VANSUNY 1TB External SSD, USB 3.1 550MB/s High-Speed Read Write Portable SSD External Hard Drive USB C Mobile Solid State Drive (1TB, Gold) 4.4 out of 5 stars 204 $119.99. When combining streaming reads and writes the speed of another drive, that could read at 92 MB/s and write at 70 MB/s, was 8 MB/s. These differences differ radically from one drive to another; some drives could write small files at over 10% of the speed for large ones. The examples given are chosen to illustrate extremes.
You can create new folders on your external drive too. Tap and hold on a blank area of the file browsing area, then choose New Folder.File searches can be restricted to a connected external drive. Here's how to reformat your drive so it can be read by and Mac or a PC. Open Disk Utility (as per the steps above). If you don't require the data on the hard drive, select the disk and click Erase.
There are many users who opt for external hard drives to store data. Unfortunately, sometimes, the system is not able to read data from the external hard drive. In such a case, the user is stuck and he/she is not able to access his/her data. Now, the question crops up, how one can access the data from the external hard drive that won't read? To access data, the user has to fix the external hard drive not reading by implementing some solutions. Thus, in this blog, we are going to introduce different ways using which the user can fix an external hard drive that is not responding error.
'I need to copy some files from my external hard drive to my pc. I plugged my external drive but I was not able to read the disk. I am not able to figure out what is the main problem. A few days back, my hard drive was working perfectly now it is not working. I need to access my data immediately. Please suggest me a simple and instant way to fix my disk and read data from it. My hard drive not reading in Windows 10.'
Reasons Which Makes Hard Drive Unreadable
There is a number of reasons that can cause external hard disk not reading in PC. Some of them are listed below:
- The USB Port may be inactive
- Hard drive driver is not working
- System unable to read external hard drive due to virus attack
- Hard Drive failure can restrict PC from reading it
- The disk drive may be corrupted and a system unable to read
- The external hard drive is not perfectly attached
- Windows OS may be creating some trouble and restrict to read the external hard drive
- Hard drive not reading after drop
Note: – The external hard disk won't reading in Windows PC. There is not any specific reason behind disk not reading error. So, the solution to this issue is also not fixed. It depends on the cause due to which the external hard drive won't read.
Methods to Resolve ‘External Hard Drive Won't Read' Issue
In this section, we are going to introduce different methods to troubleshoot your query 'How Do I Fix My External Hard Drive that Won't Read Issue?' Perform the steps listed below, as suggested:
Solution 1: Try a Different USB Port to Fix Disk Not Reading in PC
Sometimes, the real problem is with the USB port to which the external hard drive is connected. If the pen drive is not responding then it is recommended to plug hard drive into a different USB port.
- Remove the external hard disk connecting the cable from your PC
- Try to attach the external hard disk in other port
- You can check in all ports, it will take little time
Solution 2: Uninstall External Hard Drive Driver to Fix Won't Reading Issue
How To Read External Drive
If the hard disk drive is outdated or damaged then the system will not read the externally attached disk. So, simply perform the steps and fix hard drive not reading Windows 10, 8, 7, etc.
- First, you need to click on the Start and then type: devmgmt.msc and press Enter
- Now, open Device Manager and then expand Universal Serial Bus controllers
- After that, you have to check whether any device shows up as unrecognized
- If it shows unrecognized then navigate to the Drivers tab and delete/uninstall the driver
- Next, you need to check whether the external hard drive shows up in My Computer/My PC or not
- If it does not show up, then you need to reboot or restart PC
- If it shows but disappears later, then you have to repeat the above step
- Navigate to Disk Management > Change drive letter of your external hard drive only
- After that, select one new drive letter to replace the old one by clicking on Change
- Finally, click on the OK button to confirm
Solution 3: Turn On USB Root Hub to Fix Hard Drive Not Reading in PC
Perform the below steps and turn on the USB root hub. And check whether the external hard drive reading or not. Follow the steps:
- First, click on Start and then type: devmgmt.msc and press Enter
- Now, open Device Manager and click on Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers
- After that, you need to right-click USB Root Hub > Properties > Power Management > uncheck Allows the computer to turn off this device to save power
- Now, repeat this process for each USB Root Hub in the list and reboot to try again
Solution 4: Show All Hidden Devices to Fix Not Reading Error
Some times your system setting set to hide all externally attached disk. In this situation, you may understand that your system is not reading external hard drive. Follow the steps listed below:
- First of all, click on Start > type: devmgmt.msc and press Enter key
- Now, click on View > Device Manager > Select Show Hidden devices
- After that, expand all notes by clicking on the +(plus) symbol
- Next, check if there are any greyed out entries then right-click on them and select Uninstall
- Reboot and try again
Solution 5: Make Changes in Registry to Fix Hard Drive Not Reading
Before changing Windows registry settings. Be sure that you are doing the right change. Because one wrong step may lead you in trouble. If you are new to this, then don't perform this step.
- First, click on Start and then type: regedt32 and click OK
- Now, backup your registry by navigating to file and then click on Export
- Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlClass{4D36E967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
- Next, if you see any upperfilter or lowerfilters at the right side then delete them
- Retry to connect external hard drive again
Solution 6: USe Antivirus to Fix Hard Drive Not Reading Issue
Sometimes, due to virus infection external hard drive does not respond. Thus, the user can scan the external hard drive using reliable antivirus software. It is a common practice, bit some time it is a working solution for How Do I Fix My External Hard Drive that Won't Read? Query!
- Attach your external hard drive to your PC
- Launch the Antivirus on your system
- Try to scan your disk
Solution 7: Fist Save your Files from Drive Then Fix Not Reading Error
If still, your external hard drive is not responding then you have left only one option i.e. Format the disk. But this action will erase all your files and folders. So, before formatting first, save all your files. After that move to format:
- Use SysTools Hard Drive Recovery Software
- Save all your files and folders first
- Now format your disk.
- Use the disk and use data from backup.
Summing Up
The situation becomes worse when the external hard drive is not reorganized by the system. The user is not able to access his/her data present in this external hard drive. Thus, in this blog, we have explained various solutions using which the user can easily fix ‘external hard drive won't read' issue.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
An external hard drive is a device that used to back up your most important files and data, but if it suddenly stops working or responding, don't worry. On this page, we'll focus on the external hard drive not working issue and you'll learn:
- Causes of External Hard Drive Not Working/Responding
- Part 1. Make Not Working External Hard Drive Detectable
- Part 2. Recover Data Before Fixing External Hard Drive With Not Working Error
- Part 3. How to Fix 'External Hard Drive Is Not Working/Responding' Error
Applies to: Fix external hard drive, USB drive, SD card, internal HDD/SSD, etc., not working or responding error on Windows PC.
Quick Guide - Fix External Hard Drive Not Working/Responding Error in 3 Parts:
Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
---|---|
Part 1. Connect Not Working External Drive | Change USB cable, USB Port > Change PC...Full steps |
Part 2. Restore Data | Run software > Scan external hard drive...Full steps |
Part 3. Fix Not Working External Drive | Method 1. Check Disk Error Method 2. Format External Hard Drive to NTFS Method 3. Create New Volume...Full steps |
No matter what brands of devices you are using such as WD Elements external hard drive, Seagate external hard drive, SanDisk or Toshiba hard disks, etc, just follow this article to get your problem solved with the provided methods here now.
Causes of External Hard Drive Not Working/Responding
Is your external hard drive suddenly not working for no reason? Is your external hard drive suddenly cannot be detected or recognized by your PC or laptop? Relax!
You don't have to buy a new external hard drive and give up all the precious data. First, check the causes that make your external hard drive not working:
- Problematic connection
- RAW, invalid or unsupported file system
- Drive letter conflict or no drive letter
- No partition
- Not initialized
- Outdated disk driver
- USB Root Hub is outdated
- Disk is physically damaged
- ...
Don't worry if you don't know what exactly causes your external hard drive not working. Continue reading, we've collected 100% working fixes here to help you fix the external hard drive to work normally again without losing any data.
You May Also Interest In:
If you are having a similar issue on your hard drive, you may directly try the fixes below.
Are your hard drives, be it new or old, internal or external, not showing up in File Explorer or Disk Management? Follow to learn how to make your hard drive showing up again in Windows 10/8/7 without losing data.
Part 1. Make Not Working External Hard Drive Detectable
Applies to: Fix external hard drive not showing, not detected error due to connection problem.
Mostly, when your external hard drive suddenly doesn't work or fails to show up on your computer, you should first check the device connection between your external disk and your computer.
Now, follow to make the not working external hard drive detectable and show up on your PC again:
#1. Check and Change External Hard Drive Connection Cable
The first thing that you should do is to check the external hard drive USB connection cable:
- If the connection cable is loosened, reconnect external disk to PC and tight it.
- Is the external USB connection cable broken or damaged, switch a new cable, and reconnect the disk to PC.
Usb Hard Drive Enclosure Not Recognized
#2. Change a USB Port or Connect to a New Computer
If the USB connection cable is not broken, try to reconnect the external drive to your PC via a new USB port and check if the computer detects your disk.
If still nothing shows up, change a computer and reconnect the external drive.
#3. Check Power Management for USB Hub
If it doesn't work after changing the USB port or cannot be read by a new PC, try the quick fix below to repair an unrecognizable external hard drive:
Step 1. In Run (Windows + R), type devmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
Step 2. Open Device Manager > expand 'Universal Serial Bus controllers'.
Step 3. Right-click USB Root Hub > Properties > Power Management > uncheck 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power'.
- Tip
- If your external hard drive is physically damaged or broken, take it to a nearby maintenance center for a manual repair.
After following the above 3 tips, your computer should be able to detect and recognize your external hard drive now. You can try to open the drive and access the data.
If you still cannot access the data, don't worry. Move to Part 2 and we'll offer you the best hard disk data recovery software to help you quickly access and restore all valuable data on immediately.
Part 2. Recover Data Before Fixing External Hard Drive With Not Working Error
After making the external hard drive detectable, we suggest you recover data from the drive first as some measures may bring secondary damage to your data on the disk. After this, we'll offer you some reliable methods to fix the external hard drive in the next part.
3 Steps to Recover Data from External Hard Drive
To recover data from your external disk, you'll need reliable HDD recovery software for help.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard with its powerful capacity allows you to scan and recover data from the external hard drive which is not working properly in only 3 steps.
See how to restore data from the external hard drive on your own:
Step 1. Choose the external hard drive
Since you're going to recover data from the external hard drive, run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and choose the exact drive where you lost data. Click Scan.
Step 2. Scan for lost data
The software will start immediately to scan all over the selected drive for all lost data. During the scan, you could see more and more data showing up in the results.
Step 3. Preview and recover data
After the scan is over, check the scan results for the desired data. You can preview the file by double-clicking on it. Click Recover and choose another location to save the recovered data.
Don't save the recovered data on your external hard drive before fixing and making it work normally again.
Part 3. How to Fix 'External Hard Drive Is Not Working/Responding' Error
Let's see how to repair the not responding external hard drive or undetectable external hard disk drive now.
To help you find the right fix for the 'external hard drive not working' error in Windows 10/8/7, please open Disk Management and check the state of your external hard drive:
- #1. Check and Fix Disk Errors on External Hard Drive - Disk Contains Corrupted File System Error
- #2. Format External Hard Drive to NTFS - Disk Shows RAW or Unsupported File System
- #3. Create A New Partition in External Hard Drive - Disk Displays as Unallocated
- #4. Assign a New Drive Letter to External Disk - Disk Shows as 'New Volume' with No Drive Letter
- #5. Initialize External Disk and Create a New Volume - Disk Is Unknown, Not Initialized
Method 1 to Method 7 can fix most external hard disk not working issue, and if none of them work, turn to Method 8 and Method 9 for help. Let's start the external hard disk repair process.
Method 1. Check and Fix Disk Errors on External Hard Drive
Applies to: Fix external hard drive not working due to unknown disk error or corrupted file system.
Mostly, when an internal or external hard drive contains an unknown error or corrupted file system, the Windows computer will not be able to detect or open the drive.
Here you have two options to check up the disk and fix internal errors on a not responding external hard drive:
Option 1. Run Partition Manager Freeware to Fix External Hard Drive Not Responding Error
Download and install EaseUS Partition Master Free on your PC.
Cannot Read External Hard Disk
Step 1. Open EaseUS Partition Master on your computer. Then locate the disk, right-click the partition you want to check, and choose 'Check File System'.
Step 2. In the Check File System window, keep the 'Try to fix errors if found' option selected and click 'Start'.
Step 3. The software will begin checking your partition file system on your disk. When it has completed, click 'Finish'.
Option 2. Run CMD to Manually Fix External Hard Drive Errors
Step 1. Type cmd in the Search box, right-click to open Command Prompt.
Step 2. Type diskpart and hit Enter.
Step 3. Type chkdsk /f /r /x g: and hit Enter to let the checking process to run.
Replace g with the drive letter of your external hard drive.
Step 4. When it's finished, type: exit and hit Enter to finish the process.
After this, your not responding external hard drive should now show up. If it still doesn't work, go on with an easier chkdsk alternative.
Option 3. Run CMD Alternative to Fix External Disk File System Error
The Command line is suitable for computer professionals since wrong commands can cause severe problems. Therefore, we strongly recommend you try EaseUS Tools M.
It is a practical computer fixing tool that is safe and light-weighted. To fix file system error or disk error:
If you don't have any technical know-how and want to minimize data risks, using third-party software could be a better choice. The Command line is suitable for computer professionals since wrong commands can cause severe problems. Therefore, we strongly recommend you try an automatic command line alternative.
EaseUS Tools M is a practical computer fixing tool that is safe and light-weighted. It's a perfect alternative to CHKDSK command. Use this one-click tool to solve your computer issues.
To fix file system error or disk error:
Step 1: DOWNLOAD EaseUS Tools M for Free and install it.
Step 2: Open the software and select the 'File showing' option.
Step 3: Choose the drive and wait for repairing. After the operation completes, click the 'View' button to check the drive.
Method 2. Format External Hard Drive to NTFS to Repair Not Working External Disk
Applies to: Fix external hard drive not working, detecting or responding error due to RAW or unsupported file system.
If your external or internal hard disk shows as a RAW or unsupported file system in Disk Management, the best way is to format the disk to a recognized format.
In order to make sure that the external hard drive is secure for storing new data again, you can format it to repair the not working drive to be usable again with Windows disk management:
Step 1. In Run (Windows + R), type diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
Step 2. Go to Disk Management, right-click the external hard drive, and select 'Format'.
Step 3. Choose a file system like NTFS or exFAT and tick 'Quick format'. Click 'OK' to start the formatting.
After this, your external hard drive is viable for saving data again.
Method 3. Create A New Partition in External Hard Drive
Applies to: Fix disk displays as unallocated in Disk Management that make external hard drive not working.
Mostly, when your external hard disk shows as unallocated, it means that there is no partition in the disk. As a result, the computer cannot recognize it. To fix this issue, you need to first recover data from the disk first (as shown in Part 2).
Then, you can follow the steps below to create a new partition, making the external hard drive working again:
Step 1. Connect the unallocated external hard drive to your PC and open Disk Management.
Step 2. Right-click on the unallocated space of the external hard drive, select 'New Simple Volume'.
Step 3. Set partition size, drive letter and file system (NTFS), etc.
Step 4. Click 'Finish' to complete the process.
Method 4. Assign a New Drive Letter to External Disk
Applies to: Fix disk shows as 'New Volume' with no drive letter that causes external hard drive not responding.
Step 1. Go to Disk Management and right-click on your external hard drive.
Step 2. Go and select a new drive letter by clicking 'Change', and click 'OK' to confirm.
Then not responding external hard drive can be read and detected now.
Method 5. Initialize External Disk and Create a New Volume
Applies to: Fix 'Disk Is Unknown, Not Initialized' that cause external hard disk not working nor showing up.
Step 1. Right-click 'My Computer' > 'Manage' to run Disk Management.
Step 2. Here, right-click the Unknow external hard drive and click 'Initialize Disk'.
Step 3. Select the disk(s) to initialize and choose MBR or GPT partition style, and click 'OK' to confirm.
Now the drive is recognized as unallocated and if you have vital data saved there, revert to Part 1 and apply EaseUS data recovery software for help.
External Drive Won't Read
Step 4. Then right-click on the unallocated space on your external hard drive and create a new volume on it.
Method 6. Update Disk Driver
Applies to: Force not responding external hard drive to show up and work by updating disk drivers.
Step 1. Right-click 'This PC' and choose 'Manage'.
Step 2. Click 'Device Manager' then expand 'Disk drives'.
Step 3. Find and right-click the problematic external drive and select 'Update driver'.
Step 4. Click 'automatically search for driver software online'.
Method 7. Uninstall Universal Bus Controllers
VANSUNY 1TB External SSD, USB 3.1 550MB/s High-Speed Read Write Portable SSD External Hard Drive USB C Mobile Solid State Drive (1TB, Gold) 4.4 out of 5 stars 204 $119.99. When combining streaming reads and writes the speed of another drive, that could read at 92 MB/s and write at 70 MB/s, was 8 MB/s. These differences differ radically from one drive to another; some drives could write small files at over 10% of the speed for large ones. The examples given are chosen to illustrate extremes.
You can create new folders on your external drive too. Tap and hold on a blank area of the file browsing area, then choose New Folder.File searches can be restricted to a connected external drive. Here's how to reformat your drive so it can be read by and Mac or a PC. Open Disk Utility (as per the steps above). If you don't require the data on the hard drive, select the disk and click Erase.
There are many users who opt for external hard drives to store data. Unfortunately, sometimes, the system is not able to read data from the external hard drive. In such a case, the user is stuck and he/she is not able to access his/her data. Now, the question crops up, how one can access the data from the external hard drive that won't read? To access data, the user has to fix the external hard drive not reading by implementing some solutions. Thus, in this blog, we are going to introduce different ways using which the user can fix an external hard drive that is not responding error.
'I need to copy some files from my external hard drive to my pc. I plugged my external drive but I was not able to read the disk. I am not able to figure out what is the main problem. A few days back, my hard drive was working perfectly now it is not working. I need to access my data immediately. Please suggest me a simple and instant way to fix my disk and read data from it. My hard drive not reading in Windows 10.'
Reasons Which Makes Hard Drive Unreadable
There is a number of reasons that can cause external hard disk not reading in PC. Some of them are listed below:
- The USB Port may be inactive
- Hard drive driver is not working
- System unable to read external hard drive due to virus attack
- Hard Drive failure can restrict PC from reading it
- The disk drive may be corrupted and a system unable to read
- The external hard drive is not perfectly attached
- Windows OS may be creating some trouble and restrict to read the external hard drive
- Hard drive not reading after drop
Note: – The external hard disk won't reading in Windows PC. There is not any specific reason behind disk not reading error. So, the solution to this issue is also not fixed. It depends on the cause due to which the external hard drive won't read.
Methods to Resolve ‘External Hard Drive Won't Read' Issue
In this section, we are going to introduce different methods to troubleshoot your query 'How Do I Fix My External Hard Drive that Won't Read Issue?' Perform the steps listed below, as suggested:
Solution 1: Try a Different USB Port to Fix Disk Not Reading in PC
Sometimes, the real problem is with the USB port to which the external hard drive is connected. If the pen drive is not responding then it is recommended to plug hard drive into a different USB port.
- Remove the external hard disk connecting the cable from your PC
- Try to attach the external hard disk in other port
- You can check in all ports, it will take little time
Solution 2: Uninstall External Hard Drive Driver to Fix Won't Reading Issue
How To Read External Drive
If the hard disk drive is outdated or damaged then the system will not read the externally attached disk. So, simply perform the steps and fix hard drive not reading Windows 10, 8, 7, etc.
- First, you need to click on the Start and then type: devmgmt.msc and press Enter
- Now, open Device Manager and then expand Universal Serial Bus controllers
- After that, you have to check whether any device shows up as unrecognized
- If it shows unrecognized then navigate to the Drivers tab and delete/uninstall the driver
- Next, you need to check whether the external hard drive shows up in My Computer/My PC or not
- If it does not show up, then you need to reboot or restart PC
- If it shows but disappears later, then you have to repeat the above step
- Navigate to Disk Management > Change drive letter of your external hard drive only
- After that, select one new drive letter to replace the old one by clicking on Change
- Finally, click on the OK button to confirm
Solution 3: Turn On USB Root Hub to Fix Hard Drive Not Reading in PC
Perform the below steps and turn on the USB root hub. And check whether the external hard drive reading or not. Follow the steps:
- First, click on Start and then type: devmgmt.msc and press Enter
- Now, open Device Manager and click on Expand Universal Serial Bus controllers
- After that, you need to right-click USB Root Hub > Properties > Power Management > uncheck Allows the computer to turn off this device to save power
- Now, repeat this process for each USB Root Hub in the list and reboot to try again
Solution 4: Show All Hidden Devices to Fix Not Reading Error
Some times your system setting set to hide all externally attached disk. In this situation, you may understand that your system is not reading external hard drive. Follow the steps listed below:
- First of all, click on Start > type: devmgmt.msc and press Enter key
- Now, click on View > Device Manager > Select Show Hidden devices
- After that, expand all notes by clicking on the +(plus) symbol
- Next, check if there are any greyed out entries then right-click on them and select Uninstall
- Reboot and try again
Solution 5: Make Changes in Registry to Fix Hard Drive Not Reading
Before changing Windows registry settings. Be sure that you are doing the right change. Because one wrong step may lead you in trouble. If you are new to this, then don't perform this step.
- First, click on Start and then type: regedt32 and click OK
- Now, backup your registry by navigating to file and then click on Export
- Navigate to HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINESYSTEMCurrentControlSetControlClass{4D36E967-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
- Next, if you see any upperfilter or lowerfilters at the right side then delete them
- Retry to connect external hard drive again
Solution 6: USe Antivirus to Fix Hard Drive Not Reading Issue
Sometimes, due to virus infection external hard drive does not respond. Thus, the user can scan the external hard drive using reliable antivirus software. It is a common practice, bit some time it is a working solution for How Do I Fix My External Hard Drive that Won't Read? Query!
- Attach your external hard drive to your PC
- Launch the Antivirus on your system
- Try to scan your disk
Solution 7: Fist Save your Files from Drive Then Fix Not Reading Error
If still, your external hard drive is not responding then you have left only one option i.e. Format the disk. But this action will erase all your files and folders. So, before formatting first, save all your files. After that move to format:
- Use SysTools Hard Drive Recovery Software
- Save all your files and folders first
- Now format your disk.
- Use the disk and use data from backup.
Summing Up
The situation becomes worse when the external hard drive is not reorganized by the system. The user is not able to access his/her data present in this external hard drive. Thus, in this blog, we have explained various solutions using which the user can easily fix ‘external hard drive won't read' issue.
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
An external hard drive is a device that used to back up your most important files and data, but if it suddenly stops working or responding, don't worry. On this page, we'll focus on the external hard drive not working issue and you'll learn:
- Causes of External Hard Drive Not Working/Responding
- Part 1. Make Not Working External Hard Drive Detectable
- Part 2. Recover Data Before Fixing External Hard Drive With Not Working Error
- Part 3. How to Fix 'External Hard Drive Is Not Working/Responding' Error
Applies to: Fix external hard drive, USB drive, SD card, internal HDD/SSD, etc., not working or responding error on Windows PC.
Quick Guide - Fix External Hard Drive Not Working/Responding Error in 3 Parts:
Workable Solutions | Step-by-step Troubleshooting |
---|---|
Part 1. Connect Not Working External Drive | Change USB cable, USB Port > Change PC...Full steps |
Part 2. Restore Data | Run software > Scan external hard drive...Full steps |
Part 3. Fix Not Working External Drive | Method 1. Check Disk Error Method 2. Format External Hard Drive to NTFS Method 3. Create New Volume...Full steps |
No matter what brands of devices you are using such as WD Elements external hard drive, Seagate external hard drive, SanDisk or Toshiba hard disks, etc, just follow this article to get your problem solved with the provided methods here now.
Causes of External Hard Drive Not Working/Responding
Is your external hard drive suddenly not working for no reason? Is your external hard drive suddenly cannot be detected or recognized by your PC or laptop? Relax!
You don't have to buy a new external hard drive and give up all the precious data. First, check the causes that make your external hard drive not working:
- Problematic connection
- RAW, invalid or unsupported file system
- Drive letter conflict or no drive letter
- No partition
- Not initialized
- Outdated disk driver
- USB Root Hub is outdated
- Disk is physically damaged
- ...
Don't worry if you don't know what exactly causes your external hard drive not working. Continue reading, we've collected 100% working fixes here to help you fix the external hard drive to work normally again without losing any data.
You May Also Interest In:
If you are having a similar issue on your hard drive, you may directly try the fixes below.
Are your hard drives, be it new or old, internal or external, not showing up in File Explorer or Disk Management? Follow to learn how to make your hard drive showing up again in Windows 10/8/7 without losing data.
Part 1. Make Not Working External Hard Drive Detectable
Applies to: Fix external hard drive not showing, not detected error due to connection problem.
Mostly, when your external hard drive suddenly doesn't work or fails to show up on your computer, you should first check the device connection between your external disk and your computer.
Now, follow to make the not working external hard drive detectable and show up on your PC again:
#1. Check and Change External Hard Drive Connection Cable
The first thing that you should do is to check the external hard drive USB connection cable:
- If the connection cable is loosened, reconnect external disk to PC and tight it.
- Is the external USB connection cable broken or damaged, switch a new cable, and reconnect the disk to PC.
Usb Hard Drive Enclosure Not Recognized
#2. Change a USB Port or Connect to a New Computer
If the USB connection cable is not broken, try to reconnect the external drive to your PC via a new USB port and check if the computer detects your disk.
If still nothing shows up, change a computer and reconnect the external drive.
#3. Check Power Management for USB Hub
If it doesn't work after changing the USB port or cannot be read by a new PC, try the quick fix below to repair an unrecognizable external hard drive:
Step 1. In Run (Windows + R), type devmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
Step 2. Open Device Manager > expand 'Universal Serial Bus controllers'.
Step 3. Right-click USB Root Hub > Properties > Power Management > uncheck 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power'.
- Tip
- If your external hard drive is physically damaged or broken, take it to a nearby maintenance center for a manual repair.
After following the above 3 tips, your computer should be able to detect and recognize your external hard drive now. You can try to open the drive and access the data.
If you still cannot access the data, don't worry. Move to Part 2 and we'll offer you the best hard disk data recovery software to help you quickly access and restore all valuable data on immediately.
Part 2. Recover Data Before Fixing External Hard Drive With Not Working Error
After making the external hard drive detectable, we suggest you recover data from the drive first as some measures may bring secondary damage to your data on the disk. After this, we'll offer you some reliable methods to fix the external hard drive in the next part.
3 Steps to Recover Data from External Hard Drive
To recover data from your external disk, you'll need reliable HDD recovery software for help.
EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard with its powerful capacity allows you to scan and recover data from the external hard drive which is not working properly in only 3 steps.
See how to restore data from the external hard drive on your own:
Step 1. Choose the external hard drive
Since you're going to recover data from the external hard drive, run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard and choose the exact drive where you lost data. Click Scan.
Step 2. Scan for lost data
The software will start immediately to scan all over the selected drive for all lost data. During the scan, you could see more and more data showing up in the results.
Step 3. Preview and recover data
After the scan is over, check the scan results for the desired data. You can preview the file by double-clicking on it. Click Recover and choose another location to save the recovered data.
Don't save the recovered data on your external hard drive before fixing and making it work normally again.
Part 3. How to Fix 'External Hard Drive Is Not Working/Responding' Error
Let's see how to repair the not responding external hard drive or undetectable external hard disk drive now.
To help you find the right fix for the 'external hard drive not working' error in Windows 10/8/7, please open Disk Management and check the state of your external hard drive:
- #1. Check and Fix Disk Errors on External Hard Drive - Disk Contains Corrupted File System Error
- #2. Format External Hard Drive to NTFS - Disk Shows RAW or Unsupported File System
- #3. Create A New Partition in External Hard Drive - Disk Displays as Unallocated
- #4. Assign a New Drive Letter to External Disk - Disk Shows as 'New Volume' with No Drive Letter
- #5. Initialize External Disk and Create a New Volume - Disk Is Unknown, Not Initialized
Method 1 to Method 7 can fix most external hard disk not working issue, and if none of them work, turn to Method 8 and Method 9 for help. Let's start the external hard disk repair process.
Method 1. Check and Fix Disk Errors on External Hard Drive
Applies to: Fix external hard drive not working due to unknown disk error or corrupted file system.
Mostly, when an internal or external hard drive contains an unknown error or corrupted file system, the Windows computer will not be able to detect or open the drive.
Here you have two options to check up the disk and fix internal errors on a not responding external hard drive:
Option 1. Run Partition Manager Freeware to Fix External Hard Drive Not Responding Error
Download and install EaseUS Partition Master Free on your PC.
Cannot Read External Hard Disk
Step 1. Open EaseUS Partition Master on your computer. Then locate the disk, right-click the partition you want to check, and choose 'Check File System'.
Step 2. In the Check File System window, keep the 'Try to fix errors if found' option selected and click 'Start'.
Step 3. The software will begin checking your partition file system on your disk. When it has completed, click 'Finish'.
Option 2. Run CMD to Manually Fix External Hard Drive Errors
Step 1. Type cmd in the Search box, right-click to open Command Prompt.
Step 2. Type diskpart and hit Enter.
Step 3. Type chkdsk /f /r /x g: and hit Enter to let the checking process to run.
Replace g with the drive letter of your external hard drive.
Step 4. When it's finished, type: exit and hit Enter to finish the process.
After this, your not responding external hard drive should now show up. If it still doesn't work, go on with an easier chkdsk alternative.
Option 3. Run CMD Alternative to Fix External Disk File System Error
The Command line is suitable for computer professionals since wrong commands can cause severe problems. Therefore, we strongly recommend you try EaseUS Tools M.
It is a practical computer fixing tool that is safe and light-weighted. To fix file system error or disk error:
If you don't have any technical know-how and want to minimize data risks, using third-party software could be a better choice. The Command line is suitable for computer professionals since wrong commands can cause severe problems. Therefore, we strongly recommend you try an automatic command line alternative.
EaseUS Tools M is a practical computer fixing tool that is safe and light-weighted. It's a perfect alternative to CHKDSK command. Use this one-click tool to solve your computer issues.
To fix file system error or disk error:
Step 1: DOWNLOAD EaseUS Tools M for Free and install it.
Step 2: Open the software and select the 'File showing' option.
Step 3: Choose the drive and wait for repairing. After the operation completes, click the 'View' button to check the drive.
Method 2. Format External Hard Drive to NTFS to Repair Not Working External Disk
Applies to: Fix external hard drive not working, detecting or responding error due to RAW or unsupported file system.
If your external or internal hard disk shows as a RAW or unsupported file system in Disk Management, the best way is to format the disk to a recognized format.
In order to make sure that the external hard drive is secure for storing new data again, you can format it to repair the not working drive to be usable again with Windows disk management:
Step 1. In Run (Windows + R), type diskmgmt.msc and hit Enter.
Step 2. Go to Disk Management, right-click the external hard drive, and select 'Format'.
Step 3. Choose a file system like NTFS or exFAT and tick 'Quick format'. Click 'OK' to start the formatting.
After this, your external hard drive is viable for saving data again.
Method 3. Create A New Partition in External Hard Drive
Applies to: Fix disk displays as unallocated in Disk Management that make external hard drive not working.
Mostly, when your external hard disk shows as unallocated, it means that there is no partition in the disk. As a result, the computer cannot recognize it. To fix this issue, you need to first recover data from the disk first (as shown in Part 2).
Then, you can follow the steps below to create a new partition, making the external hard drive working again:
Step 1. Connect the unallocated external hard drive to your PC and open Disk Management.
Step 2. Right-click on the unallocated space of the external hard drive, select 'New Simple Volume'.
Step 3. Set partition size, drive letter and file system (NTFS), etc.
Step 4. Click 'Finish' to complete the process.
Method 4. Assign a New Drive Letter to External Disk
Applies to: Fix disk shows as 'New Volume' with no drive letter that causes external hard drive not responding.
Step 1. Go to Disk Management and right-click on your external hard drive.
Step 2. Go and select a new drive letter by clicking 'Change', and click 'OK' to confirm.
Then not responding external hard drive can be read and detected now.
Method 5. Initialize External Disk and Create a New Volume
Applies to: Fix 'Disk Is Unknown, Not Initialized' that cause external hard disk not working nor showing up.
Step 1. Right-click 'My Computer' > 'Manage' to run Disk Management.
Step 2. Here, right-click the Unknow external hard drive and click 'Initialize Disk'.
Step 3. Select the disk(s) to initialize and choose MBR or GPT partition style, and click 'OK' to confirm.
Now the drive is recognized as unallocated and if you have vital data saved there, revert to Part 1 and apply EaseUS data recovery software for help.
External Drive Won't Read
Step 4. Then right-click on the unallocated space on your external hard drive and create a new volume on it.
Method 6. Update Disk Driver
Applies to: Force not responding external hard drive to show up and work by updating disk drivers.
Step 1. Right-click 'This PC' and choose 'Manage'.
Step 2. Click 'Device Manager' then expand 'Disk drives'.
Step 3. Find and right-click the problematic external drive and select 'Update driver'.
Step 4. Click 'automatically search for driver software online'.
Method 7. Uninstall Universal Bus Controllers
Applies to: Fix external hard drive not working issue by updating Universal Serial Bus controllers drivers.
Step 1. Open 'Device Manager', find and expand Universal Serial Bus controllers
Step 2. Right-click on the USB controllers of your external drive and select 'Uninstall device'.
Step 3. Repeat to uninstall each USB controller one by one. Then restart the computer.
While rebooting PC, Microsoft will automatically reinstall the USB controllers software for your not working external hard drive.
Method 8. Run Antivirus Software
External Drive Cannot Read Data
Applies to: Fix virus or malware that causes your external hard drive not working.
Sometimes, viruses or malware infections may also cause your device to malfunctioning. So it is to your external hard drive. When you tried all the above fixes, but the drive is still not working, you can try to run antivirus software to unlock the drive:
Step 1. Install and run antivirus software on your computer.
Step 2. Scan and unlock the external hard drive.
Step 3. Wait for the cleaning process to complete and restart PC.
After this, reconnect your external hard drive to the computer and check if you can use it again.
Method 9. Turn to External Hard Drive Manufacturer or Repair Center for Help
The last option that you can try is to contact your external hard drive producer or a local disk repair center for help. It could be the outdated firmware or disk driver that is outdated. For this issue, your disk support team can resolve and make your disk work again.
As for external hard disk data recovery, a local disk repair center or manual data recovery service can do. Here you may also try EaseUS Data Recovery Service.
- 1. Unformat the drive
- 2. Repair the RAID, RAW disk or operating system
- 3. Recover lost partition (the one that cannot be recovered by software)
To Sum Up
On this page, we explained the causes of external hard drive not working, not responding, and not detectable error. To make things easy for you, we divided the whole process into 3 parts:
Part 1. Make external hard drive detectable; Part 2. Recover data from the external hard drive; Part 3. Fix not working external hard drive with respective solutions.
The methods offered in this article can also be applied to repair and fix SD cards, memory cards, USB drives, flash drives, or hard drive partitions, etc devices with not responding/working or undetectable issues.
It's recommended that you should create an extra backup of your files to another secure location, like Cloud drive. When you lost data on your disk, always remember to let EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard help.