New Passport not working

WD External Drives WD Portable Drives
1

Hello,

Seems I might have a similar issue as on other topics here. I have a 1TB Passport that I used to backup music, pictures,videos, and other misc file to from my DELL laptop which is now pretty old. It’s an Inspiron N5010. The OS is W7. I barely use it and have been wanting to transfer stuff off of it for some time now. The 1TB passport that I have just about everything from the DELL backed up on stopped working maybe a year or two ago. Just stopped showing up on the folder list.

Since I haven’t been able to use that passport, I went out and bought a new 2TB WD 2 wks ago, and the same thing… this one too doesn’t show up on the DELL. However, when I FIRST OPENED this new passport, I first connected it to my newer Lenovo Thinkpad and saw it on the folder list there. This device is W10. I did this because I was concerned that older OS on the DELL might be an issue (just speculation). After that first connection to the Lenovo, I connected it to my DELL to try to backup stuff and it wasn’t showing up. I chatted with WD support and we tried initializing the drive, nothing worked. So apparently now the new one is fried too. I can probably return it to Best Buy.

I’m wondering if the different OS is the issue here or maybe something entirely different with my DELL (could be anything). But, the DELL it works fine and i have anti-virus on it… doesn’t seem to have any issues.

So, now I don’t know if this is a WD issue or not. Or maybe there’s another brand or just flash drives that i should use? Seems it could be the laptop or the OS. Just want to know the best way to backup the files on the DELL.

2

Hello!
All may not be lost. In these days of saving pennies wherever we can some power supplies are right at minimum output. On aging computers the power supply may be failing.
There is hope!! :blush: All three of my drives failed at the same time… What are the odds. Statistically NOPE. I bought a POWERED USB Hub and suddenly all my drives worked again.
I believe many of our USB powered drives are not receiving enough power to run the drive motors. They show a light and may click but they don’t “Run”. By supplying the power they need, they are generally happy to do the work.
POWERED USB 3.0 Hubs are available from about $16 US and higher in cost. Remember that unless the hub has a separate power supply you are reducing power for worse results. With your hub plugged into BOTH the computer and a SEPARATE power supply, you are likely to be back and operating. I accidentally disconnected my Hub from power and my drives failed again, plugged in the separate power and it was like a miracle. All my drives worked when I gave them enough power.

3

The possible reasons for such issues are:

  1. Faulty SATA cable
  2. When Windows unable to find ATA device
  3. When HDD included in storage space
  4. When SATA driver is not installed or corrupted
  5. When new HDD perceived as foreign disk

Further, I suggest you to check the below link and follow the shared methods to resolve the issue: https://appuals.com/fix-new-hard-drive-not-showing-up-in-disk-management/

Hope it will help.