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unable to read external hard drive- "USB Device not recognized: One of the devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned and windows does not recognize it."

Original title: Windows 7 not reading external hard drive

Today I installed he test copy of windows 7 (build 7100).  When I was running the setup and was asked which partition would have windows installed on it, it listed my external hard drive as an option.  I installed it on my main hard drive and the install completed smoothly. 

Windows 7 seems to be operating rather well, but I can't access my external hard drive.  when plugged in, I get the message: "USB Device not recognized:  One of the devices attached to this computer has malfunctioned and windows does not recognize it."

Device manager shows it as a flagged "unknown device."

Everything else so far runs well, but all my data is backed up on this drive and I need to access it.  Any ideas?

Answer
Answer

Hello armsakimbo,

 

This issue can happen for several different reasons; driver instability, missing updates, missing hot fixes, Selective suspend and others. There is a KB article that walks through methods to help fix this. Hope this helps.

 

Error: “USB Device not recognized” when you try to access a USB external hard drive.  

 

Thanks

L.D.

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Question Info

Last updated September 4, 2020 Views 264,138 Applies to: