Computer Won T Recognize External Hard Drive Anymore

1. External Hard Drive Not Showing Up
2. Pc Won't Recognize Hard Drive
3. Computer Doesn't Recognize External Hdd
4. External Hard Drive Walmart

After that, I couldn't open my external hard drives there anymore because I don't have the keys. I didn't pay much attention to it before because I wasn't planning on using my old laptop any longer. I'm at wit's end now. I got three external hard drives (4.5TB in total) that are encrypted by BitLocker and neither of my two laptops can access them. Generally, 'Not Working' is a state that usually describes a malfunctioning hard disk or external hard drive. For example, you may define your Seagate external hard drive 'not working' as it's not accessible or detected after connecting it to your computer. Plug your removable drive into your computer. Press Windows Key + R, type diskmgmt.msc into the Run dialog, and press Enter. You should see your external drive listed in the Disk Management window. It doesn't matter if its showing on your computer window. Computer won't recognize external hard drive? I own a Western Digital 2.5 TB, have been using it every day for the past year if not more and never a problem, I download a couple of episodes from warez-bb.org, never had a problem with them as far as viruses come. If you have followed all of these steps and the drive is still not recognized, shut down your computer, wait 3 to 5 minutes, restart your computer and try again. In the event that the drive is still not recognized, take the drive to another computer and attempt to connect the drive.

Summary :

Generally, you can see the CD drive immediately in File Explorer after you have inserted it into your computer. There may be a short delay due to network reasons; but more often than not, something is wrong with your system or the drive. This post focuses on how to fix the problem when Windows 10 won't recognize CD drive and how to recover data from it.

Compact discs like CD drives and DVD drives may be out of date. However, there are many users who still depend on CDs and DVDs. For instance:

• Some people like to collect their favorite music on the CD drive.
• A CD drive or DVD drive is still necessary when installing a system or program on your PC.

Recently, I noticed that many people published posts saying Windows 10 won't recognize CD drive in different forums to seek help. Some of them say the CD drive not showing up in File Explorer while others say the CD drive disappears from Disk Management.

In the following content, I will show you the possible reasons for causing the problem and the solutions to fix it. In the meantime, I will walk you through the steps to get back lost files from a CD drive easily with the help of a recovery tool provided by MiniTool Solution.

What Happens When Windows 10 Won't Recognize CD Drive

The case of computer doesn't recognize CD drive on Windows 10 can be divided into two situations roughly: Windows 10 doesn't recognize CD drive in Windows Explorer, CD drive is not reading in Disk Management. In the former case, you should consider CD drive data recovery first; in the latter case, you need to try to fix the problem immediately.

Signals of CD Drive Not Working

One: Windows 10 won't recognize my CD drive in File Explorer.

You find your CD drive is not visible, found, or recognized in the Windows Explorer after you have connected it to PC.

Two: CD drive not showing up in Device Manager Windows 10.

If you open the Device Manager/Disk Management to check and can not find the CD drive connected to PC, you should consider there are problems with the driver. It may be out of date. In this case, you should update the drivers to the latest version and see whether your CD drive can be recognized.

Three: Windows 10 CD drive access denied.

It is possible for you to get an access denied error no matter what type of storage device you are trying to open. Once that happens, you are not able to access the data saved in the problematic drive.

Four: Optical Drives (CD/DVD) icon missing.

Some people even reported that the find the icon of optical drives (CD/DVD drives) is missing in This PC (also known as My Computer). They said the CD drive not detected works just fine on other computers/devices.

Please note:

Some users also complained that their USB flash drive can not be recognized or external hard drive is not detected by the computer suddenly. To know how to solve the problems efficiently, you should click to read the corresponding pages with care.

Why the CD drive is not showing up? There are some common causes for it.

• The driver of CD drive is damaged, outdated or missing.
• The registry is corrupted and needs to be changed.
• The CD drive has some hardware problems.
• Etc.

Need Help: CD Drive Not Showing Up

Computer can not show the CD/DVD ROM.

Hello, my computer can not show me the CD/DVD ROM please help me. It used to show me some time back but this time around the icon has been removed from my computer. How can I view it or restore it back, I am using a Pentium 4 desktop computer and the make is (Compaq).- said coster in CCM Forum

Windows 10 does not detect CD drive.

My computer was running perfectly under windows 10 version 1803. Then it updated itself to 1809 and since that upgrade it does not recognize the CD drive. I rolled back to 1803 but now it still does not detect the CD drive. (It did before the 1809 upgrade) The sata cd drive is fine. It can boot up from CDs with no problems. It is only since windows 10 upgrade that the problem arises. I have trolled the internet for a solution and have already tried the some several times.- posted by Den in Tech Advisor Forum

How to Fix: CD Drive Is Not Recognized in File Explorer

If you find your CD drive is not detected in Windows Explorer, please don't panic. You should firstly open Disk Management to check.

1. Find This PC icon on your desktop.
2. Choose Manage from the context menu.
3. Move to the Storage section under Computer Management (Local).
4. Select Disk Management.
5. Look for your CD drive in the right-hand panel.

If it appears, you should check:

• Whether it has a drive letter or not
• Whether it is set Online

How to assign or change drive letter?

How to Recover Data from CD Drive

you should download MiniTool Power Data Recovery now and use it to recover data from the CD drive. (You can forget about the CD drive data recovery if the files on it are not so important.)

Step one: navigate to the location where the setup program is saved. Double click on the program to start the installation process of MiniTool Power Data Recovery. Adobe fuse export.

Step two: follow the instructions to install the software and choose to launch it in the last step of the process.

Step three: select the last option you can see in the left sidebar; it's called CD/DVD Drive and designed especially for compact disc recovery.

Step four: look at the drives displayed in the right-hand panel and pick out the CD drive on which the problem occurs (if there is more than one drive).

Step five: you have two choices to start a full scan on the CD drive.

• Click on the Scan button in the lower right corner of the software interface.
• Double click on the drive in the Select the device to recover:

Then, wait for the scan.

Step six: as the scan continues, more and more files will be found by the software and listed in the drive scanning software window. At this time, you should browse the found data carefully to determine which are needed and which are not.

Warm prompt Parts of microsoft excel 2007 and its functions. : if the software doesn't find the files or folders you want, you should wait for the scan to process. And you should wait until the full scan finishes in order to get the best recovery result.

• Of course, you can click to Pause the scan at any moment as long as you find it displays the exact file you want to recover from the CD drive.
• In addition, you can click on the Stop button in the upper right corner to end the scanning process; then, you should click on the Yes button in the pop-up Cancel confirmation window.

Step seven: add a checkmark into the small square located in front of certain files. Then, you should click on the Save button in the lower right corner of the software interface to bring up a directory selection window.

Step eight: browse the available location and choose a proper one as the storage destination for the recovered data. When this operation is completed, you should click on the OK button at the bottom to start recovering files from CD drive officially.

Step nine: now, you should wait for the recovery to complete automatically. When a prompt window pops up in the software, please click on the OK button and go to a certain path to check the recovered data.

What to do next?

• You can click on the Upgrade Now link to purchase a license for a full edition. After that, click on the Export Scan Result button to save the found files entry manually. Then, use the license to register your software and choose to load the scan result to continue to recover data from CD drive.
• You can also click here to purchase a license and register to a full edition. Then, scan the CD drive again and choose the needed files to recover.

The steps for data recovery on DVD are the same; if you find the DVD drive not working, please follow this guide at once to recover files.

However, people will ask what they should do next if they can't find the CD drive in Disk Management/Device Manager. If that really happens, please read the next part to know how to fix the problem in different ways.

How to Fix: CD Drive Is Disappeared from Device Manager

My CD drive is not working, how to fix it? In this part, I will summarize some useful solutions that have helped other people get their CD drive to work.

Show Hidden CD/DVD Drives

1. Right click on the Start button.
2. Choose Device Manager.
3. Select View from the menu bar.
4. Click Show hidden devices.

Reinstall or Update Driver

1. Open Device Manager.
2. Find DVD/CD-ROM drives and expand it.
3. Right click on each DVD or CD drive listed here.
4. Choose Uninstall.
5. Restart your PC.

Please keep in mind: if this failed, you can try to right click on each entry under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers and choose Uninstall.

In addition, you can also try to roll back CD or DVD drivers.

1. Repeat step 1 to step 3.
2. Choose Properties.
3. Shift to the Driver tab.
4. Click on the Roll Back Driver
5. Wait for it to complete and restart your computer.

What's more, you can try to disable and re-enable the device.

1. Repeat step 1 to step 3.
2. Choose Properties.
3. Shift to the Driver tab.
4. Click on the Disable Device button.
5. Wait for it to complete and repeat these steps to click Enable Device.

Run Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter

1. Open Control Panel by typing and selecting it via Windows Search.
2. View by icons and select Troubleshooting.
3. Click the Hardware and Sound link.
4. Find the Device section.
5. Click Hardware and Devices.
6. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete.

Delete Corrupted Registry Keys

1. Press Start + R.
2. Type regedit in the Run dialog window.
3. Start Registry Editor by clicking on the OK button or pressing Enter on the keyboard.
4. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SYSTEM, CurrentControlSet, Control, and Class one by one.
5. Select {4d36e965-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}.
6. Look for UpperFilters and LowerFilters in the right panel.
7. Right click on then and choose Delete.
8. Close the Registry Editor and restart your PC.

Please resort to other methods if you can't find UpperFilters or LowerFilters value in the right panel.

You can also try to fix the problem by creating a new Registry Subkey.

1. Repeat step 1 to step 3.
2. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SYSTEM, CurrentControlSet, and Services.
3. Right click on atapi under the Services folder.
4. Choose New from the context menu.
5. Choose Key from its submenu.
6. Name it as Controller0.
7. Right click on the new Controller0 key.
8. Choose New from the context menu and DWORD(32-bit) Value from its submenu.
9. Name it as EnumDevice1.
10. Double click on EnumDevice1 to see its properties.
11. Type 1 into the Value data box.
12. Click OK to save the changes.
13. Close the Registry Editor and restart your PC.

Use Command Prompt

1. Type cmd into the search box of Windows 10 on the taskbar (how to fix when the taskbar is not working).
2. Right click on Command Prompt from the result.
3. Choose Run as administrator.
4. Copy this command and paste it into the Command Prompt window: exe add 'HKLMSystemCurrentControlSetServicesatapiController0' /f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001.
5. Press Enter on the keyboard and wait a second.
6. Close the CMD tool when you see the message: The operation completed successfully.

The function of this CMD command is to add values to registry. By the way, you can also recover files from your computer by using CMD.

Final Words

It's possible for anyone to run into the CD drive not working issue, but this is not as terrible as many people thought. When you realize Windows 10 won't recognize CD drive, you should follow the steps mentioned above to rescue your data (if they are important) and make the CD drive appear on your PC.

Windows 10 Won't Recognize CD Drive FAQ

External Hard Drive Not Showing Up

1. Reinstall or update the drivers for CD drive.
2. Remove recently installed software and hardware.
3. Change the BIOS settings and update chipset firmware.
4. Modify the Windows Registry key.
5. Show hidden CD drives in Device Manager.
6. Uninstall IDE, ATA/ATAPI controllers.

1. Close all apps and programs that are using the disc. Then, press the eject button if it has. If not, please move on.
2. Open the Windows Explorer by double clicking the Computer icon on desktop.
3. Look for your CD or DVD drive and right click on it.
4. Choose Eject from the context menu and wait a second.

Dec 16, 2020 • Filed to: USB Recovery • Proven solutions

How to fix USB device not recognized in Windows 10?The error message is 'The lastUSB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.' This is the most common USB problem for many users who using Windows 10 system computer. In the following guide, we will list the best solution to solve the USB device not recognized errors. Different types of problems may arise when using drives on Windows 10 and some of them are:

Problems about USB device not recognized windows 10:

• External hard drive not recognized by Windows 10:This problem often affects both the external hard drive and the flash drive and to resolve both issues, you can apply the same method.
• USB may not be detected by Windows 10:Another very common problem is when your Windows 10 software can't seem to detect your USB flash when plugged in.
• USB hard drive not showing:Some users complain that when they connect their drives to their computer, it doesn't display on the screen. This problem is not without a solution.
• USB drive not working:You drive may show on your screen but may not function. Such a problem is not peculiar to you alone as many other users of Windows 10 complain of the same problem.
• Windows USB port non-functional:If your USB port is not functioning, there's no way you can transfer data from one source to the other. You can resolve all the problems highlighted in this article using our tested and trusted technology solutions.

Part 1. How to fix a Windows 10 doesn't recognize USB Port

Solution 1 – Check Power Management for USB root Hub

One way to fix a Windows 10 problem of this spec is to tweak the power management structure of your USB root hub. Here is how to go about it.

• Open yourDevice Managerand go to the section 'Universal Serial Bus Control' to find the USB Hub. For multipleUSB Root Hub, you have to repeat the procedure for each of them (Three USB Root Hub).

• Right-click the USB Root Hub/select Properties.
• Proceed to thePower Managementtab. Uncheck 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power'.

• Save changes and repeat these steps for all Root Hubs on your device Manager.

Solution 2 – Install drivers for Generic USB Hub

• Open yourDevice Managerand look forthe Generic USB Hub. Right-click the icon toupdate the driver.

• Select 'Browse my PC for a driver for driver software'.

• Select 'Let me pick from a list of drivers on my PC'

• ChooseGeneric USB Huband tap the Next button.

• To get the very best results, you can conduct these same steps for all theUniversal Bus Controllers on your Device Manager.

Solution 3 – Change USB Selective Suspend Settings

Another option you can try when experiencing USB not recognized Windows 10 problems is to change the USB selection suspend settings. Here is how to go about effecting changes.

• Open Control Panel and choose Power Options.

• Click 'Change Plan Setting' on the Power Saver section

• Then click 'Change advanced power settings'

• Find theUSB Settingoption, then select 'Disable'

Solution 4 – Reconnect your USB devices

When you try to connect the USB ports to the computer and get the error message pop up, you might want to reconnect your USB devices. This action may solve your USB device not recognized problem in Windows 10.

Video Tutorial on How to Fix USB Device Not Recognized

Part 2. How to Fix Windows 10 doesn't Recognize USB Drive/Storage

1. Reinstall or update the drivers for CD drive.
2. Remove recently installed software and hardware.
3. Change the BIOS settings and update chipset firmware.
4. Modify the Windows Registry key.
5. Show hidden CD drives in Device Manager.
6. Uninstall IDE, ATA/ATAPI controllers.

1. Close all apps and programs that are using the disc. Then, press the eject button if it has. If not, please move on.
2. Open the Windows Explorer by double clicking the Computer icon on desktop.
3. Look for your CD or DVD drive and right click on it.
4. Choose Eject from the context menu and wait a second.

Dec 16, 2020 • Filed to: USB Recovery • Proven solutions

How to fix USB device not recognized in Windows 10?The error message is 'The lastUSB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned, and Windows does not recognize it.' This is the most common USB problem for many users who using Windows 10 system computer. In the following guide, we will list the best solution to solve the USB device not recognized errors. Different types of problems may arise when using drives on Windows 10 and some of them are:

Problems about USB device not recognized windows 10:

• External hard drive not recognized by Windows 10:This problem often affects both the external hard drive and the flash drive and to resolve both issues, you can apply the same method.
• USB may not be detected by Windows 10:Another very common problem is when your Windows 10 software can't seem to detect your USB flash when plugged in.
• USB hard drive not showing:Some users complain that when they connect their drives to their computer, it doesn't display on the screen. This problem is not without a solution.
• USB drive not working:You drive may show on your screen but may not function. Such a problem is not peculiar to you alone as many other users of Windows 10 complain of the same problem.
• Windows USB port non-functional:If your USB port is not functioning, there's no way you can transfer data from one source to the other. You can resolve all the problems highlighted in this article using our tested and trusted technology solutions.

Part 1. How to fix a Windows 10 doesn't recognize USB Port

Solution 1 – Check Power Management for USB root Hub

One way to fix a Windows 10 problem of this spec is to tweak the power management structure of your USB root hub. Here is how to go about it.

• Open yourDevice Managerand go to the section 'Universal Serial Bus Control' to find the USB Hub. For multipleUSB Root Hub, you have to repeat the procedure for each of them (Three USB Root Hub).

• Right-click the USB Root Hub/select Properties.
• Proceed to thePower Managementtab. Uncheck 'Allow the computer to turn off this device to save power'.

• Save changes and repeat these steps for all Root Hubs on your device Manager.

Solution 2 – Install drivers for Generic USB Hub

• Open yourDevice Managerand look forthe Generic USB Hub. Right-click the icon toupdate the driver.

• Select 'Browse my PC for a driver for driver software'.

• Select 'Let me pick from a list of drivers on my PC'

• ChooseGeneric USB Huband tap the Next button.

• To get the very best results, you can conduct these same steps for all theUniversal Bus Controllers on your Device Manager.

Solution 3 – Change USB Selective Suspend Settings

Another option you can try when experiencing USB not recognized Windows 10 problems is to change the USB selection suspend settings. Here is how to go about effecting changes.

• Open Control Panel and choose Power Options.

• Click 'Change Plan Setting' on the Power Saver section

• Then click 'Change advanced power settings'

• Find theUSB Settingoption, then select 'Disable'

Solution 4 – Reconnect your USB devices

When you try to connect the USB ports to the computer and get the error message pop up, you might want to reconnect your USB devices. This action may solve your USB device not recognized problem in Windows 10.

Video Tutorial on How to Fix USB Device Not Recognized

Part 2. How to Fix Windows 10 doesn't Recognize USB Drive/Storage

If the problem you are experiencing has to do with your Windows 10 application not recognizing the USB drive or storage you used, follow these steps to rectify the problem.

Solution 1 – Turn off Fast Startup

• Go toControl Paneland selectPower options

• Then click onChoose what the power button does

• By clickChange settings that are currently unavailable

• Then uncheckTurn on fast startup(recommend)option and click onSave Changes

Solution 2 – Update your drivers / install the default driver

If you get the USB device not recognized error, you may need to uninstall your currently installed drive. You can follow the next steps to allow Windows 10 to install the default drive:

• Go toDevice Managerwindows by pressing Windows Key + X or search the keyword on the search bar.

• SelectDisk drivesoption, then right-click on your USB device and selectUninstall device

• Restart your computer after the driver has been uninstalled
• Reconnect your USB drive when your PC starts.

Solution 3 – Partition your USB storage and assign a letter to it

While you connect the USB device to the Windows 10 computer, the device needs to partition and assign a letter to it. Follow these steps to do that:

• Hold down the Windows + S key, type in the word 'Computer management' and pick computer management from the options provided.

• Once computer management comes up, click onDisk management.

• Find your hard drive (To do so, check through the sizes of drives in your drive management system)

If your drive is not partitioned, you will see at least one drive in particular with an unallocated space to it. Right-click the icon and pick the item 'New simple volume'. Now follow these steps to partition it.

• On theDisk Managementwindow and find your USB hard drive, right-click on the drive and selectChange Drive Letter and Paths

• Click onAddand make sure you assign a particular letter to the partition.

*Do note that your Windows 10 only works with NTFS & FAT32 systems so during the process of partitioning, only use an NTFS system file.
*Also note that you can also partition your hard drive using any third-party app.

Solution 4 – Uninstall hidden devices from Device Manager

If your USB device did not recognize Windows 10 problems can be caused by devices that were hidden in your Device Manager. To get it working again you may need to uninstall them. Follow these instructions to do that.

• Press your keyboardWindows key + Rand input the letters 'cmd' and press OK.

• Once the command prompt comes up, paste these lines below and click ok after each line to run them through.
  - set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
  - cd
  - cd windowssystem32
  - start devmgmt.msc

After doing this, your Device Manager will be able to fully display hidden devices in your drive

• Expand all the sections and make sure you delete all gray entries
• Restart your computer and reconnect your hard drive.

Solution 5 – Delete Unrecognized device from Device Manager and assign a different letter to your USB hard drive

To delete unrecognizable devices from your Device Manager and assign a letter to it, follow these steps.

• Go to theUniversal Serial controllerafter opening your system'Device Manager.
• Expand the Controller section and locate all Unrecognized devices. On the Unrecognized devices, Right-click to pick the item 'uninstall device'.
• Press the scan button to scan for available hardware changes.

• Close yourDevice Manager
• Select your computer management portal and navigate to Disk management by pressingWindows key + S
• Locate your USB hard drive storage and right-click to pick 'Change system's hard Drive Letter and Paths'
• Press the Change button and assign a letter to the USB drive.
• Should you not see any unrecognized devices in your Manager, skip the last step and just try replacing the old letter with a new one.

Pc Won't Recognize Hard Drive

Solution 6 – Connect your USB hard drive to the USB ports in the back

If you are having issues with a USB drive such as the Seagate modeled USB drive it may be as a result of the fact that you connect yours to the front port rather than the back. You may also experience the same problem of an unrecognizable hard drive even if you don't make use of a hard drive that is like Seagate's. There are claims that some ports don't have enough power are the front of computer systems. If this claim is true, you may want to consider connecting your hard drive to the backport to see if it works. Also, avoid using a hub for connection. It is better when you connect directly.

Solution 7 – Replace the hard drive letter using the Diskpart tool

Another way to replace the hard drive letter is to use aDiskpart tool. Here is how to use it to correct a USB device not recognized Windows 10 problem. Text program windows.

• Typedisparton the run box by pressingWindows Key + R.

• Once the command prompt opens up, type the list volume than tap the Enter key to run command.
• Identify your exact USB storage file amongst the list.
• We advise you to choose 'Select Volume 2' because it is much easier to use this prompt. Tap Enter to proceed.

• Close the command prompt and see if your hard drive is recognizable

USB device not recognized Windows 10may be as a result of undetected external hard drives, your drive not showing or may not even work at all. These problems can be resolved however with any of the 7 solutions listed above. One solution may work but in some cases, you may have to use more than one solution to resolve issues. The more suggestion that you should back up your USB data to a safety device or it will cause your data files to get lost. Once data loss happens, you need aUSB data recoveryprogram to help you retrieve all data back easily.

Recoverit Free USB Data Recovery for Computer

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• Recover lost data files from USB drive on Windows 10 easily.
• Data recovery from any storage device on Windows computer and Mac.
• Recover lost data files due to Windows computer crashed.

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