ADATA HD710 external HD recognized but not showing up on windows 10

[idado3250]

Hi,
I'll start by saying, this problem only happens on windows 10, I have 3 pcs at home, 2 of which run windows 10 and the other windows 7.
The Hard drive works normally on the windows 7 computer, but on the other 2 computers, it is recognized, but it doesn't show up in the "Computer" panel.
I tried going to disk managment and assign it a letter, but the option is grayed out...
I also tried updating the drivers for it, but apperantly they are up to date.

I have no idea what is the cause of the problem and how to fix it,
Any help will be greatly appriciated!

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there, @idado3250!

It could be an issue with the Windows 10 OS, especially if you have done any recent Windows Updates. I'd suggest you make sure you manually update the drivers (USB Hub Controller drivers) straight from your Windows 10 PCs' manufacturer's website. If they are custom-built, refer to the motherboard manufacturer's official website. There, you should be able to find the latest hardware drivers for your systems.
It's always better use the hardware drivers, instead of those installed by Windows Updates. They tend to be more generic and a bit outdated which could cause such compatibility issues with some external devices. If you are interested, I'd recommend reading this article about Hardware vs Windows drivers.

Have you tried reverting your Win 10 systems to a previous point of time when they could actually detect the external HDD?

P.S. Always make sure you backup your data to multiple locations in order to avoid any potential data loss!

Let me know if you encounter further issues.
SuperSoph_WD

 

[idado3250]

Hey there, @idado3250!

It could be an issue with the Windows 10 OS, especially if you have done any recent Windows Updates. I'd suggest you make sure you manually update the drivers (USB Hub Controller drivers) straight from your Windows 10 PCs' manufacturer's website. If they are custom-built, refer to the motherboard manufacturer's official website. There, you should be able to find the latest hardware drivers for your systems.
It's always better use the hardware drivers, instead of those installed by Windows Updates. They tend to be more generic and a bit outdated which could cause such compatibility issues with some external devices. If you are interested, I'd recommend reading this article about Hardware vs Windows drivers.

Have you tried reverting your Win 10 systems to a previous point of time when they could actually detect the external HDD?

P.S. Always make sure you backup your data to multiple locations in order to avoid any potential data loss!

Let me know if you encounter further issues.
SuperSoph_WD

First of all, thanks for trying to help!

This is the driver download page for my motherboard (My pc is custom built): https://www.asus.com/Motherboards/P8H61M_LX/HelpDesk_Download/
I'll appriciate it if you could tell me what exactly do I need to download\update.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

Hey there again, @idado3250!

For some reason I cannot find the USB hub controller drivers for Windows 10. Do you have your Drivers Pack CD that came with the motherboard? I believe it should contain all the needed drivers for your system to work properly.
If that doesn't work either and you cannot find them, then I'd recommend you Uninstall the USB drivers from Device Manager and then use the Hardware Update Wizard to Reinstall them.

Hope this helps. Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[idado3250]

Hey there again, @idado3250!

For some reason I cannot find the USB hub controller drivers for Windows 10. Do you have your Drivers Pack CD that came with the motherboard? I believe it should contain all the needed drivers for your system to work properly.
If that doesn't work either and you cannot find them, then I'd recommend you Uninstall the USB drivers from Device Manager and then use the Hardware Update Wizard to Reinstall them.

Hope this helps. Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

I'll tell you what, I don't believe the problem is with the usb driver on the motherboard, because every other usb device works perfectly and even external HD from other brands work too.
Could this really be the problem even though other similar devices work? Or is it something else?

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

I see, @idado3250!
So this particular external drive works perfectly in Windows 7 but not in Windows 10, whereas other external drives get properly recognized. This leads me to believe that it could be a Windows 10 compatibility issue. This was quite common with the Windows 10 Anniversary update. Here are the latest Windows 10 updates, check if installing them would fix your issues.

Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[idado3250]

I see, @idado3250!
So this particular external drive works perfectly in Windows 7 but not in Windows 10, whereas other external drives get properly recognized. This leads me to believe that it could be a Windows 10 compatibility issue. This was quite common with the Windows 10 Anniversary update. Here are the latest Windows 10 updates, check if installing them would fix your issues.

Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

That's exactly the case, this drive doesn't work on windows 10 and works perfectly on windows 7, while other drives do work on windows 10 perfectly.
Apperantly I have the latest windows 10 build... Is it possible windows 10 just doesn't support this drive yet?

I've taken a screen capture of the HD in disk managment, sorry for it being in hebrew, that's the language my OS is using...
http://i.imgur.com/0EfMT8J.png
On windows 7, the drive only has 1 partition of 1TB, but on windows 10 for some reason it has 3 unallocated partitions and 1 allocated partition but I can't acceses anything.
When I right click the partitions, I'm able to either delete the allocated partition, or allocate two of the three unallocated ones, the rest is grayed out...

Hope this information gives you a wider understanding of the problem, and thanks again for trying to help!

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

This looks weird, I'd suggest you try to right-click on the allocate volume of the external HDD and then attempt to change the drive letters & paths, if that option is available. You can follow this guide from our knowledge base that explains How to change the drive letter assignment in Windows. Just make sure you select the proper volume. If you go through this procedure on an internal hard drive, it would format and erase all its contents.

Hope it works.
SuperSoph_WD

 

[idado3250]

This looks weird, I'd suggest you try to right-click on the allocate volume of the external HDD and then attempt to change the drive letters & paths, if that option is available. You can follow this guide from our knowledge base that explains How to change the drive letter assignment in Windows. Just make sure you select the proper volume. If you go through this procedure on an internal hard drive, it would format and erase all its contents.

Hope it works.
SuperSoph_WD

As I've said, the option is grayed out...
I just have no idea what causes this thing to happen, on windows 7 there is only one partition...
I'm starting to think windows 10 is just not compatible with my drive...
I guess I can always try installing windows 7\Ubuntu on a virtual machine and access it that way, as a workaround solution.

 

[SuperSoph_WD]

What about changing the drive letter through the Windows 7 computer and then checking how the external HDD would appear on the Windows 10 computers?You could give it a try and see what happens.

Another thing you could do is back up the data on the Windows 7 computer and re-format the HDD through Disk Management on the Windows 10 computer. Afterwards, plug back the external to the Windows 7 PC and check if you will be able to transfer back the files and open them again through Windows 10 OS.

I hope it doesn't sound confusing and I do wish it works.
Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

 

[idado3250]

What about changing the drive letter through the Windows 7 computer and then checking how the external HDD would appear on the Windows 10 computers?You could give it a try and see what happens.

Another thing you could do is back up the data on the Windows 7 computer and re-format the HDD through Disk Management on the Windows 10 computer. Afterwards, plug back the external to the Windows 7 PC and check if you will be able to transfer back the files and open them again through Windows 10 OS.

I hope it doesn't sound confusing and I do wish it works.
Good luck!
SuperSoph_WD

Problem is I don't have an excess 700GB on the windows 7 computer...
I ended up using Ubuntu on a 2GB DOK to transfer my files to the HD.
This solution may not be perfect, but it suits my needs...
I might ask a friend to let me back up my HD on his machine so I could try your suggestion out.
Thanks alot for trying to help!