# External hard drive runs but doesn't show up anywhere.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/external-hard-drive-runs-but-doesnt-show-up-anywhere/824379>\
**Category:** Factual Questions\
**Created:** [November 12, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/external-hard-drive-runs-but-doesnt-show-up-anywhere/824379 "2018-11-12T00:05:12Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Omega\_Glory](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/7c8e57/32.png) [@Omega\_Glory](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omega_Glory)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 12:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/external-hard-drive-runs-but-doesnt-show-up-anywhere/824379/1 "2018-11-12T00:05:12Z")

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The hard drive doesn’t show up in This PC, Device Manager or Disk Management. The light on the hard drive works, and it spins. It’s a 2 TB WD drive. I don’t have a way to check it in another computer. I’ve tried putting it into different USB ports and taking it out of its enclosure. It did accidentally get unplugged a couple of times without being properly stopped a while ago, but it worked after that. Is there anything else I can try at home?

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**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\
**Post date:** [November 12, 2018, 12:53am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/external-hard-drive-runs-but-doesnt-show-up-anywhere/824379/2 "2018-11-12T00:53:21Z")

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[Here](https://www.nirsoft.net/utils/usb_devices_view.html) is a USB device viewer utility for Windows.