WesternDigital My Passport lights up, but not detected on PC

Solved/Closed

diana_sanjose Posts 1 Registration date Monday December 22, 2014 Status Member Last seen December 22, 2014 - Updated on Jan 29, 2019 at 09:08 AM
R2D2_WD Posts 3606 Registration date Monday September 1, 2014 Status Member Last seen February 20, 2017 - Jul 18, 2016 at 03:22 AM

Hi
My Western Digital My Passport is not being detected. It's not showing up in Device Manager. However,

a) Lights appear on the drive.
b) I can hear the hard drive spinning

Can you help?

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3 replies

Answer 1 / 3

Ambucias Posts 47357 Registration date Monday February 1, 2010 Status Moderator Last seen February 15, 2023 11,200
Dec 23, 2014 at 04:30 PM

After plugging in the device, go to device manager (In run type "devmgmt.msc") In Device manager go to "Universal serial bus controllers" It should list the storage devices that you have connected to your PC. Right click and then click "Uninstall. Remove the USB drive and restart your system.
Try connecting the device again.

Answer 2 / 3

R2D2_WD Posts 3606 Registration date Monday September 1, 2014 Status Member Last seen February 20, 2017 154
Dec 23, 2014 at 02:36 AM

Hi Diana,

It is a good sign that the drive is shown in Device Manager, but is it in Disk Management and if it is, what is the current file format? Does the drive have a drive letter assigned? If it doesn't, assign one, using right click on the drive. You may need to initialize the drive, which will erase it. Do you have any valuable information in it?
When in Device Manager, uninstall the drive, reboot PC and let OS reinstall drivers. Any changes? Try using the device with another USB cable and on another PC.

Hope this helps

diana_sanjose
Dec 23, 2014 at 04:30 PM

Thank you, R2D2.
I used another USB cable and it worked!! :)
thank you thank you!!

Answer 3 / 3

Blocked Profile
Dec 22, 2014 at 12:21 PM

Has it ever worked? Does it work on another machine and not that one?

Let us know!

diana_sanjose
Dec 23, 2014 at 04:28 PM

yes it worked in the past on several machines. i have data on it from back to 2010.

macuser
Jul 13, 2016 at 11:57 PM

I'm using mac can you please help me too? I have the same issue as her. but I tried it with other cables and it still doesn't show up. please help thank you

R2D2_WD Posts 3606 Registration date Monday September 1, 2014 Status Member Last seen February 20, 2017 154 > macuser
Jul 14, 2016 at 02:53 AM

Hi Macuser,

I am sorry for any inconveniency cause by your WD drive. I would recommend you to open Disk Management and check if the drive appears with a correct file format and a drive letter. If there is no letter, try to assign one. Test the device on another computer. You may even try it on a Windows PC. It should recognize the drive but will not be able to open your files, because of the file format differences. Do you have important data on the drive?

Hope this helps

Macuser
Jul 18, 2016 at 01:54 AM

It doesn't appear on disk utility now. But a month a ago I changed the file format so it would open on my mac and it opened for about a week and then now it won't recognize it but I can hear it spinning and vibrating and it lights up. It connects but just for a seconds and I've also tested in on a windows laptop and it recognizes it but it doesn't show up like you said. Yes I have school stuffs in there

R2D2_WD Posts 3606 Registration date Monday September 1, 2014 Status Member Last seen February 20, 2017 154 > Macuser
Jul 18, 2016 at 03:22 AM

Could you tell me if the drive appears OK in Disk Management in Windows? Check if the file format is recognized or appears as RAW? Could you check if other external devices are working normally on your Mac PC?
Download some version of Linux Live and boot it on your Windows PC. No installation is required. You only need a flash drive. Once the Linux is booted, connect the drive and check if the files are accessible.

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