My HDD shows in Device Manager but not in Disk Management!

supersonic · 2026-06-08T23:53:13-0400

i just received my new HDD after warranty replacement. But the disk is not recognized in Disk Management but visible in Device Manager by the name
HGST HUH 721212ALE604 SCSI Disk Device. It is slightly visible in icaredata, Zentimo xstorage Manager n Device manager.
I can't initialize bcoz its not visible in the Disk Management. Tried to uninstall driver and scan for hardware change doesn't do anything. In fact the name is gone.
icaredata does show as F: 12 TB.
But i feel the present drive is spinning according to like it should be. Could anyone suggest me something.
Awaiting reply.

Plz see the pics:

XxXxX · 2026-06-09T00:18:27-0400

try formatting the HDD by the command line

How to Format a Hard Drive Using the Command Prompt? - GeeksforGeeks

Your All-in-One Learning Portal: GeeksforGeeks is a comprehensive educational platform that empowers learners across domains-spanning computer science and programming, school education, upskilling, commerce, software tools, competitive exams, and more.

www.geeksforgeeks.org

if that does not see the drive please try a live Linux bootable USB
and see if that can see and format the HDD

best of luck Steve ..

supersonic · 2026-06-09T00:45:31-0400

i cannot do that unless the disk is initialize which if not done, the VOL LABEL and a DRIVE LETTER will not be assigned.
So even from command line, there is no volume name or drive letter to perform such things like format.
But hey, i could try that from ubuntu or kali.
Will report back soon, god hope it works.

glasskuter · 2026-06-09T01:22:24-0400

If your bios recognizes the disk (even if disk management does not) you can use Minitool Partition Wizard to initialize the new disk. However, if bios does not see the drive, you have a hardware failure.

dacrone · 2026-06-09T02:54:01-0400

supersonic said:
i cannot do that unless the disk is initialize which if not done, the VOL LABEL and a DRIVE LETTER will not be assigned.
So even from command line, there is no volume name or drive letter to perform such things like format.
But hey, i could try that from ubuntu or kali.
Will report back soon, god hope it works.

initialize it via diskpart…

list disk
select disk (#)
online disk
convert gpt (or convert mbr)
assign letter

GUMBY · 2026-06-09T04:29:30-0400

Actually the drive is not really being shown in DM. It is showing previously detected, that is why it is grayed out. The only drive connected to pc is the WD blue.

supersonic · 2026-06-09T04:41:34-0400

@glasskuter i tried Minitool Partition Wizard demo and even there is no option to distinguish the hidden 12 TB.
So far i h' tried several things and nothing is leading nowhere.
Could any one share there opinion.
yeah i tried Kali, Parted Magic and even the installer CD for Win11 (i mean a bootable USB) and still no go.

jumanji · 2026-06-09T04:45:40-0400

Hi @supersonic

Was your old discarded external disk added to the storage pool? If so you have to go to "Manage Storage Spaces" and remove it and then add the replacement drive for it to show. up. That is what I have read in a reddit post. here

https://www.reddit.com/r/datarecovery/comments/15zir4g/what_would_cause_a_device_to_show_up_in_device

supersonic · 2026-06-09T04:54:29-0400

dacrone said:
initialize it via diskpart…

list disk
select disk (#)
online disk
convert gpt (or convert mbr)
assign letter

It simply doesn't show even from command prompt and then running
diskpart -
list disk -
I had tried it way back, still no go.
Now i m thinking if its really the Device that is flawed. I received it yesterday and the package was torn and just a Dsk was seen. Someone opened and may
be banged it somewhere. So any magical solution, i m eagerly waiting.

Slavic · 2026-06-09T05:17:32-0400

Your device is grey in Device Manager, which means that driver presents but is not currently active. You can uninstall all such devices, most of them are USB as I see, because they all will be detected again upon connection. If you connect a device and nothing happens, it may be because this devices no longer supports PnP because of poor connection, problem with cable or electrical failure. What exactly happened, you can see if connect it to another PC. If it will be defected as PnP and new device driver installed after a few seconds, it works and you should see it in Disk Management (with or without partitions, is another question). But if it will not be detected, most probably it's an electrical failure.

kelper · 2026-06-09T05:55:03-0400

Slavic said:
Your device is grey in Device Manager, which means that driver presents but is not currently active. You can uninstall all such devices, most of them are USB as I see, because they all will be detected again upon connection. If you connect a device and nothing happens, it may be because this devices no longer supports PnP because of poor connection, problem with cable or electrical failure. What exactly happened, you can see if connect it to another PC. If it will be defected as PnP and new device driver installed after a few seconds, it works and you should see it in Disk Management (with or without partitions, is another question). But if it will not be detected, most probably it's an electrical failure.

Well spotted!

supersonic · 2026-06-09T11:09:24-0400

@jumanji i tried ur method, that particular post was little confusing. I had read it before but just went above my head.
However that kind a does the trick. But when i initialize, almost waiting for 15 min, it shows an error. Please see the snapshot.
@Slavic i don't think its an electric problem in my case. But thank u for ur concern.

Disabling and Enabling the drive from Device Manager did the trick but doing that means i h' to wait for another 15-20 min.
I h' attached the disk in a docking station and then i did the Disabling. Please see the snap shot. However i m trying to use
cmd line now, which also shows the same problem.
It was almost complete, after waiting some minutes, right clicked the DISK 1 and went ahead, almost at the end it showed this error.
"The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error".
I dont understand that, how should i approach this.

jumanji · 2026-06-09T12:05:04-0400

Please plug in the disk directly to a USB port at the back of your PC and check. ( When you plug it in into a dock's slot. the specifications of the dock come into play- like the maximum capacity it can handle and the per slot capacity of a slot in it., how many disks are there in the slots and the total capcity it is handling etc. etc.. When we are troubleshooting it is better to get off from that interface and connect the drive directly to the PC's USB port)

If you still get the error , In Device Manager uninstall the disk and then restart the PC. That will install the nececessary drivers.

Not going good? Plug in your external disk into another working PC and check. In fact this is the first thing one should have done.

Since I will be retiring for the day in a shortwhile, I shall leave it to other experts here to continue. Will see you my tomorrow morning.

kelper · 2026-06-09T12:15:07-0400

The disk is not initialised!

Right-click where I have circled and select initialise. Now it will appear with a drive letter. You can format it in Disk Management or in File Explorer.

Initialize Disk in Windows 11

This tutorial will show you how to Initialize a new "unknown" RAW disk in Windows 10 and Windows 11. If you add a new disk to your PC, and it doesn't show up in File Explorer, you might need to initialize the disk before you can use it. You can only initialize a drive that's not yet formatted...

www.elevenforum.com

gunrunnerjohn · 2026-06-09T12:49:41-0400

kelper · 2026-06-09T13:16:45-0400

I don't know how that tutorial appeared in my post! I didn't add it.

Slavic · 2026-06-09T15:34:13-0400

supersonic said:
The request could not be performed because of an I/O device error

This is a symptom of controller malfunction. More exactly, it may be a problem with port on your PC (I highly recommend to use another PC for test), the problem with connecting cable (it can be easily replaced) and problem with controller on the device.

The last is more severe. Sometimes it may be a result of poor connection of internal circuit or overheating. First, check that all visible screws on the device are not loose and tight if you notice some. Then (it may or may not help) try to cool the device. For example, place it to a tight plastic bag to prevent condensation of water vapours and keep for 5-10 min in refrigerator (not in a freezer!) at the temperature about +5C. Then connect the device back. If you are lucky, you will have some time to copy the most important files to another disk.

kelper · 2026-06-09T15:39:24-0400

Slavic said:
This is a symptom of controller malfunction. More exactly, it may be a problem with port on your PC (I highly recommend to use another PC for test), the problem with connecting cable (it can be easily replaced) and problem with controller on the device.

The last is more severe. Sometimes it may be a result of poor connection of internal circuit or overheating. First, check that all visible screws on the device are not loose and tight if you notice some. Then (it may or may not help) try to cool the device. For example, place it to a tight plastic bag to prevent condensation of water vapours and keep for 5-10 min in refrigerator (not in a freezer!) at the temperature about +5C. Then connect the device back. If you are lucky, you will have some time to copy the most important files to another disk.

This is a new HDD and your advice is totally inappropriate. Please read the thread from the beginning.

Slavic · 2026-06-09T15:45:49-0400

kelper said:
This is a new HDD and your advice is totally inappropriate. Please read the thread from the beginning.

It's nice when new HDD doesn't have any defects after manufacturing. Unfortunately, sometimes new devices may fail and need to be replaced by warranty.

spapakons · 2026-06-09T16:05:21-0400

If they replaced it and doesn't work, they should replace it again. If the disk was OK but the courier dropped it and damaged it, you should have taken a photo of the damaged package so you can prove you didn't drop it yourself.

Assuming the disk is not faulty, but doesn't receive enough power to properly power on and detected, you can buy a powered USB 3.0 hub.

I had a similar issue when I replaced my old USB 3.0 PCIe card for a new combo USB 3.0 and SATA III PCIe card. I then connected one of my external USB 3.0 hard disks to take a backup and it wouldn't be detected! I was terrified at first, but I then connected another USB 3.0 disk and also it wasn't detected. And my third disk wasn't detected as well! OK, I thought, What is the possibility of all my three disks to go bad at the same time? Close to zero! So I ordered a powered USB 3.0 hub and when I connected them to it they all worked properly. In fact because they received adequate power they worked faster than when connected directly to my old USB 3.0 PCIe card!

So before returning the disk try it on another computer or on a powered USB 3.0 hub.

PS: I just show your screenshot, the disk is referred as SCSI disk. What type it is? Internal or external? If it is SATA try another SATA cable and another power cable. If it is M.2 try cleaning the contacts with a pencil eraser and connect it again. Check your BIOS if you need to enable the controller.

My HDD shows in Device Manager but not in Disk Management!

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