As a long-time WD drive user, I’ve run into this situation a couple times. The WD Discovery software is great when it works, providing helpful tools to manage your backup drives. But occasionally it will inexplicably fail to recognize a connected WD external drive.
Fortunately, there are some straightforward checks you can do yourself to diagnose and solve the problem with WD drive.
Troubleshooting WD Discovery Not Finding Drive, No USB Device Connected Error
In this post, I’ll walk through the top troubleshooting tips I’ve learned for getting WD Discovery to locate your external drive again.
Method #1 – Double Check Your Physical Connections
This may seem obvious, but make absolutely sure your WD drive is properly plugged into your computer. I can’t count how many times I’ve thought a drive wasn’t connecting only to realize it was slightly loose in the USB port.
- Inspect the USB cable – is it snugly plugged into the drive and computer?
- Try connecting to another USB port on your PC just in case one is faulty.
- If possible, swap out the USB cable with a spare to rule out a defective cable.
Also note that some WD drives require two cables – a USB for data and a power cable. Make sure both ends of each cable are properly inserted. These simple checks can save you a lot of time in cases where the drive is just loosely connected.
Method #2 – Update or Reinstall WD Discovery
If the physical connections check out, the next thing to try is updating the WD Discovery software itself. Over time, bugs can develop that prevent proper drive detection.
- In the system tray, click the WD Discovery icon then select “Check for Updates” to download the newest version.
- Alternatively, you can uninstall WD Discovery and do a fresh install of the latest version from WD’s website.
After updating or reinstalling, reboot your PC and reconnect the drive. This often resolves any software quirks that were preventing WD Discovery from finding the drive.
Method #3 – Use Disk Management to Verify Detection
We know the drive itself is powering on if you can feel it spinning and see the activity light blinking. But there still could be a deeper connection issue preventing WD Discovery from recognizing it.
Thankfully, you can easily check whether Windows has detected the drive using the built-in Disk Management utility:
- Right-click the Start menu and select “Disk Management”.
- In the list, you should see your WD drive listed. If you do, Windows has detected it properly.
- If the drive shows up here but not in WD Discovery, the issue lies with WD’s software not the drive.
Seeing the drive in Disk Management proves Windows can communicate with it. This narrows down the problem source specifically to WD Discovery.
Method #4 – Contact WD Customer Support
If you’ve verified all connections, updated WD Discovery, and confirmed Windows detects the drive, then the problem likely stems from a software bug or incompatibility. Your best bet is to contact WD Support for personalized troubleshooting help.
Make sure to note your specific drive model, WD Discovery version, and anything you’ve tried already. With this information, WD Support can better identify potential causes and solutions tailored to your setup.
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