and it is necessary to do this procedure manually.

Go to B. "Control Panel". Make it can be from the menu "Start" or push the keyboard key Win + R. and enter the command:
Next, we go B. "Administration".
We find a label called "Computer Management".
Go to section "Disk management".
We are looking for our disk in the list. You can distinguish it from others in size, as well as on the RAW file system.
Click on the disk PKM.and choose paragraph context menu "Format".
Next, select the label (name) and the file system. Put the tank on the contrary « Quick formatting» and click OK. It will only have to wait for the end of the process.
New disk appeared in the folder "A computer".

Cause 3: Disc Letter

This problem may occur when performing disk operations - formatting, breakdown on sections - on another computer using special software.

In such cases, you must set the letter manually in the snap "Disk management".

Cause 4: Drivers

The operating system is very complicated and that is why different failures often occur in it. In regular windows mode Itself installs standard drivers for new devices, but it does not always happen. If the system has not launched the driver installation when an external disk is connected, you can try to restart the computer. In most cases, this happens enough. If the situation does not change, you will have to "work with handles."

In the event that the software could not be installed, it is necessary to check the branch "Disk devices". If it has a yellow icon drive, it means that there is no such driver or it is damaged.

The problem will help solve forced installation. You can find software for the device manually on the manufacturer's website (perhaps included a driver with a driver) or try to download it automatically from the network.

Cause 5: Viruses

Viral programs, in addition to other disgusts, may prevent the initialization of external drives in the system. Most often they are on the removable disk, but may be present on your PC. To begin with, check for viruses your systemic and if there is second tough disk.

The means given in the article above, check the external drive will not work, as it cannot be initialized. Here will help only boot flash drive from anti-virus scannerFor example, Kaspersky Rescue Disk. With it, you can scan the media for viruses without loading. system files and services, and therefore the subject of attack.

Reason 6: physical failure

The physical malfunctions include the breakdown of the disk or controller itself, the removal of ports on the computer, as well as banal "overwork" uSB cable or nutrition.
To determine the malfunction, you can do the following:

Replace cables on obviously good.
Connect the disk to other USB ports if it has earned, the connector is faulty.
Dismantle the device and connect the disk directly to motherboard (Do not forget to turn off the computer before it). If the media is determined, there is a fault of the controller, if not, then the disk. HDD non-working HDD can be tried to restore in the service center, otherwise he is a straight road in the trash can.

External hard drives (Portable HDD) are becoming more and more popular with each day. It is also clear, a huge amount of memory and relatively small sizes are the main advantages of such devices. Yes, and in the connection to the computer, they do not differ from the usual flash drive.

But not always everything is so good and wonderful. Often, users of removable USB drives are faced with one very important problem: Hard disk is not defined!That is, the user connects the device to the computer, but nothing happens, the computer simply does not see it. And there may be several reasons for this, consider the most common.

First we define what is the problem?

In a hard disk or in the computer itself. Well, of course, first, try to connect the disk through another USB port. It happens, helps. 😉
If there is such an opportunity, try connecting your portable HDD to another computer. If the disk is determined, then it is obvious that the problem is in your computer.

Let's start with the simplest:
1) Check driver removable disk. To do this, go to Device Manager. If you have installed operating windows system 8, then it can be easily found through the search. Or
Start → Control Panel → Equipment and sound → Device Manager.
In the Manager, select Disk Devices and find your disc. Press the right mouse button and choose "Update Driver". You can try to delete the driver, restart the computer and install again.

2) Next reason - incorrectly assigned a letter external disk. When I ran into such a problem, the letter did not assign the letter at all, I had to specify manually. It is solved quite simple. We go on the next way:
Start →Control Panel → system and safety → Administration → Computer Management.
Choose Disc management and find your disc. Click on it right mouse and click "Change the letter of the disk or the path to the disk ..." Choose any free letter.

3) In the case when the computer refuses to determine Flashki and hard drives, you need to check the USB support in Bios.maybe she was disabled. Fortunately, this happens infrequently. Yes, and not every user himself will venture to customize something in BIOS. But this will be a separate article.

4) Another option is a problem with power unit Computer. Either too much equipment is connected to the computer, or if the computer is not new, the power supply is simply outdated - in both cases it does not cope with the disk.

Well, what if the disk is not determined on another computer?

Perhaps the problem again in nutrition. If you connected the disk through the extension, then try it directly using a USB cable that was included when purchasing.

In the event that the disk has a second connector or its own power supply - connect them.

But it happens that the problem is mechanical damage Portable HDD. This option can be assumed if when power is applied to the disk, it does not publish characteristic sounds. The device simply does not work. Of course, in this case you need to contact service center And in no case try to disassemble and repair yourself. It may not end. 😉

I hope that this article will help you solve the problem of an indefinite disk. Good luck! 🙂