[Situation]
My Windows 11 PC stopped recognizing all sorts of external HD. Whenever I plug an external drive into a USB port, I immediately hear the "ding" USB sound it usually makes which means Windows knows something is plugged in. But it always shows up under "Other device" in the device manager, and shows as no driver available (error code 28). I tried to update the driver via Windows itself, but I could not find the driver.
That being said, I have two external drives connected to my PC all the time, these two drives work fine (but I am afraid to unplug those in case they won't be recognized by Windows like the other drives).
[Details & troubleshooting performed]
[Thoughts]
Usually, I'm fairly good at solving PC related issues, but I've never run into something like this in years. At this point, I feel like my only real option is to do a fresh install of the OS (which I REALLY DON'T want to do). That's going to be my absolute last resort. Based on the testing I've done, I doubt it's a hardware issue. I don't have much hope for solving this issue other than reinstall OS.
But I know people in this forum are far more experienced and knowledgeable than I am, so I want to borrow your wisdom before I commit to a total recall
Anything is appreciated!
My Windows 11 PC stopped recognizing all sorts of external HD. Whenever I plug an external drive into a USB port, I immediately hear the "ding" USB sound it usually makes which means Windows knows something is plugged in. But it always shows up under "Other device" in the device manager, and shows as no driver available (error code 28). I tried to update the driver via Windows itself, but I could not find the driver.
That being said, I have two external drives connected to my PC all the time, these two drives work fine (but I am afraid to unplug those in case they won't be recognized by Windows like the other drives).
[Details & troubleshooting performed]
- I've tested with 7 different external drives, 4 of them are WD and 3 are Seagate. All of them work on my other laptop (also windows 11). I've also tested them on 3 different USB ports (1 in the front, and 2 in the back) which all yield the same results. All those drives worked on the same PC before (about few months ago).
- Tested those USB ports with other thing such as PS5 controller or my microphone/webcam with no issue.
- None of the external drives would appear in the disk management when plugged in (nor diskpart/list in CMD).
- They all show up in the device manager under "Other device"(with no driver, error code 28), I tried to update driver (windows 11 fails to find driver for them -- "Windows was unable to install your WD Elements 2620 USD Device--, similar error message for all other external drive tested.), uninstall driver and reboot. Nothing worked.
- Tried to download WD driver from its website, but now it only distribute drivers via Windows update. Updated windows to the latest version, including all optional updates.
- Also tried WD's disk utility software, no disk shows up in that software.
- Updated mobo's firmware to the latest version.
- Even ran memory diagnostic.
- I can see the drive and even all the folders/files on it in BIOS without any issues.
[Thoughts]
Usually, I'm fairly good at solving PC related issues, but I've never run into something like this in years. At this point, I feel like my only real option is to do a fresh install of the OS (which I REALLY DON'T want to do). That's going to be my absolute last resort. Based on the testing I've done, I doubt it's a hardware issue. I don't have much hope for solving this issue other than reinstall OS.
But I know people in this forum are far more experienced and knowledgeable than I am, so I want to borrow your wisdom before I commit to a total recall
Anything is appreciated!
Last edited:
same error code 28..
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