• Computer Won't Read External Hard Drive Mac
• Computer Won T Read External Hard Drive

Join the external hard drive to the computer from the various other ports of the computer. Rebooting Mac can also fix the issue, as it clears the Mac operating system's memory and gives it a fresh start. These primary troubleshooting steps fix the problem mostly. If the issue persists, follow the next solutions. Hi All, A friend of mine bought an external hard disk drive from a computer shop and it doesn't play on a DVD player and the computer shop where she bought i.

Many users complained that their external hard drives are connected but not showing on computer or File Explorer the Windows 10/8/7. Some reported that the USB or external hard drive is not showing up on My Computer or File Explorer but showing in Disk Management. Others said that external hard drive shows in device manager but not disk management. To fix these external hard drive issues, this troubleshooting post will be helpful for you.

Case 1: External hard drive shows up in disk management but not file explorer

You may experience that your USB or external drive has been connected to the computer, but it is not showing in File Explorer or My Computer, but shows in Disk Management instead. Under this situation, it will be regarded as an unknown disk and shows the capacity to be 2048 GB in the Disk Management. To fix the problem, please try following methods.

Tip: If your external hard drive shows in device manager but not disk management, you can directly move to the case 2.

1. Assign a Drive Letter to the USB/Hard Drive

Sometimes, the drive might not have been assigned a drive letter by Windows so that USB or external hard drive cannot show on File Explorer but in Disk Management. In this case, you can try to assign a drive letter to the USB or external hard drive in Disk Management.

STEP 1. Navigate to 'Control Panel'> 'System and Security'> 'Administrative Tools”.

STEP 2. Choose 'Computer Management”. Provide an administrative passcode, if asked.

STEP 3. In Disk Management, find out the unlabeled hard drive and right-click on it to choose 'Change drive letter and paths...'

STEP 4. Click 'Add'> 'OK' to pick out the available drive letter.

STEP 5. If the drive letter does not show on the drive, check if the drive is offline. If it is, right-click the disk number and select Online. And then, follow the instructions again.

NOTE:

If you can't finish the operation in Disk Management, you are able to run 'cmd' to change or assign the drive letter.

• Open Command Prompt. (CMD) and type 'diskpart'.

• At the DISKPART prompt, enter 'list volume”. ( mark down the number of the simple volume whose drive letter you want to assign)

• At the DISKPART prompt, enter 'select volume n[volume's number]' (Select the volume whose drive letter you want to assign)

• At the DISKPART prompt, enter 'assign letter=N' (N stands for the drive letter you want to assign)

2. Make sure that the hard drive is enabled and online

Make sure the hard drive is enabled

If the drive has been disabled, the disk will be invisible in File Explorer. When the disk is disabled, follow the steps below to Enable it:

STEP 1. Press 'Windows'+ 'R' on the keyboard to activate run box.

STEP 2. Type 'devmgmt.msc' on the run box to open 'Device Manager”.

STEP 3. If a drive is disabled, the disk drive will be marked with a down arrow. Locate the hard drive you want to enable.

STEP 4. Right-click on it and choose 'Properties'> 'View'tab.

STEP 5. Click on 'Enable Device' button > 'OK”.

STEP 6. After that, check if the down arrow is still there.

Make sure that the drive is online

Sometimes, an external hard drive connected but not showing because the drive is offline. To be detected by Windows, you can follow steps below to check the current status of the disk.

• Go to 'Control Panel'> 'System and Security'> 'Administrative Tools'.

• Choose 'Computer Management', and locate your disk in 'Disk Management'.

• Right-click on it and select 'Online'.

Computer Won't Read External Hard Drive Mac

3. Update drivers for USB or external hard drive

When your USB/external drive does not show on file explorer on Windows 10/8/7, you can try to update its driver in Device Manager. As we know, an update is created to fix some glitches for the previous version so as to make USB or external drive showing on My computer again.

STEP 1. Press 'Windows'key + 'R'and enter 'devmgmt.msc' on the run box.

STEP 2. Open 'Device Manager'> Click the 'Scan for hardware changes' icon on the menu.

STEP 3. Right-click on the inaccessible USB/external hard drive and choose 'Update Driver Software....'.

STEP 4. After the update is finished, restart your PC and check if the device is accessible.

4. Recover data from hard drive that is not showing

When external hard drive issue occurs, an external hard drive is not showing files though they still exist. If any important data is in the USB/external hard drive when external hard drive shows up in Disk Management but not File Explorer, you can employ data recovery to retrieve your data before formatting it. Here we highly recommend you FonePaw Data Recovery which is capable of recovering data from USB/ external hard drive, supporting Window 10/8/7. To recover data from hard drive, you just need few simple steps.

Download

STEP 1. Run FonePaw Data Recovery, and then, select the file types you need.

STEP 2. Next, click on 'Scan' button after selecting your USB/external drive.

STEP 3. Select out the files you want to recover.

STEP 4. Finally, click on 'Recover' button to finish data recovery.

STEP 5. After that, you can keep on formatting your inaccessible USB/external hard drive.

Case 2: External hard drive shows up in Device Manager but not Disk Management or File Explorer

Unlike case 1, USB or external hard drive sometimes is invisible in File Explorer or Disk Management, but it can be detected in Device Manager, for example, an external HDD won't show up in explorer, but it shows in Device Manager. To fix the issue, several methods can be listed below.

1. Make sure the USB or external hard drive is available. If it is not showing up in Disk Management or File Explorer, you can try to plug it into other USB port of your computer. What's more, you can connect your external drive to other computers to check if it works.

2. Partition and format the external hard drive.

• Go to 'Computer Management”. > Right-click on black bar of the invisible drive to choose 'New Partition...'> Follow the instruction to finish the Partition.

• Right-click on the drive and select 'Format”.

3. Disable and re-enable the USB controller.

• Navigate to 'Device Manager”. > Find 'Unknown USB Device' and right-click on it. > Choose 'Uninstall”.

• After restarting your PC, enable the USB controller again.

Now, your issue - external hard drive not showing Windows 10/8/7 has been resolved. To manage the data on USB/external hard drive, read here:

Summary :

How to get data off an old hard drive? This is a common topic. In this post, we will show you 3 common situations, as well as the corresponding methods to get files from the old disk. Just try one based on your needs to pull data from hard drive.

When Need to Get Files off an Old Disk

As to this topic - getting data off an old hard drive, there are various situations:

1. You have an old hard drive from the previous computer sitting around and it isn’t put to your old PC.

2. The old hard drive is in your old PC

• The PC can start up properly from the old hard drive; you want to keep the same data and Windows as the old PC on the new one.
• In a dead computer, Windows OS fails to boot from the old disk, then you need to recover data.

Depending on different situations, the ways to retrieve data from hard drive are also different. Here, we will show you details on how to get data off an old hard drive in these cases.

How to Access Files on Old Hard Drive Without Putting It to PC

Sometimes your old computer is broken; only the hard drive is in a healthy status. In this case, you may remove the disk from the damaged computer, let it sit around and then buy a new Windows 10 PC where a new disk is included.

Since much important information is saved on old disk, you may want to access the disk data. So, how to access files on the hard drive in Windows 10 becomes a common topic. The easiest way is to connect the old disk to your PC rather than putting it inside the PC.

Move 1: Connect Old Hard Drive to PC

The simplest option is to use a special USB cable adapter to connect the disk to your computer. If you only occasionally need to use an old drive or just need to do it once, an adapter is available. Just choose a proper one from the internet.

Besides, you can buy an external hard drive enclosure and install your old hard drive in it if you are planning to access the old disk data regularly. Some instructions on how to install the hard drive to the enclosure are shipped.

Move 2: Access the Disk Data

The disk connected to the PC should be recognized and displayed in Windows Explorer automatically without any software or driver. Now, you can get data off an old hard drive. Just open the partitions on the old disk to use the old files and folders.

Then, you can take some measures to get files from the old disk, for example, pull data from hard drive to your new PC. Of course, you can plug the old disk to your new computer every time for accessing files when you have a need instead of data transfer or copy & paste.

In this case, how to get data off an old hard drive? Press Continue and Windows will assign permissions to your currently signed-in account.

How to Get Data off an Old Hard Drive to New PC’s Disk

Sometimes, your old computer can run from the old hard drive but it runs very slowly. Then, you may decide to purchase a new PC. You are used to using the Windows settings, applications, personal data, etc on the old computer and also want to keep the old disk on the old computer.

How to transfer files from PC to PC after you purchase a new computer? This post will show you 5 effective ways for a computer to computer transfer.

So, what if you want to get data off an old hard drive so that the new PC uses the same OS, setting, data as the old PC? The simple method is to clone disk. As for this work, third-party software is recommended. So, which one should be used? MiniTool ShadowMaker can be a good option.

At first glance, you may think it is only free backup software to back up Windows OS, file & folder, partition, and disk. Actually, it can be used as a hard drive cloning software that is compatible with Windows 10/8/7, etc.

With its Clone Disk feature, you can easily clone the old hard drive to the disk on your new computer. By this way, everything including Windows OS, settings, apps, personal data, etc. will be moved to your new disk. Now, hit the download button to get MiniTool ShadowMaker Trial Edition (30 days free use).

Here are the steps on how to get info off a hard drive.

Step 1: Run MiniTool ShadowMaker for Local Disk Cloning

1. Double-click on the installed software.
2. After running MiniTool ShadowMaker, click Keep Trial to continue.
3. To manage a local computer, click the left Connectbutton.

Step 2: Select a Feature for Disk Clone

1. Hit the Tools feature in the toolbar.
2. Find Clone Disk and click it to continue.

Step 3: Specify Both Source Disk and Target Disk

1. To get data off an old hard drive to a new disk, you should choose the old disk from the Source section and the new PC’s disk from the Destination section.
2. Click OK and a warning pops up to tell you all target disk will be destroyed.
3. Click Yes if no important files are saved or you have created a backup.

Step 4: Perform a Cloning Process

1. If the old hard drive has much data, the cloning process will take a few minutes.
2. You can take advantages of the option Shut down the computer when the operation is completed.

Related article: How Can You Do Windows Backup Restore to Different Computer?

How to Get Files off a Hard Drive That Won’t Boot

In addition to the above situations, there is another case: Windows cannot boot from the old hard drive. So, how to get files off old computer that is unbootable? Take it easy now; the method is very simple provided that you use a piece of third-party software.

PC is not booting but you want to back up files without booting to save them? This post will show you how to back up data from a computer that won’t boot.

Method 1: Use MiniTool ShadowMaker Bootable Edition to Back up Data

To retrieve data from hard drive on a dead computer, you can also use MiniTool ShadowMaker. As mentioned above, this software allows you to back up files.

Since the computer cannot start up, you need to prepare a bootable medium.

1. Similarly, get MiniTool ShadowMaker and enter its Tools
2. Click Media Builder to create a bootable USB drive/external hard drive or DVD/CD disc.
3. Boot the dead computer from the created medium. Now, you can start to get files off an old computer.

Step 1: Run MiniTool ShadowMaker in WinPE

1. After booting the dead computer, enter the MiniTool PE Loader interface.
2. Launch this backup software to the Backup page.

Step 2: Choose Backup Source

You may ask “how to find pictures on old hard drive”. Follow the following guide. Of course, searching for any other files is also available.

1. Go to Source > Folders and Files.
2. Open your computer drive to check needed files like pictures.
3. Click OK to go back to the main interface.

Step 3: Choose Backup Destination

1. We recommend you to get data off an old hard drive to an external hard drive or USB flash drive.
2. Click OK to continue.

Step 4: Run a Backup

1. Click Back up Now.
2. MiniTool ShadowMaker will go to the Manage page to execute the backup operation.

Are you still looking for the answer to “how to get data off an old hard drive that won’t boot”? Use MiniTool ShadowMaker at once since it can easily help you to retrieve data from hard drive and save to a safe location.

Method 2: Recover Data from Old Hard Drive in a Dead Computer

Additionally, the data recovery software – MiniTool Power Data Recovery is designed to retrieve data from an external hard drive, USB drive, SD card, SSD, HDD, etc. in various situations. Thus, it can be used to easily get files off an old hard drive that won’t boot; existing and lost or deleted files will be recovered.

Also, you need to use a bootable disc or drive to boot the dead computer. To create the bootable medium, you need to use Deluxe or an advanced edition. Just get a proper edition from the MiniTool Store and then get files off old computer.

How to get data off an old hard drive that won’t boot? Follow the guide:

Step 1: After entering the MiniTool WinPE page, run MiniTool Power Data Recovery.

Computer Won T Read External Hard Drive

Step 2: In its This PC interface, choose the target drive and click Scan.

Step 3: Depending on a large amount of the data, the scan might take a while. Ensure the scan process isn’t stopped for the best scan result.

Step 4: Then, you can check all the items that you need and click the Save button to recover data from old hard drive to a safe place.

If you need to recover files from broken computer, you shouldn’t miss this powerful program for computer data recovery.

Bottom Line

How to get data off an old hard drive? This post shows you three cases, as well as the corresponding methods. Just choose one based on your actual needs.

On the other hand, don’t hesitate to let us know if you have any question regarding MiniTool software or any suggestion of pulling data from hard drive. Leaving a comment below and sending an email to [email protected] are both OK.

How to Get Data off an Old Hard Drive FAQ

Three options are offered to you:

1. Use a USB hard drive enclosure: slide the old drive into it and connect it to your new computer.
2. Use a USB hard drive adapter to connect the old disk to your new computer.
3. Connect the old disk as a secondary internal drive if the new computer is a desktop.

1. Run MiniTool Power Data Recovery Bootable Edition on your PC.
2. Under the This PC section, choose a drive where you want to recover your data to scan.
3. Wait for the scan.
4. Choose the needed files to recover to a safe location.
5. For more information on the recovery, refer to this article - How to Recover Data from a Dead Laptop Hard Drive.