Where to find external hard drive on pc

If you see the error symbol for any entry, that device has a driver problem. Right-click the device with the issue, select Properties , and look at the error message under Device status. This info can help you fix the problem. There are some more general steps you can take if those guides don't work for your issue, though. Driver problems can be tricky to fix. If the problem started recently, try running System Restore to roll back the changes. If that doesn't help, you can right-click on the affected device in the Device Manager and use the Update Driver button to install an updated driver.

However, this rarely finds a new driver for generic devices like flash drives. Instead, you may want to check the manufacturer's website for a specific driver for your external hard drive; see our guide to updating Windows drivers for more help.

The Driver tab that appears in the Properties menu for each device in the Device Manager has a few other options. Roll Back Driver will revert any recent driver updates if applicable , which probably won't have an effect if System Restore didn't work. As a final resort, you can use the Uninstall Device button to remove the device from your system. Upon rebooting, Windows will then reinstall the driver and hopefully configure it correctly when you reconnect the drive.

If your device showed up in Disk Management in 2 earlier, or one of the above troubleshooting steps made Windows detect it, you're ready to initialize the drive so it's usable. Aside from showing you basic information, the Disk Management tool can also fix partition and file system issues with your drive. If your removable drive shows only Unallocated space, you'll need to create a new partition on it.

This allows Windows and other operating systems to use the device. To make a new partition, right-click anywhere on the Unallocated space, select New Simple Volume , and go through the wizard to create a new partition.

Once the drive has a partition on it, you should be able to see it in This PC and use it as normal. If your drive is partitioned meaning it contains something other than just Unallocated space and you still can't see it elsewhere in Windows, ensure it has a drive letter set.

This should happen automatically, but if you've manually removed the drive letter for some reason, the volume may not be accessible in Windows. To change the drive letter, right-click the removable drive's partition and select Change Drive Letter and Paths. In case the device doesn't already have a letter, click Add and choose one. If it does, click Change and try another one. Something later in the alphabet, like G or J , is standard for removable drives and will work fine.

You should see your external drive listed in the Disk Management window, likely below your primary and any secondary disks. To view files within folders, double-click the folder. Try to do this way when it happens on your Windows operating system. To set an external hard disk drive as the default save location in Windows 10, you must follow the steps given below:.

It is the easiest way to fix disk unknown not initialized issue. Taylor embarked on a professional writing career in and frequently writes about technology, science, business, finance, martial arts and the great outdoors. He received a Master of Science degree in wildlife biology from Clemson University and a Bachelor of Arts in biological sciences at College of Charleston. He also holds minors in statistics, physics and visual arts.

Related Articles. For example, you may have done a firmware update last year because most big PC suppliers rolled out fixes for the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities covered in an earlier answer. All hard drives fail, typically after five or more years but sometimes after a few months. This is why we need backups. Sometimes EHDs fail but the drive still works.

USB drives are just cheap hard drives in usually plastic enclosures. You can easily make your own by buying a big hard drive and a separate enclosure. Research your EHD online to find out how big the drive is 2. Plastic enclosures are cheap and mostly good enough. Metal enclosures with built-in fans are better for cooling a hard drive that is in constant use and making it last longer.

Have you got a question? Email it to Ask. Jack theguardian. How to make Windows 10 recognise an external hard drive.