In this article, we will try to figure out why operating systems of the Windows family from Microsoft quite often do not want to recognize various USB devices. There are a lot of reasons for this phenomenon, so let's try to consider each case in more detail.

If your computer does not see a USB flash drive in windows 10 (7) - what to do? What exactly is happening and how does it manifest itself?

The following situations are possible:

• You connect a USB flash drive, and the system displays the message "insert usb device"
• We inserted the USB flash drive into the computer, there is an icon in the tray, there is a connection sound, but the file manager does not see it
• Connected a USB flash drive, the system responds with a warning about the need to format the device
• When a flash drive is connected, the system signals a data error

Below in the comments, write what problem you have with a USB flash drive or external hard drive when connected via USB. By describing the situation in detail, website users will be able to help you faster ...

Before you start solving problems with the invisibility of a USB flash drive, be sure to make sure that it has no physical damage and check for errors with a special utility, for example, from Kingston or Sandisk.

Checking the flash drive for visibility in Disk Management (Disk Management)

First, we launch a utility that controls all usb devices. For this:

We go to the START-RUN menu or call the WIN + R keyboard shortcut and enter the command in the field diskmgmt.msc

Or run through the Control Panel: Administrative Tools tab, then Computer Management-Disk Management.

After you have opened the Disk Management tab, you need to connect and disconnect your USB flash drive several times. If a usb device appears in the list, then you will receive a notification that each section is working properly, there is only one on the flash drive. And at this stage, it will be much easier to fix the error of invisibility of the flash drive on your computer.

Make the section active by right-clicking on it. If you wish, you can assign a letter from the list to the flash drive. After that, the system should see the USB stick.

If the utility shows that there is an "uninitialized" USB device in the system, then it is worth upsetting you, because your flash drive is damaged.

We take the following simple steps

Let's take a look at all the usb devices installed on the system through Device Manager. Note for yourself exactly how your flash drive is designated. If the computer does not recognize the USB device, then it may be marked as "USB Mass Storage Device".

It is necessary to select and remove the USB flash drive. Then go to the Action tab and select Update Hardware Configuration.

In most cases, this is enough for the file manager to display a USB flash drive.

Some situations in which the system does not see usb devices

Make sure you are not plugging your usb devices through an extension cable or usb hub. Try to connect them directly to the usb port one by one, maybe just one of them will be faulty.

There is another option for checking the functionality of the usb ports. Disconnect all devices connected via usb to your computer. Leave only the bare minimum. If the system sees your USB stick, then the problem is solved. In your case, it turned out that little power is being supplied to the usb ports. The problem is solved by purchasing a new power supply unit or USB hub with additional power.

The computer does not see a USB flash drive via usb in windows 10 (7) after installation or update

After updating your Windows system, it is very likely that you might encounter such a problem. In this case, it is clearly that there are no fresh drivers in the system for usb or outdated data about usb devices remained in the registry.

In the latter case, you must use the USBOblivion program. Download it from the author's official website and delete all obsolete data. But be sure to create a restore checkpoint before deleting so that in case of an error in the program, you can return to the original settings.

Before you run the program, do not forget to disconnect all flash drives and usb devices. After that, feel free to run the utility, after saving all the data.

After the utility cleans the registry, reboot the system and reconnect your USB flash drive. If the system does not recognize it again, then step by step follow all the steps that were described above. Those. remove the device, then update the configuration and reconnect it in the system.

In the Windows 10 operating system, an error often occurs when the drivers are completely incompatible. If this is the problem, you will see an exclamation mark.

In this case, you need to download the latest drivers on the official pages of manufacturers and developers. Never use third-party sites to search and download drivers to avoid security problems on your system.

With USB being widespread, USB 3.0 hard drives have become more and more popular among computer users in recent years. Like any other device, external HDDs also have their drawbacks, one of which we will consider in this article. After connecting the drive to the USB 3.0 port, some users faced the problem of the drive being unreadable by their operating system. The drive is not recognized in Windows and is not displayed in any way in Explorer.

Don't panic prematurely. While this problem may seem daunting, it can be fixed, and we can help you sort it out with a couple of effective solutions. It is not necessary to search for one among all the methods below. Just follow the steps gradually and the drive will come back to life.

• 1. Restart your computer.
• 2. Check if the hard disk is working on another PC.
• 3. Connect other USB devices, if they work.

Fix error USB 3.0 external drive not recognized

Method 1: update the USB driver

1. Open up My computer\u003e select System properties
Alternative way: right click on My computer and select Properties.

2. Open Device Manager located in the left pane.

3. Open up USB controllers and next to the required one, if the controller does not have the latest driver, a yellow exclamation mark will appear. Click on the device next to it and select Update drivers.

4. Now click on Search automatically for updated drivers to install the latest software. Wait for the process to complete and try connecting the hard drive again.

Method 2. Use the Disk Management utility and let the computer recognize the USB 3.0 HDD

1. Open up start menu and go to Control Panel.

2. Go to the menu Administration and open Computer management.

3. Once the window opens, click Disk management and find the device you want.

4. Right click on the disk and select Format.

Additional help

Formatting a disk and losing important information can sound very frightening to the user, so we will tell you how you can restore your device without losing the files you need.

Starus Partition Recovery will be a good choice for any user who is faced with a hard disk unreadable problem. The program will allow not only recovering lost data, but also opening logically damaged partitions.

Below is a brief instruction that can help you recover information:

1. Connect a USB 3.0 external hard drive to your computer and launch the application. The program will immediately prompt you to scan the device of your choice.

2. Select the logical partition or physical disk that you want to scan.

3. Next, the program will offer you two options for analyzing the disk.
By choosing Fast scan, the utility will perform a superficial assessment of the device and find all the main files, however, it is worth mentioning that such a check is not deep. Complete analysis, in turn, will scan the device as thoroughly as possible, which will allow you to find any information that has left its mark.

Upon completion of the analysis, you can export documents to any safe place on your computer in two clicks, and then format the external hard drive.

You can evaluate all the chances of "returning data from an unreadable hdd" before the program is registered. Download the tool and try it out completely free. All functions are available in the trial version, including preview of recovered files.

Sometimes Windows 10 does not see the hard drive included in the computer configuration after the operating system has been installed. In this case, the first step is to check the status of the PC in the BIOS. The new HDD should be displayed in the hardware list. If this is not the case, then the problem is not software, but hardware. Either there is something wrong with the drive itself, or its connection is wrong.

Enabling the second HDD

You need to activate the Disk Management utility integrated into the operating system. With its help, it will be possible to fix the problem. Open Run from the Start menu. In it, enter the command diskmgmt.msc.

A menu for managing system partitions will appear. Here you should pay attention to objects with various malfunctions, in particular:

• "No data. Not initialized ”(occurs when the hard disk is not displayed).
• Are there any areas marked "Not allocated" on the HDD (this refers to the situation when logical partitions are not displayed).

If none of the above is present, but the RAW partition is simply displayed, and NTFS or FAT 32 is still visible, but they do not have a volume label, then you just need to format this partition (we are talking about RAW).

Initialization procedure

In the first case, to fix that Vin 10 does not see the hard drive, it will turn out as follows: right-click on the required HDD and start the initialization procedure.

It is preferable to choose a GPT structure (MBR performs better in older versions of Windows). Execution of the procedure will bring the drive to the state of the area - Not allocated, as in the second paragraph. Further instructions are applicable for both cases.

Now you need to right-click on the unallocated area and activate the function of creating a simple volume.
Hints will pop up on the screen, follow them. It is desirable to indicate NTFS formatting.
You can provide for a breakdown into logical partitions. Then make several volumes by dividing the free space of the drive. When the procedure is over, check the guide. A new local disk (or several) will appear there. Now you can load data on it and use it in other ways.

If Windows 10 does not see an external hard drive or flash drive, then the reason for this may be a lack of power, incorrect volume markup, connection errors, lack of drivers, and other factors.

Confused? Do not worry, now we will quickly figure out how to check the external media in order to determine the source of the problem and fix it on our own or with the help of the service center specialists if the breakdown is of a hardware nature.

Checking the connection

Before delving into the system settings and taking the drive for repair, check if you have connected the drive correctly. I wouldn't talk about such a platitude if I hadn't somehow inserted the USB cable into the Ethernet connector. It's not that I don't know how they differ: it's just that on a laptop, the ports are nearby, and when you insert cables without looking at the case, you can miss. But understanding this did not prevent me from spending a couple of minutes on agonizing thoughts about why the mouse does not work.

Even if you insert the drive into the correct port, it may not have enough power. This is especially true for external hard drives: some older models have two connectors on the case, for data transfer and power. Do not use hubs - only direct connection to the system unit / laptop.

Disconnect unnecessary hardware from the computer, leaving only the essentials: the keyboard and mouse. Try plugging in the drive again, it may now have enough power.

Also pay attention to the type of port: it can be USB 2.0 and USB 3.0. The 3.0 connector is usually colored blue. Compatibility with USB 2.0 is complete, but if you connect a device that supports transfer over 3.0 to 2.0, you will noticeably reduce the performance.

To make sure that the port is working at all, connect any other device to it. The simplest is a computer mouse. The drivers for it are already installed in the system, so nothing should change from port switching. If the mouse stops working in the other connector, then the problem is definitely in it.

Software errors

If you are prompted to format when you connect the drive, do not rush to agree to this procedure. As a result of formatting, all information will be deleted from the media. If the disk is empty or does not contain anything important, agree to formatting and erasing the contents.

The formatting request may appear due to a mismatch between the file systems of the drive and the system. To retrieve the data, you will have to use or contact a service center.

Another reason that the external drive is not detected may be the lack of necessary drivers. They are usually installed automatically the first time you connect. But sometimes this does not happen, or the user himself removes the necessary software. To check the status of the drivers:

If the drivers are supplied in the kit, or you downloaded them from the official website of the manufacturer, specify the storage location so that the system can install the necessary software.

Sometimes clicking on the "Update hardware configuration" button is enough. The system checks all devices again and suddenly detects the drive that you connected a long time ago. This solution saved me several times, try it.

Volume layout

One of the most common problems is an incorrect volume label that is assigned to a disk when connected. Formally, the computer detects the drive, but it is not displayed in Explorer. To fix this failure:

The Disk Management window will appear. Look at the connected drives. If one of them has the status "No data" and "Not initialized", then this is your client who does not want to be shown in Explorer. To make a disk visible on the system:

After clicking the "OK" button, you will see the unallocated space. To convert it to usable storage space, right-click and select Create Simple Volume. Further, it remains only to assign an unallocated letter and perform other actions that the wizard for creating simple volumes will advise. We have already talked about this operation in detail, analyzing,

Important: When partitioning a volume, all information will be deleted from the disk. If there is anything important on the media, perform a data recovery before starting the above steps to initialize the media.

Hard drive damage

If none of the above methods helped to solve the problem with identifying the external drive or flash drive, then a hardware error may be the cause of the failure. To make sure that the drive is working, try connecting it to other computers. If the external media is not detected anywhere, contact the service center. Particular attention should be paid to the presence of chips, cracks and dents on the body.

With flash drives, you can not stand on ceremony. If there is no important information on them, throw it away, it's easier to buy a new one. An external drive is expensive, so you have to be puzzled about repairing it. It is important to understand that even from a damaged drive, the service can take an image with information, so the likelihood that the recorded data will be lost is extremely small.

Every user has a problem with data storage over time, and many people solve it by purchasing an additional hard drive. HDDs are inexpensive and great for storing large amounts of information. You can easily install multiple hard drives in your computer case to increase the available space, but you need to not only insert a new solid-state media, but also properly configure it. The computer does not see the hard drive immediately after it is wired to the motherboard, and in the Windows operating system, several steps must be taken to correct this situation.

Why the computer does not see the new hard drive

The Windows 10 operating system does not allow you to install a new hard drive in your computer and start working with it right away. Before you start using a new drive, you need to check if it works and is detected by the system. In total, there are several reasons why the computer does not see the new hard drive:

• The drive is not installed correctly or is not properly connected to the motherboard and power supply;
• The hard drive does not work due to mechanical damage;
• There are problems with the device detection by the operating system.

It's pretty easy to make sure that the Windows 10 operating system sees the hard drive and you can start configuring it. To do this, right-click on the start button in the lower left corner and select the "Device Manager" line. Next, a menu will open in which you need to double-click the left mouse button on the "Disk drives" section.

Find in the list of available disks the new one that was connected to the computer and check its status:

• If it is not displayed, you should check the correct connection of the HDD wires with other components of the computer;
• If there is a red or yellow exclamation mark next to it, then there are problems with media identification, and they should be eliminated (most often in such a situation, you will need to download separate drivers for your hard disk model);
• If there are no extra icons next to the new hard drive, then it is connected normally and no problems have been identified.

When the hard drive is connected normally, and information about it is available in the device manager, you should proceed to configure it.

How to set up a new hard drive in Windows 10

Setting up a new hard drive in Windows 10 is pretty easy. If it is detected correctly, you need to do the following to make the drive available for storing data:

If you plan to regularly use a new hard drive, be sure to do it so that when you work, otherwise the drive will quickly become unusable. If you wish, after the initial settings, you can always return to the Disk Management menu and create a new volume on the hard disk, format it for a different file system or change the drive letter.