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However, if you have two devices that use the same type of cable, you can swap them over to see if that solves the problem.Alternatively, it could be a software problem. External hard drive cables rarely fail unless they get the same sort of abuse. EHDs that have their own power supplies tend to work more reliably.USB cables can fail after prolonged use, though this is more likely to happen to the Micro USB cables used with mobile phones. This can be a problem if the PCвЂ™s motherboard does not supply enough power to the USB port you are using or if the drive is plugged into a non-powered hub. The port, the connecting cable, the power supply and the external hard drive (EHD) can all suffer from physical and/or electrical faults.Some external hard drives draw their power from the USB port and they may not get enough.

SchofieldвЂ™s Second Law of Computing states that data doesnвЂ™t really exist unless you have at least two copies of it.You can back up your photos to thumb drives, SD cards, optical discs (CD, DVD, Blu-ray), external hard drives, a local network server or an online service. Ideally, you should have at least three copies of your photos stored on different media and at least one should be kept in a different place. Photograph: AlamyYou should never lose data because an external USB hard drive fails. Back up, back up, back upUSB flash drives are useful for creating cheap backups.

Simple debuggingMost USB failures are glitches. If not, check your EHD manufacturerвЂ™s website for a tool that could find and fix your missing drive. You may already have one installed. The leading examples include WDвЂ™s Data Lifeguard Diagnostics and SeagateвЂ™s SeaTools for Windows. See my recent answer to вЂњ WhereвЂ™s the cheapest place to store 500GB of data online?вЂќ Diagnostic softwareThe major hard drive manufacturers have the most experience in debugging hard drive problems and some have free software to help.

Ideally, we want the PC to forget everything and make a fresh start. With luck, either the PC will recognise the external drive or discover it as a new device and install it with a suitable driver.Turning a PC off and on does not work as well as it used to because of Windows 10вЂ™s Fast Startup system. Finally, plug the EHD back into the mains, turn it on (if it has a manual switch) and plug the USB cable back into the PC. Third, plug the connecting cable into the EHD, making sure it is firmly seated. Second, restart your PC and wait for two minutes (because Windows 10 keeps loading things in the background even after it claims to be ready for use). If not, the traditional approach вЂ“ basically, turning your PC off and on again вЂ“ often works.First, unplug the EHD, unplug it from the mains and unplug and straighten the data cable.

Next, click the arrow (>) next to вЂњDisk drivesвЂќ in the Device Manager program to see a list of the drives that your PC knows about. With the EHD plugged in, go to the Start menu and type or paste the words вЂњDevice ManagerвЂќ into the search box, then run the app that comes up. Photograph: Samuel Gibbs/The GuardianIf a reboot doesnвЂ™t make Windows renew its USB drivers, you can do it manually. Uninstall, reconnectDevice Manager is the program you need to manage drivers and see whether thereвЂ™s a problem. You could temporarily disable Fast Startup but IвЂ™d just move on to the next step.

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If Windows hasnвЂ™t found the best driver, it might be worth looking for one. Windows Update delivers new drivers and software patches when they become available.Some вЂ“ usually obscure вЂ“ USB peripherals use special drivers that you can only download from the manufacturerвЂ™s website. Your EHD should then appear in the вЂњThis PCвЂќ section of Windows 10вЂ™s File Explorer.If this doesnвЂ™t work, use the Settings app to run Windows Update, restart your PC and try again. Windows should see the drive and install a driver. When that has finished, unplug the USB cable.Wait a minute, then plug the USB cable back in. It should be obvious from its name, which might be something like вЂњWD Ext HDD 1021 USB DeviceвЂќ or вЂњWD MyBookвЂќ or вЂњSeagate Expansion DeskвЂќ, or whatever.Right-click on your EHD and select вЂњUninstall deviceвЂќ from the pop-up menu.

This improves performance but you must use the вЂњSafely Remove HardwareвЂќ option before unplugging devices. Select вЂњPropertiesвЂќ from the pop-up menu, go to the вЂњPoliciesвЂќ tab and change the default to enable write caching in Windows. This reduces the risk of data corruption when users unplug drives without thinking. The default setting for USB drives allows their quick removal.

Once you have finished, restart your PC. As before, right-click each host controller and select Uninstall. To see them, click the arrow next to вЂњUniversal Serial Bus controllersвЂќ, which will be at or near the bottom of the alphabetical list in Device Manager.

Rescue your dataSometimes taking out the hard drive and putting it into a new enclosure is the only way. But it shouldnвЂ™t be necessary for a simple problem like a USB drive not being recognised. However, non-technical users should never have to do this type of thing unless prompted.For example, you may have done a firmware update last year because most big PC suppliers rolled out fixes for the Spectre and Meltdown vulnerabilities covered in an earlier answer. The latest versions should be available from the PC or motherboard manufacturerвЂ™s website. If a PC has serious problems, you could always reinstall the BIOS firmware and update the motherboardвЂ™s chipset drivers.

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