Like its predecessors, version 10 of the Windows operating system has become famous for regularly presenting small bugs, for example, when managing disks. Obviously, if a drive doesn't work, the drive itself may be defective. Your computer may not recognize an old, used hard drive or a new one just purchased. Next, with the help of some practical examples, we explain the possible causes of this problem and how to solve it..
The more familiar you are with topics like disk recovery and backups, the less stress you will have from disk problems. In some cases, it is enough to connect external hard drives to another USB port on your computer to get them working again.
If your PC doesn't recognize an external hard drive, first check the connection between the hard drive and the computer's USB or SATA port. Are the connectors secure, both on the hard drive and on the computer? Since USB appeared, different types of connectors have been designed. The external ports that computers usually have are the current USB standard A and the newer USB Type-C . Internally the drives are mostly connected with SATA connectors . When it comes to external hard drives, there is a greater variety of USB ports. The trend is to use USB Type-C due to its high data transfer speed. With this port, you don't need to pay attention to the orientation of the connector..
USB connectors have a number of connection cycles guaranteed by the manufacturer: in the case of micro USB and USB C, we are talking about 10,000. Therefore, there may be poor USB connectors that cause errors, although rarely pass. The same is true for large capacity USB sticks used as hard drives.
With approximately 10,000 connection cycles and two connections per day, a USB C connector has a useful life of around 22 years..
It is also possible that the PC will not detect an external hard drive if the USB or SATA cable used to connect them is faulty . Portable hard drives are often transported and this can cause the cable to kink and eventually break. If that's the case, just try another suitable USB cable . Also, keep in mind that there are USB cables that only serve to charge devices and not to transmit data.
It is best to keep the USB cable together with the corresponding device to save time and confusion. It is also helpful to mark it with a color or put a label on it, such as a piece of tape as a "pennant".
Nor can it be ruled out that a hard disk that is not recognized is defective . On older models, you can often hear knocking or grinding noises. On SSD models , overheating or a very slow processing speed are symptoms of a defect. Another possible problem is that when connecting it nothing happens. Keep in mind that SSDs have a limited number of read and write cycles . However, if this type of disk is sized hard enough, there is sufficient internal reserve available to be able to use the memory cells in operation.
For Windows to manage a storage medium, it must be connected to the system. This is given by assigning a drive letter , for example? E: \ ?. Windows may not assign this letter by itself, perhaps because all have already been assigned or because the desired letter is already occupied and, therefore, the computer does not detect the hard disk. This is an internal Windows problem. Also format incompatibility with Windows , for example a macOS format , can prevent the assignment of the drive letter.
Before making any modifications to an unrecognized hard drive, it is highly recommended to make a backup with the help of another computer with the appropriate operating system.
To determine the drive letter , proceed as described below:
Open Disk Management in Windows:
Now, the Computer Management window will open . In the left menu, click Disk Management under Storage .
The drives connected to the system are listed with their corresponding status, including the drive without a letter that appears only with the name, here? Volume? ( Volume ).
Right-clicking on the blue bar opens the context menu for the affected drive. Click Change drive letter and paths .
In the window that appears, click Add to open the drive letter assignment window.
The system suggests a letter, but you can select any other available one and then confirm it with OK .
If you want to always use certain external drives with the same drive letter, such as SSD drives or USB sticks, reserve that letter for them and select a different one.
Now, the drive will have a letter assigned and can be used without restrictions, like any other internal or external disk.
If the PC does not recognize a hard drive, it may also be due to a missing file system . In Windows it should be NTFS (short for New Technology File System , in Spanish? New technology file system?) Or FAT (short for File Allocation Table , in Spanish? File allocation table?). In Disk Management, open the context menu by right-clicking on the bar above the unrecognized drive and selecting Format .
You can leave the name proposed by the system or assign your own designation (1). Select the file system to use (2) and check the Quick format box (3). Then confirm with OK . After Windows has finished the process, the formatted disk 2 is available with its letter.
It is rare that when connecting a new hard drive the required partition is missing . If so, this is solved again from disk management, through the context menu.
Select file system (1) and allocation unit size as standard or set your own value (2). If necessary, assign the designation (3) you want and start the process with C ontinue (4).
After Windows has finished the process, the partitioned drive is ready to work as disk 2 with its letter. To partition large drives, it is also possible to create multiple partitions , for example? Data (F :) ?,? Copy (G :) ?,? File (H :) ?, etc. You can define the size of each partition yourself.
In the case of a completely new or erased hard drive, there are not always file systems, partitions, or even drive letters in place, and you have to configure everything from scratch through the unrecognized hard drive initialization process.
Although the disk is shown not initialized, a warning appears in color and the status "unknown". The context menu is activated by right-clicking on the bar, in this case black , of the unrecognized drive.
Next, the window with the settings for initializing the disk will open .
The initialized disk 2 can then be partitioned and given a drive letter, making it available in both Disk Management and Windows Explorer.
Take a look at our article on hard drives not showing, full of tips and tricks for hard drives in Windows.