How to Recover Data When Hard Drive Not Detected

Hard drives, aka HDDs, are highly efficient storage devices to keep your data or to use for backup. These devices are trustworthy to keep your data safe and accessible. However, it doesn’t mean they are error-free. Sometimes it can indicate the hard drive is failing, but it can also be an easy fix issue. One error manifestation is the frustrating “hard drive not detected” message.

Hard drive not detected by the PC can be frustrating and your first thought can automatically go to the fear of data loss. But you can recover data even from a hard drive that is not detected.

The hard drive not detected message can originate when you connect to the hard drive, yet the computer can’t find it. It may show up when you boot up your computer and see a “boot device missing” error message on the system setup. Or it can appear when you connect your external hard drive and a message box pops up to “initialize” or “format” the disk before you can use it. The frustrating part is: it can just stop working as it should from one minute to another.

Top Summary: It can be very frustrating when your connected hard drive doesn’t show up, especially if your drive has sensitive data on it. But there are the most common causes and solutions. Learning them can prevent and also help you recover any data.

Most common causes for not detected hard drive

Even though your hard drive can stop showing up on your computer system with no warning, it doesn’t really mean you lost it. When your device can’t read the hard drive, the best action to take to correct the error is to detect what’s causing it.

Unpowered hard drive

When not connected the right way or malfunctioning, the power cable can prevent the hard drive from showing up on your devices when connected. You can check the cable connection or try a different power cable to verify if this is your case. 

When the hard drive is external, you can try swapping out the USB cable. If the drive draws power from an external AC adapter, try swapping that out.

Not properly connected the data cable (IDE / SATA) to the hard drive

Much like the power cable, a not fully connected data cable can prevent detecting the hard drive. The same goes if the cable is not working because it’s damaged or for other reasons. Here, switching to a new cable should help you continue using the drive. Be aware that it is unlikely that cable problems are the reason for a hard drive not being detected.

Corrupted or damaged hard drive

Your hard drive can show signs of being corrupted, with either a mechanical or firmware failure. 

When movable parts of the hard drive stop working, it’s a mechanical failure. There are several reasons for this, including the high speed they spin. Unusual sounds, heating, and computers not detecting it can indicate this type of damage to the hard drive. 

The firmware is the software responsible for writing, reading, and accessing the data on a hard drive. If it fails, you won’t be able to detect the hard drive.

The operating system is not detecting the hard drive

Many are the reasons for your OS not detecting the hard drive. The problem origins can be on the hard drive itself, can also be a faulty connection, or in BIOS settings. For all, there’s a solution.

If you are facing this issue, don’t worry. In most cases, you can fix it and get your hard drive working again.

Summary: Learning how your hard drive can present a “not detecting” error is the first step to avoiding it. Providing regular backup is the most effective data loss prevention act you can take. The important thing is that for all causes of hard drive not detected, there’s a solution. Some are actions you can do yourself to recover data, others require professional data recovery.

Solutions for hard drive not detected

Since there are several causes for hard drive not detecting on a computer, we need several solutions to fix the error. Our experts created this list with five solutions to help you recover data from a not detected hard drive.

Solution 1: Check BIOS for hard drive detecting

Check if your computer can detect your hard drive in BIOS is the first test you should do when the system is not detecting the hard drive. To do this, restart your computer and press the key that allows you to enter BIOS setup (usually F12, Delete, or Esc). Once you are in BIOS, look for a section called “Integrated Peripherals”. Enable the USB controller, restart the computer again, and see if the hard drive is showing up.

Solution 2: Connect the hard drive to another computer

In case you can’t get your hard drive to show up in BIOS or if it’s not being detected by Windows, you can try connecting the hard drive to another computer. If the other computer can detect the hard drive, it means that the problem is with your computer, not with the hard drive.

Solution 3: Diagnose by the sound that the hard drive is making

If your hard drive isn’t spinning (quiet), you can remove the drive out of the enclosure and try using an external enclosure. Be careful so you won’t damage your device.

If the drive is spinning up and is not making any unusual sounds, like clicking, then it’s likely it is some firmware issue. 

If the light is blinking for the external drive, it could be because of a degraded surface, which means the drive will probably take a lot of time to show up in the system. That often makes the system unusable and you’ll need a recovery service to salvage your data.

Solution 4: Call a data recovery service

Sending your device for a free in-lab evaluation will tell you which is the cause for your device not showing up. Recovery services also have a higher chance of getting your data back to you.

We highly recommend this solution when you have valuable data and cannot risk data loss. Certified experts at SalvageData can scan your device, detect the cause of the damage, and recover your data.

Solution 5: Data Recovery Software

One last resort you have on the “do it yourself” data recovery is to use recovery software. You can install and scan your device to restore your files.

It will work as long as the cause for your hard drive does not show is not mechanical or physical damage.

Summary: Our first recommendation so you can protect your data is to always have a backup. When not possible, you can try to manage the hard drive or PC configurations to access your device, or you can send it to a data recovery service. You can also learn more about the main causes of a corrupted HDD so you can prevent and fix common issues.

If you cannot fix your hard drive using any of these methods, you might need to replace it. Contact SalvageData to help you recover your data from the hard drive. You can look for a data recovery specialist near you.