Using a cloud storage platform is the fastest and easiest option to always have a backup copy of all the files on hand that if we were to lose them, since we should not remember to periodically make a copy of these on a flash drive or on a hard drive. In addition, it is also an excellent option for sharing large files, as long as we can afford to pay monthly if the free space they offer us does not meet our needs.
If we are more traditional, we like to always have all our data at hand and we use a flash drive or hard drive to store it, we may face a problem if, when connecting it to our computer, Windows is not able to recognize it, a problem that may be caused by for two reasons.
Causes of the problem
The first is that the hard drive has passed on to a better life, which means that we will have lost all the data that we had stored inside it and the chances of recovering the files are practically non-existent (hence, using a cloud to store files be the best choice). The second cause may be related to the ports where the flash drive or hard drive is connected.
Solutions
The first thing to do, before anything else, is to check if both the pendrive and the hard drive that we want to access have not stopped working forever, since, otherwise, we are going to waste time looking for a solution to a problem. problem that does not exist To check that these work, we must connect them to any other equipment that we have at home.
To solve the problem that prevents us from accessing a flash drive or hard drive from our PC, we have 3 possible solutions :
- Change the USB port to which we connect it . Not all USB ports on a PC supply the same electricity needed to run a hard drive. In the old days, portable hard drives included a power supply, a power supply required since USB 1.1 ports did not supply enough electricity to run them. If the problem is in a hard drive and our PC is old, we must change to another USB port that our PC has.
- Check energy saving options . Windows offers us different power plans, power plans focused on reducing the consumption of laptops, although they can also be applied to desktop computers. Within the configuration options of the different plans available, we must make sure that, within the power options of the USB ports, these are not disabled. If so, it means that the ports of our PC do not have electricity so they will not be able to read any device connected to them.
- Windows does not assign a drive letter . Another solution that we must try is to use the Windows Disk Manager to check if Windows recognizes the drive, but has not assigned it a letter. If, when opening the Disk Manager, the hard disk or flash drive is shown without an associated unit, we just have to select and, with the right mouse button, select the Assign unit option and select the one we want to be shown in the File Browser.
