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Western Digital is not recognized

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 yonghao -
Hello,
hiya, my western digital works on my PC, but when I tried it on my ACER notebook it said " Drive :/F is not recognized." HELP plz
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20 replies

Answer 1 / 20

Hey guys,
My laptop stopped recognizing WD Passport with a letter drive in Explorer. The device was listed as working properly in Device Manager. After calling the tech support, they were really helpful in solving my problem with following steps:
  • 1. Explorer - right click on Computer - Manage
  • 2. Disk Management in left window
  • 3. In lower portion of middle window find your external drive (maybe Disk 1). Try disconnecting and reconnecting USB cable to identify if having difficulties.
  • 4. Right click inside a white rectangular block - Change Drive Letter
  • 5. Assign a different letter (ex: P)

Should be visible in the Explorer as new letter drive.

Good luck.
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Thank you Michael, I have so many network drives mapped that my passport took one already mapped
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You r the boss.....worked like a charm.
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Thanks Michael.Saves a lot of time!!!
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Thank you. It works just fine now.
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Thanks a lot
Answer 2 / 20

Go to Western Digital Site and in downloads there is a software for diagnosis. Download it and run tests on your disk. It will give the test result and the problem also. Most probably your disk connecting cable may be damaged. Kindly replace it with another one and check it. You will get solution.
Answer 3 / 20

The instructions in the manual are not clear. The drive is not recognized because it is mapped to the E or F drive. You need to do these steps"
- right click on My Computer and click Manage.
- Click Disk Management
- Select the WD Device and change the drive it is mapped to. Change it to anything else like P or M.
- Then bring up the windows explorer and My Computer. You should be able to see the P or M drive there now and you should be able to drag and drop files.

Note that the above will work only if VCD is enabled. To do enable VCD you will have to bring up the main window that comes up when you initially plug the HD in, go to the right most tab and choose Security. You can set the VCD to enable there.
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thank you very much!!!
Answer 4 / 20

Thanks so much! I had this exact problem, and after trying tweak and the Microsoft fix... I realized my brother had switched cords on me! So I switched it back to the original cord, and guess what, it worked!
Answer 5 / 20

GOOD NEWS ! I found out the problem....

It seems windows 7 doesn't understand its own permission system for ext drives. If u had any kind of permission (Normally turned on from having a password on a user account) then windows 7 can't see in the drive and will only let u reformat it.

Lucky its very easy to fix as long as u have a 2nd computer with xp/vista installed.

First of all check that in control panel - folder options - view tab. at the bottom of the list make sure use simple file sharing is not ticked.

now

Plug the drive in on the 2nd computer, go to my computer, right click properties, go to the security tab, (vista uses will have to click edit) add a new permission... type "everyone" and set to full access... Apply the setting this will take some time depending on data.... now plug the drive in your windows 7 PC and be amazed that the data is all there....

I'm surprised Microsoft have made a mistake like this because there windows xp upgrade requires a ext drive to save your data.

Keep in mind that this will not fix damaged hardware.
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Hi there, in my Control Panel I do not have a 'folder option'. where else might I find it please? I'm using Win 7 and definitely cannot find this option in my control panel - does it have another name? Thanks.
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Thanks for thyis tip. Fixed my problem exactly! Can't believe Microsoft screwed that up so royally!
Answer 6 / 20

For the rest of you follow this link from Microsoft 'A computer that is running Windows XP cannot detect a USB flash drive, an Apple iPod, or an external hard disk drive' (which worked for my PC) or buy a Mac, which worked best for me all round!

https://support.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/troubleshoot-common-usb-problems-5e9a9b49-ad43-702e-083e-6107e95deb88

Geoffrey... play nicely with the other children.
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Worked for me...
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THIS WORKED!!!!! OMG I am sooo much greatful you have saved 467gb of important shit for me thanks so much!!!!!!!!!!!!
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This worked for me. Only one of the values was there, I deleted this one (the upperfilters) and it works fine now.
My problem started after I tried using the HD on my work Mac, (which didn't work), then when I went back to my personal PC it wasn't recognised. Strangely the HD also wasn't recognised on my boyfriend's PC, but after doing the registry fix on my PC only it now works fine on his PC again.
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The link title exactly describes my problem - ie WD HDD cant be found. But the FixIt button within that page is for fixesof problems with DVD/CD - when I could not find a Fix it specifically relating to the Ext HDD USB etc I tried the DVD/CD fix. Nup. Wasnt the problem, so didnt fix it. So where is the Fix It you people have used for the missing Ext HDD coz that link doesnt go there for me!
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I'm betting that your hub was externally powered.

A standard USB port is current limited to 500mA. However a 2.5" drive typically requires around 800mA during startup and 400mA thereafter. Some USB ports are OK with this, while others are not.

You can get around this limitation with a Y-cable that picks up power from two USB ports. Learn what is Y cable here https://cse.google.com/cse?hl=en&client=pub-0064329493650072&cof=FORID:13%3BAH:left%3BS:http://www.google.com/cse/home%3Fcx%3D013207573749533308742:gciqtdjni-0%3BCX:How%2520To%3BL:http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/d/df/Human-help-browser.svg/128px-Human-help-browser.svg.png%3BLH:75%3BLP:1%3BKMBOC:%23336699%3B&adkw=AELymgVvmkRdo1MgWMg8I81guKqsvWcIAnZ1gQyFMTQ884Jm9-j1-5MzV1Wt4Kt9yGItT0J05JiokpQZEreqvx6xVgBjUk0B3iaG2RfWq6Ow5z7O3hJVDLk&q=what+is+usb+y+cable&btnG=Search&cx=013207573749533308742:gciqtdjni-0
Answer 7 / 20

Solved it
formated the computer and reinstaled windows, not working, went into bios and disabled usb 2.0, it works (slower)
Answer 8 / 20

Ok the problem is the formatting. Number one what you need to do is take out what is in your WD transfer it to which computer can recognize it. Once the WD is empty you need to format that. I know how to do it on MAC but with windows I have not tried. With WD they do have a website and it's free when you call them. They will guide you how to format that on the phone. Once you have done the proper format you can use the WD to any computer. ANY. try to check the website to get the number for technical support.

Or you can format that onto a mac computer. here is how you do it. If using mac to format:

Click on Macintosh HD
Click on Application
Choose Utilities
Double click on Disk Utility

Click on your WD e.g 320.07 GB WD etc.
Click on Partition Tab.
Choose Partition 1 on the drop down below
You can rename your WD to anything
Click on Format option and Choose MS-DOS (FAT) not big woman ok.
click option below and Tick Master Booth Record

Then Click Apply:

You will notice on the desktop the WD will change name. That indicates that the format is done and you can use your WD to any computer... hope this help.
Answer 9 / 20

How are you supposed to reformat the drive when your computer doesn't recognize it in the first place?! That's the problem.
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I had same issue..
my computer cant recognized WD External hard disk...
pls help me to solve this problem...
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> Zoom zoom
My western digital exteral hard disc is not recognised and my system is hanging.
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What if there is no drive showing in the > Disk Management > Disk Drives? I have a vantec external hard drive, and that one is working fine, however, when I turn that off and turn on my WD 1TB external HD, there is nothing showing even in the Disk Management?
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Sweet! I got it going. I actually found my drive in > Disk Management > Universal Serial Bus Controllers. And install (recommended), that will search/install onto your laptop/PC. Hope that helps someone else other than myself.

Thanks heaps.
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Sweet diva in the middle bottom pane right click on drive description where it gives you the size and select simple volume and follow the format instruction.
Answer 10 / 20

Hey guys ..

I had the same problem !! ..
And I Simply changed the USB Cable and it has worked ..

Hope it works for u guys
Answer 11 / 20

THAT IS IT!!!

I used the cable that came with my blackberry phone and presto.. it works!!!!

the cord could have gotten changed or misplaced, ect.. but the answer after hours of trying,, it was the cord. the really strange thing is that the "bad cord" worked on vista and XP. just not windows 7.

I can even replicate the problem again and again, grab the "bad" cord, plug into my vista laptop, it works, plug into windows 7 Nothing, it doesn't even see the drive although the drives power lights come on.

change the cord to the "good" cord, and it works on vista, xp, and 7
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That worked!!! used cable from Blackberry phone and worked just fine. Pretty pathetic that they can't even supply a "good" USB cord. Compare the two cord and you can notice the physical difference between cord thickness and the ends.
What happened to WD they used to make good products!?!?!?!
Answer 12 / 20

Hopefully this can help.

I was using my WD passport my parents computer like normal. Then I connected it to my own new eeepc which started to installing the device etcetc. but it wasnt showing up as normal, it only said "local disc (E:)" for example.

So It wanted me to format and my computer was really slow during the time.. Really annoying. What I did was I went to device manager and I uninstalled it (USB mass harddrive device(?) under the USB tab) like 2-3 times and during these tries I switched USB ports and tested with everyone of them. Suddenly I got both the "format this disc before use" and the screen for "How do you want to open this disc" so. Ofcourse I quickly copied everything on it to my desktop and now Im looking in to it further. Hopefully this was just a case of "bad disconnection" between my parents computer and my own. Always use safe remove before disconnecting.

If this doesn't work. connect the non working external drive and go to device manager where you change its drive letter. "Drive letter and paths" or something, I cant really remember right now. Hope this helps.
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thanks guys, much appreciated the knowledge that you share
Answer 13 / 20

Access Disk Management by right-clicking on My Computer and left-click on Manage. The Computer Management screen will open Computer Management opens, it will have two panes. On the left pane, there will be a list of items. Under Storage, click on Disk Management. This will load a right pane with 2 windows on the right side. You may need to maximize the Computer Management window to see all your drives.
In the lower right pane, you should see a graphical list of all available drives or devices. Find the drive listing that corresponds right click on icon use format option and hope fully the problem must solve.
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this worked GREAT...after spending about 2 hours trying to update an older motherboard so the WD hard drive could be read (NOT a success), this worked perfectly. At first, no drive letter was assigned, but all you have to do is right click the drive and assign a letter, works great!!! thanks!
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You saved me a headache. Thank you very much.
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When I right-click the only options that appear are help which is useless and delete partition. Changing the drive letter is NOT accessible.
Answer 14 / 20

For me after I install my WD 1TB SATA HDD,
my system detected it on 1st run and installed it correspond software,
but in 'my computer' I can't find any new drive within it,
when I check 'system device' in hardare list I can find new HDD installed and working find.
What I do is initialize the new HDD in Disk Management,
after a few simple step walla!!! new drive assigned!
check link below for better instruction.


https://support-en.wd.com/#xp
Answer 15 / 20

MyBook was not recognized. Then replaced the usb cable (to a blue one from somewhere else). MyBook got recognized. Maybe because MyBook is too strict about voltage drop across the cable, and it needs a shorter or better usb cable.
Answer 16 / 20

The same solution applies to PS3 and XBOX.

1/ In Computer Management format the WD Drive.
2/ Make partitions in the drive, NO LARGER than 32GB
3/ Format the partitions using FAT32, usually NTFS is selected but XBOX and PS3 do NOT recognise NTFS, this is why the drive will not be seen or available
4/ Repeat the process untill you have as many 32GB, or less, partitions that you require.
Answer 17 / 20

I recently re-installed my OS (XP Home) including Service Packs 1, 2 & 3. Before the re-install, all my external storage devices worked perfectly, afterwards, I had nothing but problems. The drives would show up but the files within them wouldn't, then the drives wouldn't show up at all and visa versa. I have spent hours over the past few days scouring the internet seeking a remedy. I have changed things in device manager, disk management, deleted this and that, re-named drives, uninstalled and re-installed drives, downloaded software that was supposed to help and NOTHING worked.

Here is what I did:

I UNINSTALLED SERVICE PACK 3 AND GUESS WHAT?? All my drives now work perfectly as they did before. I was 'warned' that un -installing Service Pack 3 could seriously affect the operation of all my programs etc. WHAT CRAP! Nothing has been affected at all.

Thanks a lot Microsoft for screwing up my system and wasting hours of my time. You can be sure that I won't be installing Service Pack 3 again anytime soon.
Answer 18 / 20

I posted this on another thread and placed it here...hope it helps if nothing lese you tried has worked.

I am a composer who uses Pro Tools 8 to compose my music. I purchased the WD My Book Essential to back up my Pro Tools M-Powered 8 music track files. I had a computer tech who transfered my files from one backup to this 1TB drive using a disk management application. When I rebooted I realize that the 3 different partitions I created on the My Book to store the music was now shown in Windows as a 1TB drive that was no longer formatted. The tech tried to rebuild the lost partitions. He then removed the HDD from the housing and installed it into another computer. Still the drive was shown as not formated. In all his efforts he was on able to secure two of the smaller partitions and able to open those files. The primary partition of 500GB which had most of my composed music library still showed as unformatted. Had I not been a Pro Tools user I most likely would of never stumbled upon recovering these files. Through a music friend of a music friend of a music friend they lead me to a music composer who uses Pro Tools known as the ghostcomposer who had the same problem with his WD My Book and was able to recover 100% of my music files for me. Should any of you have the same problem with lost files this guy can recover them. His site is (ghostcomposer.novotiques.com). Go to his contact page and e-mail his support address. Do not try to reformat your drive or do anything to it as I was initially told as not to loose the files.

Again my drive showed that it was unformat in Windows and in Linux which we tried later after removing the hard drive from its case.

Backup drive details: WesternDigital My Book Essential, USB 2.0, 1TB, Model Number WD8AAF0010HBK-NESIN or WDBAAF0010HBK-NESIN.

Were there is a will, there is a way. Thank also for friends.
Answer 19 / 20

Do following steps:

-Check in bios for USB 'enabled' settings

-Try updating USb 2.0 drivers.

- Try connecting WD harddisk by removing other USB components and restarting ur notebook/ lappy/desktop for a while (eg. USB keyboard, printer, mouse)
Answer 20 / 20

Try a usb hub. Many times, the power source from a usb cable is not ample enough to run the drive.
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