External Hard Drive Not Showing Up

[ellman12]

Help! I've plugged in my external hard drive, but it's not showing up in file explorer. Help is greatly appreciated!

 

[ThatVietGuy]

Make/model of the hard drive?

 

[ellman12]

Make/model of the hard drive?

Seagate FreeAgent? I'm not sure but that's what it is called. Also, it has 1000 GB, if that matters right now.

 

[ThatVietGuy]

Is this a new drive or one you've been using awhile?

Is it a portable drive or a bigger one that requires an external power supply?

 

[ellman12]

Is this a new drive or one you've been using awhile?

Is it a portable drive or a bigger one that requires an external power supply?

It's an old one someone gave to me and yes it needs an external power supply. It's pretty big, definitely not portable.

 

[ThatVietGuy]

Does it even turn on when plugged into the external power supply? Because if it doesn't do that then you have a dead drive.

 

[ellman12]

Does it even turn on when plugged into the external power supply? Because if it doesn't do that then you have a dead drive.

Yes it does turn on

 

[ThatVietGuy]

Test with your other USB ports or even on another computer if possible.

The USB connection could be loose/damaged and the drive itself is OK.

 

[ellman12]

Test with your other USB ports or even on another computer if possible.

The USB connection could be loose/damaged and the drive itself is OK.

Well I got the drive working, but only ~931 GB out of 1000 GB is available. How?

 

[ThatVietGuy]

That's normal.

The way Windows calculates space you'll always end up with less than advertised.

https://www.howtogeek.com/123268/windows-hard-drive-wrong-capacity/