Users often face a problem regarding a must-have component like a hard drive. For example, it may happen that although the BIOS detects the device, the system fails to recognize it. Therefore, if you wonder why your Windows 11 PC does not read the hard drive, you will be interested in the methods we show below.
What is the way to view your hard drive from Windows 11 computer?
One of the ways to view your hard drive from a Windows 11 computer is to use CMD to manage the device via commands. Also, you can use the ‘Disk Manager’ tool with which we managed to manage the device quickly.
At any time, you may need to hide your hard drive if you feel your device is vulnerable and you need to increase security levels. To perform this task you must open the Windows command console from the browser. Make sure to run the tool in administrator mode.
Once the ‘Command Prompt’ window appears, type diskpart and press the ‘Enter’ key. In this way, the disk management of the Windows operating system is executed. Then type list volume commands and press ‘Enter’ to see all available partitions with their status and respective labels.
To choose one of the volumes, type the commands select volume # and press the ‘Enter’ key. Next, replace the # symbol with the number of the volume or partition you want to hide. Then type Remove Letter ‘Ltr’ and replace ‘Ltr’ with the letter of the volume (uppercase). Finally, press the ‘Enter’ key and check if the disk is already hidden.
What can cause your computer not to read the hard drive correctly?
One of the causes that can cause your computer not to read the hard drive correctly is the use of an incompatible file system. Also, there may be a driver-related problem, a damaged Master Boot Record or MBR, a missing drive letter, and/or a hard drive partition failure.
Other common causes are linked to faulty USB connections for external hard drives, a problem resulting from an operating system update and, in extreme cases, certain physical failures that prevent the device from working properly.
How Do I Fix Windows Not Recognizing My External Hard Drive
You can make the hard drive readable by your PC using the Windows 11 tools either by using the command line or CMD, by using the disk manager and/or by checking the hard drive on another computer or changing the cables. That allows you to connect the hardware.
Using the command line
For your computer to read the hard drive correctly, you can use the Windows command line. But, first, you need to enter the command prompt or CMD using the finder or the start menu to locate the ‘Windows System’ folder.
Secondly, you need to type the command diskpart in the console and press the ‘Enter’ key. Therefore, Windows Disk Management will run. Next, type list volume to display the list of volumes or partitions managed on your PC.
Look at the columns ‘Num Volume’ which refers to the volume number and ‘Ltr’ which contains the letter of each partition written in capital letters. Next, type select volume # and replace the # symbol with the volume number of your choice. Lastly, type Assign Letter ‘Ltr’ replacing ‘Ltr’ with the letter of the volume.
With the disk manager
Similarly, making your PC correctly read the hard drive with disk management is possible. To achieve this, go to the system’s start menu and click on the ‘Windows Administrative Tools’ folder to open the Windows Computer Manager.
Click the arrow next to ‘Storage’ in the side panel and choose ‘Disk Management’. Then, select the drive you want to view by right-clicking on it and click ‘Change drive letter and paths’. Next, press the ‘Add’ button in the new window to assign a letter. Finally, press ‘OK’.
How can you format your hard drive if the computer doesn’t read it?
You can format your hard drive if it is not readable by the computer and you have already applied all the above procedures. To perform this task on one of your partitions, you must enter the ‘Disk Management’ tool again and right-click on the volume of your choice.
Click on ‘Format’ to execute this action; if it is not enabled, you must assign a letter to the volume for the system to consider the data partition valid. It is important to note that after applying the format you will lose all the information that the volume contains. Therefore, you must create a backup beforehand.
If you want to format the main hard drive, you need to boot the computer with the Windows 11 image. This way, you can edit the partitions and reinstall the operating system. It is advisable to create a backup before carrying out this procedure.
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