Tip & How-To about Western Digital Elements Computers & Internet

How to get a WD Elements Drive recognized by Windows 10

Problem: WD Elements drive inaccessible when plugged into USB 3.0 Port on Windows 10 computer
Symptoms: Drive appears and vanished repeatedly, blinking Drive light, error message of "invalid directory", files inaccessible
Solution: Go to Control Panel. Click Change Power Plans. Go to USB settings. Click the plus sign. Beside USB selective suspend setting, click the plus sign. Change the "on battery: and the "plugged in" to disabled. Click apply. Click OK.
The drive should appear as per normal and files be accessible.
Note: The WD Elements drive WAS already accessible to a Toshiba laptop running Windows 7. It failed to be recognized by Windows 10. This solution has been tested upon an Aesus and an HP under Windows 10 Home and Pro.

Related Questions:

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My WD Elements SE External drive does not have its driver recognized on boot, but does only after repluging its USB 2.0 connection. How do I get the driver recognized on boot? Why does replugging work

I guess it's some kind of a problem with the way your USB port works. I have an external WD too, connected to a USB 3.0 port and definitivly it's not detected at boot, just after windows startup as a USB device.
After some initial wondering about this problem, I decided no to worry more because I use external drive for data backup and if it is not detected by BIOS makes no difference.
It might be a problem of an outdated BIOS or the USB port's driver. In my case, boths, BIOS and USB 3.0 are rather old.
You can do some reading about issue if you do a ggogle search for issue

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Aug 06, 2015 • DMCOM Western Digital Wd Elements Se 1 Tb...

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Hi! My WD Elements hard drive is not being recognised by my computer (macbook air). Ive had some problems with it disconnecting w/out being moved and now, (light flashing), its not recognised at all.

try a new USB cable. From what you are describing it sounds like you may have a short in the USB cable itself

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Feb 22, 2015 • Western Digital Wd Elements Se 1tb...

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External hard disk WD 500gb icon absent in my computer window?

Turn the computer off without the external hard drive being plugged in.
plug the external hard drive in a usb port, power up, the systems post boot up will find the drive and inform windows what hardware is installed.
When windows boots up, it will look at all the hardware and find the external hard drive, when windows finishes booting up you should be able to see the drive in my computer.

If you can't access your files,data recovery software can help.I used this one called Tenorshare Data Recovery to retrieve files off crashed HDD and it worked. Get it from http://www.any-data-recovery.com
If needed,you can download it and scan your hard drive for free to preview whether your files can be recovered.

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Mar 29, 2012 • Western Digital WD Elements Portable...

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my new WD 320 GB external drive won't detect in my pc and laptop? pls help....

Hello there,

Please try to plug it into another USB port. There is a chance that your port could be faulty. If its not with the port, try to assign the drive letter if you are using windows. You have to right click on the My Computer icon, select Manage. Once on Computer Management, select Disk Management. Locate your WD drive and right click again. Finally, click on the Assign Drive Letter and follow the wizard.

Good luck!

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Dec 26, 2010 • Western Digital Elements powered by WD 320...

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My Mac will not store data on my wd external hard-drive

Take it back to where you bought it, and get a replacement,
or at least get them to demonstrate that it _does_ work, when connected to a Mac computer (not a Windows computer).

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Dec 26, 2009 • Western Digital Elements powered by WD 320...

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How to get a WD Elements Drive recognized by Windows 10

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Related Questions:

My WD Elements SE External drive does not have its driver recognized on boot, but does only after repluging its USB 2.0 connection. How do I get the driver recognized on boot? Why does replugging work

Hi! My WD Elements hard drive is not being recognised by my computer (macbook air). Ive had some problems with it disconnecting w/out being moved and now, (light flashing), its not recognised at all.

External hard disk WD 500gb icon absent in my computer window?

my new WD 320 GB external drive won't detect in my pc and laptop? pls help....

My Mac will not store data on my wd external hard-drive

Not finding what you are looking for?

Ask a Question

Top Western Digital Computers & Internet Experts

Grand Canyon Tech

Sean Wright

Paul Bade

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How to get a WD Elements Drive recognized by Windows 10

Related Topics:

Related Questions:

My WD Elements SE External drive does not have its driver recognized on boot, but does only after repluging its USB 2.0 connection. How do I get the driver recognized on boot? Why does replugging work

Hi! My WD Elements hard drive is not being recognised by my computer (macbook air). Ive had some problems with it disconnecting w/out being moved and now, (light flashing), its not recognised at all.

External hard disk WD 500gb icon absent in my computer window?

my new WD 320 GB external drive won't detect in my pc and laptop? pls help....

My Mac will not store data on my wd external hard-drive

Not finding what you are looking for?

Ask a Question

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Top Western Digital Computers & Internet Experts

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