What To Do If Your System Doesn't Detect The External Hard Drive?
When your system fails to recognize the external hard drive it could be due to several reasons. The system may pop-up messages like "Unable to read the drive", the "Disk is rights protected"or that it has not been inserted properly. A computer may also fail to recognize a USB drive due to improper installation of drivers. Sometimes, it may also be due to the outdated drivers.
As a computer user, you might have faced such issues while inserting a USB hard drive. This is actually easy to fix. The causes of a computer unable to detect a hard drive and the measures needed to deal with them are enumerated below:
Improper Formatting
Improper formatting of a hard drive is the most common cause of hard drive failure. The format type of a hard drive is different on Windows and Mac OS. On Windows, there are two format types – FAT32 and NTFS whereas on Mac OS X, it is OS X Journaled.
Windows being the most popularly used operating system around the globe, most hard drives come formatted as FAT32 and NTFS format. Thus, if you are a Mac user and facing hard drive detection issues, it is most likely due to the drive having the Windows based format. On the other hand, if you are using a Windows machine and facing the same problem, the drive could be formatted as OS X Journaled.
In the past, there have been few incompatibility issues with the NTFS and FAT32 format. Users have complained that their hard drive is not showing up. When the problem was diagnosed later, it revealed that their machines were incompatible with the NTFS format. Try formatting it to FAT32, if you face this issue or vice versa.
You are therefore advised to be updated about hard disk formatting when you buy one for your Windows or Mac machine.
Outdated software that requires update
Most of the hard drives available in the market come with software of its own. The purpose of this software is to install the drivers required for the operating system to interact with the hard drive. On certain occasions, this software might be outdated which in turn renders the drivers outdated. You are advised to update the drivers in this case.
Usually, these software come with an option to update itself. If it's not there, you can log on to the manufacturers' website and download an updated version of the particular software. You can install them and restart your machine. Your computer should now be able to detect the hard drive. If it still fails, it's time get the hard drive reformatted.
It may not always be the fault of the system. Sometimes, your hard drive could also be defective. There have been few occasions in the past where users have complained that their hard drives were dead on arrival. Majority of the Hard Drives today are USB powered. Check if the USB ports are supplying adequate power voltage. If it does not, connect your hard drive to a self-powered USB hub.
Sometimes, it may happen that your hard drive does not show up on ‘My Computer', but it does on disk management. This is a perennial problem which occurs due to bad sectors within the drive. Hand it over to the manufacturer to get the problem fixed. Additionally, this could also result from the drive being unallocated or unassigned. Go to disk management and assign a letter to the drive and you will be able to view it on ‘My Computer'.
If all else fails, shutdown the PC and unplug it from the power source. Remove the battery and put it back if you are using a laptop.
Issues with external hard drives have always bothered computer users. Majority of them are attributed to installation of improper/outdated drivers, failure of USB ports, certain sectors getting corrupted and so on. It is not very difficult to fix up these issues. Most of the time, you can do it all by yourself. In case, you find that you are unable to deal with it , consult a technician or seek help of an online tech support website.
As a computer user, you might have faced such issues while inserting a USB hard drive. This is actually easy to fix. The causes of a computer unable to detect a hard drive and the measures needed to deal with them are enumerated below:
Improper Formatting
Improper formatting of a hard drive is the most common cause of hard drive failure. The format type of a hard drive is different on Windows and Mac OS. On Windows, there are two format types – FAT32 and NTFS whereas on Mac OS X, it is OS X Journaled.
Windows being the most popularly used operating system around the globe, most hard drives come formatted as FAT32 and NTFS format. Thus, if you are a Mac user and facing hard drive detection issues, it is most likely due to the drive having the Windows based format. On the other hand, if you are using a Windows machine and facing the same problem, the drive could be formatted as OS X Journaled.
In the past, there have been few incompatibility issues with the NTFS and FAT32 format. Users have complained that their hard drive is not showing up. When the problem was diagnosed later, it revealed that their machines were incompatible with the NTFS format. Try formatting it to FAT32, if you face this issue or vice versa.
You are therefore advised to be updated about hard disk formatting when you buy one for your Windows or Mac machine.
Outdated software that requires update
Most of the hard drives available in the market come with software of its own. The purpose of this software is to install the drivers required for the operating system to interact with the hard drive. On certain occasions, this software might be outdated which in turn renders the drivers outdated. You are advised to update the drivers in this case.
Usually, these software come with an option to update itself. If it's not there, you can log on to the manufacturers' website and download an updated version of the particular software. You can install them and restart your machine. Your computer should now be able to detect the hard drive. If it still fails, it's time get the hard drive reformatted.
Other causes of failure
It may not always be the fault of the system. Sometimes, your hard drive could also be defective. There have been few occasions in the past where users have complained that their hard drives were dead on arrival. Majority of the Hard Drives today are USB powered. Check if the USB ports are supplying adequate power voltage. If it does not, connect your hard drive to a self-powered USB hub.
Sometimes, it may happen that your hard drive does not show up on ‘My Computer', but it does on disk management. This is a perennial problem which occurs due to bad sectors within the drive. Hand it over to the manufacturer to get the problem fixed. Additionally, this could also result from the drive being unallocated or unassigned. Go to disk management and assign a letter to the drive and you will be able to view it on ‘My Computer'.
If all else fails, shutdown the PC and unplug it from the power source. Remove the battery and put it back if you are using a laptop.
Issues with external hard drives have always bothered computer users. Majority of them are attributed to installation of improper/outdated drivers, failure of USB ports, certain sectors getting corrupted and so on. It is not very difficult to fix up these issues. Most of the time, you can do it all by yourself. In case, you find that you are unable to deal with it , consult a technician or seek help of an online tech support website.
