Can T Find External Drive

1. External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Windows
2. Can T Find External Drive On My Computer
3. Computer Won't Recognize External Hard Drive

By default, after connecting an external drive to a Mac, it automatically appears somewhere on the desktop, in the left column of the Finder and in the left column of Disk Utility. If nothing happens after connecting the external hard drive to the Mac, this article will help you find possible solutions for displaying the drive correctly.

Check Disk Utility

When problems arise with a disk, regardless of the internal disk or removable disk, Disk Utility is the first place you need to check. If you are new to Disk Utility, it is highly recommended that you learn more about it if you continue to use the Mac. This is a built-in application with which you can mount, unmount, erase, partition, and restore volumes. But before you can perform any of the actions mentioned above, the drive must be listed in the left pane. If you don't even see that the external hard drive is listed in Disk Utility, the computer has not yet detected the drive.

I plugged my external hard drive's USB connector into a USB hub that is 2.0, and is connected t my computer, rather than plugging the external drive's USB cable directly into my computer. Through the hub, it worked! My computer is an EliteDesk 800 G1, but has had the same issue, even before upgrading to Windows 10. Now, check if the external USB drive already has a drive letter assigned to it. If it already has a drive letter, you can find it next to the drive name ex: My Drive (G:). If there is no drive letter, right-click on the external USB drive in the Disk Management utility and select the option 'Change Drive Letter and Paths'. By going through three short stages, you can easily find lost data on a Seagate external hard drive. Under the 'External Devices', you should see the Seagate external hard drive showing up after it's correctly connected to your computer. Select the drive and click the Scan button.

Now you can verify that the USB port and cable to which the hard drive is connected are working. A damaged or dusty USB port or cable may cause macOS to not detect the USB drive.

If the external hard drive is finally detected, but looks gray, it means that it is not mounted and, as a result, will not be displayed on the desktop or in the Finder. You cannot open the drive and access the files on it. Do not worry. Here are the methods you can try to mount on your hard drive.

Use the mount option in Disk Utility

MacOS automatically mounts the inserted drive by default as soon as it detects the drive. Wifi ssd drive. However, if somehow macOS fails to mount the drive, you can also mount the drive yourself.

1. Select the external hard drive in the left list in Disk Utility.
2. Click on the 'Mount' button on the toolbar.

If you are unable to mount the drive manually, try the following method.

Run First Aid in Disk Utility

Mount failures can be caused by corrupted drive mount information so that macOS cannot recognize the drive. First Aid in Disk Utility - a handy utility that is used to fix minor errors on the disk. Many complain that it does little, but we think it's worth a try.

1. Select the external hard drive in the left list in Disk Utility.
2. Click 'First Aid' on the toolbar.
3. Click 'Run'.

If you see a message that First Aid could not restore the disk, you have one last chance to fix the problem.

Format external hard drive

Formatting a disk will delete all stored information and assign a new file system to the disk, which can fix almost all disk errors that make the disk not working properly. However, this is the least requested method if people (possibly including you) do not have the latest copy of their sensitive and important files.

Here is an iBoysoft data recovery tool Xbox social sign in. for saving files from a not working external hard drive on a Mac.

iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac (compatible with newest macOS 10.15) is one of the leading data recovery tools on the market. The tool is very effective in recovering images, documents, videos, music, email files and other files. You can recover data from external hard drives, Mac Macintosh HD, Pen drives, SD cards, and other media. Even if the storage device is corrupted, unreadable, not mounted, or completely formatted, the tool can also help to extract information from the disk.

The English-version interface contains only a few simple English words, and most people will not have problems using it.

The following are simplified instructions for using software to recover files from an external hard drive:

1. Launch iBoysoft Data Recovery for Mac (or other data recovery software that you trust).
2. Select an external hard drive in the drive list.
3. Check 'Deep scan' and press the 'Scan' button.
4. Filter found files and view recoverable files.
5. Select the files you need and click the 'Recover' button.

Once you have returned all your important files, you will not have to worry about formatting the external hard drive.

1. Select an external hard drive in Disk Utility.
2. Click 'Erase' on the toolbar.
3. Define the name, format, and layout of the external hard drive.
4. Click on the 'Erase' button.

After formatting is complete, disconnect and reconnect the external hard drive. By now, the disk should be able to work.

If you have the same problem with an SD card, pen, or other storage devices, the solutions in this post may also help.

Summary :

Generally, you can see the CD drive immediately in File Explorer after you have inserted it into your computer. There may be a short delay due to network reasons; but more often than not, something is wrong with your system or the drive. This post focuses on how to fix the problem when Windows 10 won't recognize CD drive and how to recover data from it.

Compact discs like CD drives and DVD drives may be out of date. However, there are many users who still depend on CDs and DVDs. For instance:

• Some people like to collect their favorite music on the CD drive.
• A CD drive or DVD drive is still necessary when installing a system or program on your PC.

Recently, I noticed that many people published posts saying Windows 10 won't recognize CD drive in different forums to seek help. Some of them say the CD drive not showing up in File Explorer while others say the CD drive disappears from Disk Management.

In the following content, I will show you the possible reasons for causing the problem and the solutions to fix it. High sierra on windows. In the meantime, I will walk you through the steps to get back lost files from a CD drive easily with the help of a recovery tool provided by MiniTool Solution.

What Happens When Windows 10 Won't Recognize CD Drive

The case of computer doesn't recognize CD drive on Windows 10 can be divided into two situations roughly: Windows 10 doesn't recognize CD drive in Windows Explorer, CD drive is not reading in Disk Management. In the former case, you should consider CD drive data recovery first; in the latter case, you need to try to fix the problem immediately.

Signals of CD Drive Not Working

One: Windows 10 won't recognize my CD drive in File Explorer.

You find your CD drive is not visible, found, or recognized in the Windows Explorer after you have connected it to PC.

Two: CD drive not showing up in Device Manager Windows 10.

If you open the Device Manager/Disk Management to check and can not find the CD drive connected to PC, you should consider there are problems with the driver. It may be out of date. In this case, you should update the drivers to the latest version and see whether your CD drive can be recognized.

Three: Windows 10 CD drive access denied.

It is possible for you to get an access denied error no matter what type of storage device you are trying to open. Once that happens, you are not able to access the data saved in the problematic drive.

Four: Optical Drives (CD/DVD) icon missing.

Some people even reported that the find the icon of optical drives (CD/DVD drives) is missing in This PC (also known as My Computer). They said the CD drive not detected works just fine on other computers/devices.

Please note:

Some users also complained that their USB flash drive can not be recognized or external hard drive is not detected by the computer suddenly. To know how to solve the problems efficiently, you should click to read the corresponding pages with care.

Why the CD drive is not showing up? There are some common causes for it.

• The driver of CD drive is damaged, outdated or missing.
• The registry is corrupted and needs to be changed.
• The CD drive has some hardware problems.
• Etc.

Need Help: CD Drive Not Showing Up

Computer can not show the CD/DVD ROM.

Hello, my computer can not show me the CD/DVD ROM please help me. It used to show me some time back but this time around the icon has been removed from my computer. How can I view it or restore it back, I am using a Pentium 4 desktop computer and the make is (Compaq).- said coster in CCM Forum

Windows 10 does not detect CD drive.

My computer was running perfectly under windows 10 version 1803. Then it updated itself to 1809 and since that upgrade it does not recognize the CD drive. I rolled back to 1803 but now it still does not detect the CD drive. (It did before the 1809 upgrade) The sata cd drive is fine. It can boot up from CDs with no problems. It is only since windows 10 upgrade that the problem arises. I have trolled the internet for a solution and have already tried the some several times.- posted by Den in Tech Advisor Forum

How to Fix: CD Drive Is Not Recognized in File Explorer

If you find your CD drive is not detected in Windows Explorer, please don't panic. You should firstly open Disk Management to check.

1. Find This PC icon on your desktop.
2. Choose Manage from the context menu.
3. Move to the Storage section under Computer Management (Local).
4. Select Disk Management.
5. Look for your CD drive in the right-hand panel.

If it appears, you should check:

• Whether it has a drive letter or not
• Whether it is set Online

How to assign or change drive letter?

How to Recover Data from CD Drive

you should download MiniTool Power Data Recovery now and use it to recover data from the CD drive. (You can forget about the CD drive data recovery if the files on it are not so important.)

Step one: navigate to the location where the setup program is saved. Double click on the program to start the installation process of MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

Step two: follow the instructions to install the software and choose to launch it in the last step of the process.

Step three: select the last option you can see in the left sidebar; it's called CD/DVD Drive and designed especially for compact disc recovery.

Step four: look at the drives displayed in the right-hand panel and pick out the CD drive on which the problem occurs (if there is more than one drive).

Step five: you have two choices to start a full scan on the CD drive.

• Click on the Scan button in the lower right corner of the software interface.
• Double click on the drive in the Select the device to recover:

Then, wait for the scan.

Step six: as the scan continues, more and more files will be found by the software and listed in the drive scanning software window. At this time, you should browse the found data carefully to determine which are needed and which are not.

Warm prompt: if the software doesn't find the files or folders you want, you should wait for the scan to process. And you should wait until the full scan finishes in order to get the best recovery result.

• Of course, you can click to Pause the scan at any moment as long as you find it displays the exact file you want to recover from the CD drive.
• In addition, you can click on the Stop button in the upper right corner to end the scanning process; then, you should click on the Yes button in the pop-up Cancel confirmation window.

Step seven: add a checkmark into the small square located in front of certain files. Then, you should click on the Save button in the lower right corner of the software interface to bring up a directory selection window.

Step eight: browse the available location and choose a proper one as the storage destination for the recovered data. When this operation is completed, you should click on the OK button at the bottom to start recovering files from CD drive officially.

Step nine: now, you should wait for the recovery to complete automatically. When a prompt window pops up in the software, please click on the OK button and go to a certain path to check the recovered data.

What to do next?

• You can click on the Upgrade Now link to purchase a license for a full edition. After that, click on the Export Scan Result button to save the found files entry manually. Then, use the license to register your software and choose to load the scan result to continue to recover data from CD drive.
• You can also click here to purchase a license and register to a full edition. Then, scan the CD drive again and choose the needed files to recover.

The steps for data recovery on DVD are the same; if you find the DVD drive not working, please follow this guide at once to recover files.

However, people will ask what they should do next if they can't find the CD drive in Disk Management/Device Manager. If that really happens, please read the next part to know how to fix the problem in different ways.

How to Fix: CD Drive Is Disappeared from Device Manager

My CD drive is not working, how to fix it? In this part, I will summarize some useful solutions that have helped other people get their CD drive to work.

Show Hidden CD/DVD Drives

1. Right click on the Start button.
2. Choose Device Manager.
3. Select View from the menu bar.
4. Click Show hidden devices.

Reinstall or Update Driver

1. Open Device Manager.
2. Find DVD/CD-ROM drives and expand it.
3. Right click on each DVD or CD drive listed here.
4. Choose Uninstall.
5. Restart your PC.

Please keep in mind: if this failed, you can try to right click on each entry under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers and choose Uninstall.

In addition, you can also try to roll back CD or DVD drivers.

1. Repeat step 1 to step 3.
2. Choose Properties.
3. Shift to the Driver tab.
4. Click on the Roll Back Driver
5. Wait for it to complete and restart your computer.

What's more, you can try to disable and re-enable the device.

1. Repeat step 1 to step 3.
2. Choose Properties.
3. Shift to the Driver tab.
4. Click on the Disable Device button.
5. Wait for it to complete and repeat these steps to click Enable Device.

Run Hardware and Devices Troubleshooter

External Hard Drive Not Showing Up Windows

1. Open Control Panel by typing and selecting it via Windows Search.
2. View by icons and select Troubleshooting.
3. Click the Hardware and Sound link.
4. Find the Device section.
5. Click Hardware and Devices.
6. Follow the on-screen instructions to complete.

Delete Corrupted Registry Keys

1. Press Start + R.
2. Type regedit in the Run dialog window.
3. Start Registry Editor by clicking on the OK button or pressing Enter on the keyboard.
4. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SYSTEM, CurrentControlSet, Control, and Class one by one.
5. Select {4d36e965-e325-11ce-bfc1-08002be10318}.
6. Look for UpperFilters and LowerFilters in the right panel.
7. Right click on then and choose Delete.
8. Close the Registry Editor and restart your PC.

Please resort to other methods if you can't find UpperFilters or LowerFilters value in the right panel.

You can also try to fix the problem by creating a new Registry Subkey.

1. Repeat step 1 to step 3.
2. Expand HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE, SYSTEM, CurrentControlSet, and Services.
3. Right click on atapi under the Services folder.
4. Choose New from the context menu.
5. Choose Key from its submenu.
6. Name it as Controller0.
7. Right click on the new Controller0 key.
8. Choose New from the context menu and DWORD(32-bit) Value from its submenu.
9. Name it as EnumDevice1.
10. Double click on EnumDevice1 to see its properties.
11. Type 1 into the Value data box.
12. Click OK to save the changes.
13. Close the Registry Editor and restart your PC.

Use Command Prompt

1. Type cmd into the search box of Windows 10 on the taskbar (how to fix when the taskbar is not working).
2. Right click on Command Prompt from the result.
3. Choose Run as administrator.
4. Copy this command and paste it into the Command Prompt window: exe add 'HKLMSystemCurrentControlSetServicesatapiController0' /f /v EnumDevice1 /t REG_DWORD /d 0x00000001.
5. Press Enter on the keyboard and wait a second.
6. Close the CMD tool when you see the message: The operation completed successfully.

The function of this CMD command is to add values to registry. By the way, you can also recover files from your computer by using CMD.

Can T Find External Drive On My Computer

Final Words

It's possible for anyone to run into the CD drive not working issue, but this is not as terrible as many people thought. When you realize Windows 10 won't recognize CD drive, you should follow the steps mentioned above to rescue your data (if they are important) and make the CD drive appear on your PC.

Windows 10 Won't Recognize CD Drive FAQ

1. Reinstall or update the drivers for CD drive.
2. Remove recently installed software and hardware.
3. Change the BIOS settings and update chipset firmware.
4. Modify the Windows Registry key.
5. Show hidden CD drives in Device Manager.
6. Uninstall IDE, ATA/ATAPI controllers.

Computer Won't Recognize External Hard Drive

1. Close all apps and programs that are using the disc. Then, press the eject button if it has. If not, please move on.
2. Open the Windows Explorer by double clicking the Computer icon on desktop.
3. Look for your CD or DVD drive and right click on it.
4. Choose Eject from the context menu and wait a second.