WD Elements 2 TB not recognized in Windows 7/10

Solved/Closed
rvipinkumar Posts 3 Registration date Friday August 4, 2017 Status Member Last seen August 4, 2017 - Aug 4, 2017 at 03:57 PM
Ambucias Posts 47310 Registration date Monday February 1, 2010 Status Moderator Last seen February 15, 2023 - Aug 4, 2017 at 06:14 PM
Hello guys,

I am at my wits end, searching and finding a solution to this never ending problem.

I have a WD 2 TB Elements drive, which worked perfectly some 3 weeks ago. I used it as a Backup device for some important files for me.

I plugged it 2 days back to my Windows 10 x64 machine, and do whatever I may, it didn't show up in the 'My PC'. I am getting an error message: "USB device not recognized: The last USB device you connected to this computer malfunctioned". The light in front the unit remains on, and I can feel the whirring of the hard disk when touched.

I have checked if it is appearing in the Disk management MMC, but it didn't show up there either... :(

I have tried many interesting advises from the people who use WD drives, and so far I have done these steps without success:
1.) Changed the USB cable to shorter/longer/thick - No go...
2.) Deleted the Unknown Device in Device Manager and restarted the system - No go.
3.) Changed the hidden Power settings - fastboot and the other one to disable - still no go.
4.) Somewhere it is mentioned to update the AMD chipset of the laptop - No go.
5.) Installed the older WD SES driver and restarted the system - No go.
5.) I have checked the drive in Windows 7 in another laptop of a friend, but it showed up the same message there too. :(

Did I ran out of luck and Is it a faulty drive? The drive was never dropped and was always stored in a safe dry place...

Any help in this regard is much appreciated...

Thanks,
Vipin
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2 responses

Ambucias Posts 47310 Registration date Monday February 1, 2010 Status Moderator Last seen February 15, 2023 11,165
Aug 4, 2017 at 04:33 PM
Click on Start --> In search box, type cmd and press Enter. "Command Prompt" will be opened. Now enter the below commands

set devmgr_show_nonpresent_devices=1
and press Enter

cd \
and press Enter

cd windows\system32
and press Enter

start devmgmt.msc
and press Enter

"Device Manager" window will be opened. Now in the device manager, click on "View" --> Select "Show hidden devices".

Expand all the nodes by clicking on "+" symbol. If you find any greyed or UNKNOWN entries --> Right click on it --> Select "Uninstall".

Restart your PC --> Now try connecting your external drive.
4
rvipinkumar Posts 3 Registration date Friday August 4, 2017 Status Member Last seen August 4, 2017
Aug 4, 2017 at 05:13 PM
Hi Ambucias, I deleted all the greyed out and Unknown entries from the Device Manager as suggested by you. But the drive is still not showing up.

However I got a "Device Setup" message as shown here: https://ibb.co/wwNTYjH

-Vipin
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Ambucias Posts 47310 Registration date Monday February 1, 2010 Status Moderator Last seen February 15, 2023 11,165 > rvipinkumar Posts 3 Registration date Friday August 4, 2017 Status Member Last seen August 4, 2017
Aug 4, 2017 at 06:14 PM
Hi Vipin,

Strange!

I suggest that you contact Western Digital support here:

https://support-en.wd.com

Good luck
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