![]() Usually, external drives just use Windows' built-in USB and hard disk drivers, so this isn't likely to fix a temperamental drive, but it's worth a shot. You can also head to the Driver tab and try updating or uninstalling the driver and rebooting your computer. If you see an entry that looks like your drive with a yellow exclamation mark, right-click on the device and choose Properties-you may find an error code you can look up. Expand the listing for Disk Drives and Universal Serial Bus to see if your external drive appears in either location. Open the Start menu, type "device manager," and open Windows' Device Manager menu. Occasionally, Windows runs into driver issues that will render a device unrecognizable. Update Your Drivers (Credit: PCMag / Microsoft) If the drive works in another port or on a different computer, you may need to do some extra work to fix the USB port. It's possible the drive just isn't formatted for the computer you're trying to use, and you'll need to copy that data onto a drive that's formatted for cross-compatibility.Ī more serious issue is that the port in question could be failing. ![]() So if you can't get the drive to show up on a Windows PC, try plugging it into a Mac, or vice versa. If you're a multi-platform household, I'd especially recommend trying it in a computer that runs another operating system. You might also try it in another computer. It's also possible there's an issue with the USB cord, so take a moment to try the drive again with a spare hookup. If it's plugged into a USB hub, try plugging it directly into the PC instead. If it's plugged into a USB 3.0 port, try a USB 2.0 port. It could just be finicky with your specific drive. If the drive still isn't working, unplug it and try a different USB port. Try Another Cable, Port, or PC (Credit: Cronislaw / Shutterstock) Give the system time to start up and try the drive again. First, unplug the drive, then restart the computer. Giving the system a reset can give the computer a second chance to recognize the drive. If the CPU is under a lot of stress, or some other unknown hiccup occurs, it can prevent the drive from showing up. Have you tried turning it off and on again? It's a cliché at this point, but giving your computer a reset really can help. ![]() With any luck, your drive will appear normally once it gets the juice it needs. If it came with two USB plugs, make sure they're both plugged into your PC. If your drive came with an AC power adapter but you haven't plugged it in, try hooking it up (and pressing the power button, if there is one). While some drives can draw enough power from your computer's USB port, others-especially larger drives not intended to be portable, like the Western Digital My Book-may require wall power to spin up. Just because you plugged the drive into your computer doesn't mean it's necessarily receiving the power it needs. Make Sure It's Plugged In and Powered On Western Digital My Book (Credit: Western Digital) ![]()
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