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My PC (Windows 10) isn't detecting any external hard drive that I plug in, regardless of which USB port I use. How do I fix?

Anonymous
2024-11-27T01:36:43+00:00

I film gaming videos on OBS on my PC, then upload them to a hard drive to edit on my Macbook because I have Final Cut Pro. Abruptly a few days ago, my PC stopped detecting my external hard drive. The hard drive lights up and I can feel it whirring like it's on, but it doesn't show up in my file folder. It also doesn't show up in disk management or in my devices under disk drives. It's like the PC isn't detecting that something is plugged in at all. This extends to other external hard drives--mine is a WD 2TB HDD, and I tried a friend's XBOX 5TB HDD and it didn't read at all or show up in devices either. I've tried different USB ports, including ones that are for sure working for my keyboard, etc, but the hard drive never shows as connected. How do I fix?

Since this has become an issue, I've already received a Windows update and updated my PC. It made no difference. It doesn't matter if the device is plugged in before the computer boots, either--still doesn't show up in devices or in my folders.

Just to clarify, the external hard drives do work on other PCs. My usual HDD reads like normal on my Macbook.

Not sure if it matters, but PC info:
Intel(R) Core(TM) i7-10700K CPU @ 3.80GHz
32Gb RAM
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-11-30T06:37:49+00:00

    I uninstalled the drive in device manager and now it doesn't show up at all, even in hidden. When I connect it, nothing happens to my PC. The hard drive light turns on to show it's connected, and I can feel it barely vibrating like it's on. But it doesn't show up as a connected drive. This isn't a problem with the hard drive itself, as it's perfectly functional with my Macbook. My other external hard drive also does not connect, despite connecting just fine to other pcs and to my Macbook. I've restarted, updated, etc.

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  2. Anonymous
    2024-11-27T02:49:10+00:00

    Please check Device Manager to see if your PC detects the drives at all:

    1. Press Windows + X and click Device Manager.
    2. Look under Disk Drives and Universal Serial Bus controllers for any devices with a yellow warning icon or listed as "Unknown Device."
    3. If you find one, right-click it and choose Update driver. If that doesn’t help, right-click and select Uninstall device, then restart your PC to let Windows reinstall the drivers.
    4. Click View > Show hidden devices in Device Manager. If your drive shows up, right-click it and enable or update it.

    Let me know if this works, and we’ll try the next steps if needed!

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  3. Anonymous
    2025-01-11T14:03:30+00:00

    did not work. no exterrnal drive shows up

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  4. Anonymous
    2024-11-30T06:41:06+00:00

    I also ran a DISM scan and used the system file checker. The DISM scan said that a corrupt file was found but could not be fixed, but I'm not convinced this is related to the current hard drive issue since my PC won't seem to recognize any external hard drive right now.

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