I have two USB Seagate drives I use to hold my backups. When I plug one of them in (to a USB port on the computer), it/they are not always recognized. I have to plug and unplug the power and communications cords more than once before the drive is recognized. I have tried all my on board ports with the same result. If I use the emergency startup disk (Macrium), I have the same problem. Is there a fix?
Hi Nisko
Have you tried on another computer? Guess where I'm going, is this a Windows issue, a cable issue or an enclosure problem.
Can't remember which thread I saw it in but someone posted a link to "Resetting USB storage drivers". May be search that term withing forum.
This problem occurred with the same frequency when I had Windows 7. It's not a cord issue because I have six cords for two drives - and they all have the same problem. I also had this problem with other Seagate drives. Also, I have tried all four USB ports on my Dell M6800 workstation. I'll try to find "Resetting USB storage drivers".
More then likely the USB controller inside the Seagate Enclosure is starting to fail. You can disassemble the enclosure case and remove the HDD and attach it to a desktop computer internally, or via a USB Adapter, Dock or Enclosure with a power adapter.
Please re-read my post just above yours. I'm sure you mean well - but it's impossible for me to have the same problem on all my drives, past and present, unless Seagate is manufacturing them badly - and I don't believe they would do that intentionally - over years of product.
The wording in your first post didn't tell me that you were having issues with both drives. The "it/they" thing may have been intended to cover that, but it didn't strike me that way.
Sounds like the issue is with the USB ports on the notebook.
If it was a desktop, I'd suggest trying the USB ports that are controlled by the motherboard's chipset. As it's a laptop, there may be no third-party USB controller present. I can't suggest a good way to diagnose USB ports for reliability.
Have a look HERE. A few add-on notes
- Check for BIOS updates
- In place of Method 1, use the drive cleanup tool. See How to cleanup old USB mass storage drivers
- skip method 2 for windows 10
- Re: Method 4 before you attempt make sure your machine can reboot to the Desktop without requiring login (as otherwise would require USB keyboard - which you won't have till drivers are reinstalled preventing login) OR use TeamViewer or Remote Desktop to make sure you can still login without USB
/* EDIT */
Oh. wait. Not sure is still possible to boot to Desktop with Windows 10. a remote connection may be only option if you were to attempt method 4
I had the same problem with my Seagate external hard drives, got tired of unplugging all the cords to get Windows to recognise it so decided to copy the contents of the drive to Windows, use disk part to clean the drive, disk management to set it up as gpt & formatted it. No problem since.
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