Discover External Hard Drive

  • Power On the Drive, if Necessary: Some external hard drives have their own power switches or separate power cables. If you’re using a larger drive, ensure it doesn’t have its own power switch or power cable you need to connect.
  • Yes, in many cases, you can recover data even from an external hard drive that isn’t detected. Simply open the Start menu, type 'disk management', and hit Enter. There, right-click on your external hard drive. Select 'Change Drive Letter and Paths'.
  1. Can't Find External Drive
  2. Find External Hard Drive Command Prompt

Don’t worry if the second hard drive doesn’t show up or appear in Windows 10 File Explorer, Disk Management or even BIOS. Reliable solutions with EaseUS hard drive data recovery software will help you resolve the Windows 10 doesn’t recognize or detect the second hard drive error without losing any data.

5 Best Tools to Recover Files from External Hard Drives. External hard drive data recovery is easy when you know what the best data recovery tools are. Based on our experience, user reviews, and features, we’ve selected top 5 best tools for recovering external hard drives. External hard drives are a great way to keep your data safe but they are in no way invincible. They are susceptible to data loss for one reason or another. You can easily accidentally delete data on the drive, accidentally format the drive or even lose the data on it due to external or internal damage of the drive. Method 1: Initialize WD hard drive in Disk Management. This way applied to the situation that your.

Quick Fix for Second Hard Drive Not Detected In Windows 10:

  1. 1. Go to Search, type device manager and press Enter.
  2. 2. Expand Disk drives, find the second disk drive, right-click on it and go to Update driver software.
  3. 3. If there are any updates, follow further instructions and your hard disk driver will be updated.
  4. 4. You can also go to Settings > Update and check if overall updates offer something for your hard drive.

If you have the problem that Windows 10 doesn't recognize or not detecting the second hard drive, here are four practical methods for you:

Workable SolutionsStep-by-step Troubleshooting
Phrase 1. Check the hard drive in BIOSRestart PC and press F2 to enter BIOS. Enter Boot Menu to check if the second hard drive is detected...Full steps
Phrase 2. Check the hard drive's stateEnter the Device Manager, expand 'Disk drivers'. Locate and check the second hard drive. Right-click...Full steps
Phrase 3. Scan and restore saved dataIf you've saved important data in the second hard drive, you need to extract saved data in advance...Full steps
Phrase 4. Check the hard drive in DMCheck the second hard drive in Disk Management on your computer and make it detectable. Different state...Full steps

Note that those fixes also work to fix hard drive not recognized issue in Windows 8.1/8/7, and even older Windows OS.

Windows 10 Doesn't Recognize/Detect the Second Hard Drive

'Hi guys, does anyone of you know how to make the second hard drive to show up in Windows? I added a second hard drive to my computer about a month ago, and my computer became much faster. Everything went so well until this morning.

I started my computer, but the second hard drive didn't show up in the File Explorer. Then I checked the Disk Management. Still, nothing was there. I saved a lot of important data on the second hard drive. So how can I make the second hard drive to show up in Windows 10? If you happen to have a solution, please let me know.'

What will you do when the hard drive or the second hard drive fails to show up on your Windows PC? Relax! To resolve this issue, you'll need to diagnose the exact reason that causes your second hard drive undetectable.

Follow this page, you'll find reliable methods and tools to effectively fix hard drive or second hard drive that's not showing up in Windows error on your own.

Diagnose and Fix Unrecognized Second Hard Drive in Windows 10

To troubleshoot this issue, you can go through the tutorial guide in this part to diagnose the causes of undetectable second hard drive and follow solutions here to make it show up again.

Quick Fix: Reconnect and Re-install the 2nd Hard Drive

When Windows 10 doesn't detect your hard drive or fails to recognize the second hard drive, check the hard drive power cable and SATA cable first.

Step 1: Remove your computer or laptop case with a screwdriver, then take out the hard drive.

Step 2: Check if the hard drive connection is loosened.

If yes, unplug and re-plug the hard drive from the computer case. If the cables are damaged, change the SATA/ATA cable and the power wire, reconnect the drive to PC.

Step 3: Put the computer case back on and restart PC, check if your hard drive shows up.

If Windows detects the second drive, you can stop here. You may also interested in How to Partition a Hard Drive.

But if the disk still not shows up in Windows File Explorer nor Disk Management, continue with the following phrases.

Phase 1. Check and Make Second Hard Drive Detectable in BIOS

Applies to: Fix Windows not recognizing hard drive in BIOS error.

Step 1: Restart PC and press F2 to enter BIOS.

Step 2: Enter Boot Menu to check if the second hard drive is detected.

Step 3: Try below tips if the second hard drive doesn't show up:

First, enter the Setup section, under System Setup, check the state of the second hard drive.

Next, if the System Setup option is Off, turn it ON. Save the changes.

Remember to restart the PC each time to check if the second disk shows in BIOS. If the hard drive still doesn't show up, it's probably having a physical issue. The best way is to take to a local after-sales service center of the hard drive manufacturer or a device repair center to ask for device repair assistance.

If the second hard drive shows up in BIOS as the following image, move on to the next guide check the state of the problematic hard drive in Disk Management.

Phase 2. Check the State of Second Hard Drive and Update Driver in Device Manager

Works to: Fix Windows 10 doesn't recognize second hard drive issue due to outdated drive driver.

Step 1: Go to Search, type device manager and press Enter.

Step 2: Click Device Manager and expand 'Disk drives'.

Step 3: Locate and check the state of the second hard drive.

If it's covered by a yellow exclamation mark as shown below, update the disk driver.

Step 3: Right-click the second hard drive that is not detectable and select 'Update driver'.

Step 4: Click 'Automatically search for driver software online' and wait for the process to complete.

When the process finishes, restart your PC and check the disk again in the Device Manager. It will display as a normal disk by then and now you can move to Phase 3 continue fixing this issue.

If Windows doesn't find a new driver of your hard drive, you can try to find one on the device manufacturer's website and let them help you complete the driver update process.

Phase 3. Scan and Restore Saved Data from the Second Hard Drive

Mainly for: Data protection on a problematic hard drive that is not correctly recognized by Windows.

If your second hard drive is a new device, you can skip this phase and move to Phase 4 to make it detectable again.

However, if you saved important data in the second hard drive, you're highly recommended to extract saved data in advance. Professional hard drive recovery software like EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard will fully scan the second hard drive and find all saved data for you.

You can follow the guidelines below to restore all saved data from hard drive with ease now:

Step 1. Launch EaseUS hard drive recovery software.

Run EaseUS Data Recovery Wizard on your PC and select the drive on your hard disk where you lost or deleted files. Click 'Scan' and let this program scan all lost data and files on the selected hard drive.

Step 2. Check and preview all lost hard drive data.

Find lost hard drive data from 'Deleted Files', 'Lost Files' or use 'Filter' to quickly navigate the lost data. Check and double-click to preview these found files.

Step 3. Restore lost hard drive data to a safe location.

After the preview, select wanted files that you lost on the drive and click 'Recover' to save them. Browse to choose a safe location on your PC or other external storage devices to store these restored hard drive data.

Remember to save the data to another secure device, an external hard drive is preferable. Now, you can move to the last phrase and get rid of this issue from your device, making the hard drive detectable and working again.

Phase 4. Check the State of Second Hard Drive in Disk Management and Make It Detectable

Applies to: Fix Windows 10 not detecting second hard drive due to logical errors, such as RAW, unallocated, no media, etc.

If your disk shows up properly in BIOS and Device Manager, but Windows cannot detect or recognize it properly, it's highly possible with the following four errors:

  • RAW error
  • Device not initialized or shows unallocated
  • The second hard drive shows No Media

Open the Windows Disk Management and check the display state of the second hard drive. Then you can follow the right fix below to make the second hard drive show up.

# 1. Hard Drive Shows RAW - Format RAW Drive to NTFS

If the hard drive shows as Online, but the partition display as RAW, you can format the partition to NTFS.

Step 1: Right-click on This PC/My Computer, select 'Manage'.

Step 2: Click 'Disk Management', locate and right-click the RAW partition of the not recognizing hard drive, then choose 'Format'.

Step 3: Select NTFS as the file system for the partition and click 'OK' to confirm.

# 2. Hard Drive Shows Not Initialized + Unallocated

If the hard drive shows as a not initialized or unknown drive, don't worry.

You can directly apply Windows partition manager software - EaseUS Partition Master with its Initialize to MBR or Initialize to GPT feature to make the hard drive show up now:

Step 1: Launch EaseUS Partition Master on your PC.

Step 2: Right-click the target hard drive and select 'Initialize to MBR' or 'Initialize to GPT' accordingly.

Fig 1. Initialize to MBR:

Fig 2. Initialize to GPT:

Step 3: Apply the operation

A pending operation of initializing disk to MBR or GPT disk will be added. Execute the operation and click 'Apply'.

Step 4: Right-click on the unallocated space on your hard drive and select 'Create'.

Step 5: Adjust the new partition size, file system, label, etc.

Set the size, partition label, drive letter, file system to NTFS, etc. for the new partition and click 'OK' to continue.

Step 6: Click on the 'Execute Operation' button and confirm to create a new partition by clicking 'Apply'.

Repeat the partition creation process (from Step 4 to Step 6) if you plan to create more than one partition on the second hard drive.

After following the whole process, now you can make use of the second hard drive in Windows 10 to save data again.

# 3. Hard Drive Displays as NO Media - Update Driver, Take It to Device Repair Center

If the second hard drive shows as 'No Media' in Disk Management, you'll have two choices:

  • 1st. Go back to Phrase 2 and update the device driver.
  • 2nd. Take the hard drive out of your computer, and send it to a local device repair center for repair.

Wrapping UP

On this page, we presented the complete process of how to check and fix a not detecting hard drive on Windows 10. These methods can be applied to fix Windows not detecting or not recognizing hard drive or second hard drive on all Windows OS.

Some of you may want to learn how to avoid this error, making the hard drive or the second hard drive detectable. Here are some tips for you to follow:

  1. 1. Make sure the hard drive is correctly connected to PC via its power cable and SATA cable.
  2. 2. Make sure the second hard drive is Enabled or turned on in BIOS.
  3. 3. Regularly update the hard drive driver, especially when you install a new hard drive on Windows PC.
  4. 4. Partition or create partitions on the hard drive with a recognizable or supported file system - NTFS.
Table of Contents

Microsoft Windows 10 comes with lots new features such as Microsoft Edge that replace Internet Explorer. According to the Microsoft, more than billion computer users switch to latest Windows 10 to enjoy new features and services.

But there are many Windows 10 users how don’t know how to deal with new features. Just like this, it was hard to access the external hard drive in Windows 10.

You can easily fix these types of errors on your own by calling a computer technical team or any computer expert.

Access External Hard Drive In Windows 10

There are two ways to access the external hard drive that is given below

  • Update the driver
  • Rollback the driver

You can easily access to the external hard drive or USB drive with these two methods. Read the step by step guides to know more.

How to Update the Driver In Windows 10

Step 1 :

Find Cortana for ‘Device Manager’ and open it

Step 2 :

Now expand ‘Disk Drives‘, and right-click on your driver

Step 3:

Now update the driver

Find external hard drive on acer chromebook 15

Now select the ‘Search automatically for driver software’ option and wait for some time, if it says in your computer new driver was installed successfully. or if not then try the second method

How to Roll Back to The Driver in Windows

Step 1 :

Open “Device Manager” same as above

Step 2 :

Can't Find External Drive

Now find your drive, and now go the Driver tab

Step 3 :

Select Roll Back the Driver

Step 4 :

Wait for some time to complete the process

I hope these two methods will help you to grant access to the external hard drive on your computer running on Windows 10.

Find External Hard Drive Command Prompt

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