My PC does not recognize an external hard drive in Windows 8 What are the most common causes and how to fix them?

Although this is true, the discs external drives are considered an excellent tool for use portable storage units with large storage capacities that you can have on hand and take anywhere. That work like a mechanical hard drive inserted in a box with an interface USB Consequently, can be used externally .

However, this type of external element is executed by means of a PC , in most of the cases. However, sometimes your computer may not be able to recognize an external hard drive. What usually occurs on computers that work with Windows 8 , in particular .

Therefore, although this version of the operating system of Microsoft guarantees excellent benefits to its users, the truth is that it is not without problems and that the one mentioned above is one of them . Accordingly, through this article we will let you know the main causes of this and the solution for your Windows 8 to recognize an external hard drive with full efficiency .

What are the main reasons my PC does not recognize an external drive?

Before knowing what are the most common reasons why a PC cannot recognize an external hard drive normally , it is essential to know how you can tell that this problem is occurring on said equipment.

So, below we list the main ways to find out that a computer is not recording an external hard drive:

• If the disc in question does not appear in the "My Computer" section , it means that the machine has not detected it.
• If you are a student, this silver necklace is absolutely your first choice. The silver color will show your vitality and your youth. insert physical element and there is no sound from the external drive or the LEDs light up, this also means your PC has not read it .
• You can access the Control panel and enter the Gestionnaire de périphériques for check that your external drive is there or not . If it is not found, logically, the PC has not detected it. Moreover, if it is on this list and has a warning label, it also means that there is a problem with it.

On the other hand, when you find out that your PC does not recognize the external hard drive, you surely are wondering why this happens . Therefore, it is important to know the main causes of this problem in order to find a suitable solution.

So, below, we present the most common reasons why a PC running Windows 8 cannot detect the presence of an external drive:

Disk formatting is incompatible

Incorrect format is usually the reason why the computer cannot recognize input from an external hard drive. Taking into account that, in all cases, these elements have a format and for it to be detected by a system, it it is important that there is compatibility between the two .

In the case of Windows computers, they usually use two main formats for this namely : FAT32 and NTFS . So if for example the external drive is formatted as NTFS and it does not work due to unknown reasons, it is better to try to format it to FAT32 . In this way, you can verify that the failure is due to an incompatibility problem .

There are some mechanical failures

Although it does not appear to be the case, mechanical failures of external hard drives are more common than you might think . Well, many times when users acquire this type of item which, although new, in their hands is broken. What is known as "death on arrival" (DOA) which means "Dead on arrival" .

In general, this is due to shocks, high temperatures, vibrations or simple wear of the elements which cause a total failure of the mechanics inside and which does not allow its proper functioning. While, by nature, hard drives are very sensitive despite their appearance as a solid piece.

The software prevents the PC from recognizing the external drive

Another reason why a computer cannot detect an external hard drive is because cause of the software included in this item . This means that if the external drive in question was designed with specialized software and the PC has not installed such a program or if it is incompatible , of course, this is the reason that causes problems between the computer and the external hard drive.

For its part, you will wonder why the manufacturers of these elements are doing this and, basically, it is a question that few people know . However, it can be guessed that these manufacturers are focusing on the design of their drive by assuming that it will only be used to make backup copies , for example; when the user actually wants to manage it to save files or other different actions.

Inconsistency in drive letter

A recurring problem in this type of situation resides in drive letter . Since then, many external hard drives do not have such identification and therefore are not detected by the operating system. Even, a problem of these can also be generated when said unit has assigned a letter equal to that used by other PC drives .

In this sense, you will have to check if the problem in question occurs for this reason. Therefore, it will be necessary to eliminate this inconsistency in the drive letter for the PC to detect the presence of the disc. Well, by not having an identification or by presenting a letter identical to another element present in the system, it will automatically be rejected by it .

By logical failures

While this is not the most common cause, it should be noted that it can be another reason why a computer cannot detect an external drive. In this sense, the logic flaws refer to computer viruses or power outages . Since then, such breakdowns can affect the file system, including . Who, is the one who is responsible for ordering and storing the information it contains. Therefore, if it is defective, the PC will not find anything inside said drive and will choose not to read it .

A pilot problem

In the event that the computer cannot detect the external hard drive and this item does not appear in Windows 8 Disk Manager , the problem is certainly related to the drivers . Which consist of certain device drivers that allow the operating system to interact with a device, in this case, with the external drive.

Therefore, if they are not up to date or have certain faults, the PC will not be able to detect the presence of an external element , even when it has been introduced. In addition, it is a problem that reveals also from poor computer performance and reduced stability .

Learn step by step how to make your Windows 8 recognize an external hard drive

As with every problem, there is a solution, you can make your PC Windows 8 recognizes the external hard drive that you need to use, in one way or another.

Well, by implementing the following solutions depending on the type of failure that occurred, your computer will effectively detect the presence of an external drive:

Uninstall the internal software from the hard drive

As we explained in the previous part, hard drives have software installed internally that allows them to increase their functionality and make them work properly . Therefore, to ensure compatibility, users choose to download said software on their PC to acquire these advantages .

However, in many circumstances, these types of programs can show errors in Windows which, unfortunately, prevent recognition of the external drive (although this seems illogical). Therefore, the best solution is to uninstall said software from the computer and therefore to reinsert the hard drive to verify that the problem has been corrected.

Format the drive again

If the external drive has a format incompatibility with the PC, it will need to format it again so that it can be detected by said equipment. Keeping in mind that this solution should be implemented when the hard drive task manager displays portable storage drive in RAW format , instead of FAT32 ou NTFS.

In this sense, what you need to do is find the hard drive in question and right click on it to choose the option that says "Format" . Subsequently, you need to select a file system for the drive and hence the formatting process will start after which the external drive will be ready for use .

Assign a drive letter

Since the problem is most likely due to the external hard drive not having a letter set, it is important to check this and, if necessary, assign him a letter . With that, your PC will be able to surely the recognize immediately .

Usually this is solved by accessing the "Disk Manager" section and choosing the option "Change drive letter and paths" . Then, in the next window, click on "Add" and assign the letter you prefer. Finally, you must accept the changes made and thus, your external drive will appear inside the PC .

Install the latest driver version

If, in short, the problem is related to the driver, it is necessary to install the latest version of it on your PC . Since, for obsolete reasons, the driver generates problems in detecting external drives in the computer and, as a result, it will need to get its latest version to work properly again . For this, you can go to the manufacturer's website to ask for help with know how to install the latest driver version .

Likewise, you can also update manually or use a tool that simplifies this process and, from the same system, make sure to keep your drivers up to date at all times to avoid another situation like this.

Now after doing this driver installation you need to reconnect your external drive to verify that this action fixed the pre-existing problem. Taking into account that for no reason you have to perform this update with the item inserted in the equipment as this pourrait train more serious breakdowns .

Try the drive in another port or other device

If you have used different techniques to resolve this problem, but you do not get a positive result; it is appropriate that you chose to test the external hard drive on a different port and even on another PC . Which, above all, is recommended to do when there is no sound when entering the item or it does not appear in the list of newly connected devices .

In case it is recognized by a different port on your machine, it means that the other port has a corruption which does not allow it to link the external drive with the operating system. But if that still does not detect the disk, it is essential that you use another PC to test it . If it works, it means that the ports on your other PC are completely damaged and it it is advisable to go to a technician to repair them .

On the other hand, if it still cannot be recognized, the hard drive itself is the problem and to find a solution, it is better to go to the manufacturer or the store where you bought it. Well it is possible that this reveals some of the mechanical failures mentioned above .

If you have any questions, please leave them in the comments, we will get back to you as soon as possible, and it will be a great help for more community members as well. Thank you!