Dec 10, 2018 - If it doesn't show up in Finder,though, it will surely show up in the Disk. Disk Utility looks like a hard drive being examined with a stethoscope.
How-To Geek Forums / Windows 7
I have a WD passport and my windows 7 machine is not recognizing it. It's worked before, but all the the sudden it just doesn't show up on my computer. It appears on device manager and it says the drivers are not found. However the hard drive doesn't show up on computer management. I've downloaded and tried all the software they have at the WD website but nothing has worked. The WD smartware software appears to recognize it but it doesn't show up. When I put the mouse over the WD software icon, it says it has found a hard drive but when I open it up, it's not there. The safely remove utility, shows the hard drive at the bottom and it lets me eject it. I want to back up my data but the hard drive doesn't come up to be used.
Can I have any solutions to this problem?
Can I have any solutions to this problem?
If you have another computer, try it in it and check if it gets recognised or not.
I tried using another computer and everything seemed to be working. I format the drive and tried it on my laptop again but still the same problem.
If it is listed in device manager, try deleting that entry shut down your computer. Disconnect the drive. Start computer. plug in drive after it comes completely up.
Check in Disk management and see if it is there. Type Wind in Start and select Windows Disk Management
Post a full picture of your Disk Management and tell us which drive we are talking about. Without that we are just guessing.
For the first picture, the drive should be the one that says 'disk drive' and has the yellow mark. The second one picture doesn't sow it as it doesn't come up on computer management. I've tried updating the drivers from device manager but it doesn't work either.
But you are on the right track. It looks like a driver problem.
You can check out a program called EaseUS Partition Manager. It should see your HDD in the list and give you the option to assign a drive letter to it. I ran in to similar issue a few days ago with my media HDD and was able to assign a letter to it, restart, and it appeared.
I tried the software, it still doesn't appear to recognize my hardrive
You have, of course tried it in all the USB ports, right?
It would be nice if that had done the trick. Unfortunately, I already tried all of them.
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External Drive Troubleshooting – Mac
STEP 1
Check the power and data cable
- Check that the power cable is securely connected to the external drive and wall socket (applies only to desktop external hard drives).
- Do not connect the drive through a USB hub, connect it directly to the Mac. Make sure the power adapter is connected directly to a wall outlet, not to an extension cord.
- Ensure the cable is securely connected to both the drive and computer.
- If your external hard drive came with a Y-cable, use both USB connectors to ensure the drive is getting the appropriate power.
- If you are connecting to a Mac, use the USB ports found on the back of the computer. Avoid using USB ports found on keyboards, monitors or the front of the Mac.
- If the problem still continues, try using a different USB port.
STEP 2
Check the Drive Partition using Disk Utility
- Click Go on the top menu bar, then choose Utilities and open the Disk Utility application.
- If the drive is not on the desktop or if Disk Utility is showing that the drive is formatted in a file system that is not recognized by the Mac OS, the drive can be formatted so the Mac OS will recognize it.
STEP 3
Check System Profiler
The Mac System Profiler will show you whether the external drive is physically detected by the Mac.
- Click on the Apple Menu in the top left corner of your desktop.
- Select About this Mac and then click on More Info to open the System Profiler Application.
- When the System Profiler opens click on USB in the left menu under the Hardware category.
- If the drive is still not visible, try connecting it to a second Mac to verify the issue.
If the drive fails on the second Mac, create an RMA and return the drive under Warranty.
Note: | To determine the power adapter your WD product uses, please refer to Answer ID 8216: Power Adapters for WD Products |