Toshiba hard drive not detected

[eliemhess]

So I have a 1TB Toshiba hard drive that I bought about a year ago for my Mac, and it worked fine (and still does) when it's plugged into my Mac. However, when I got a new Windows PC this summer, the drive isn't detected. The blue light on the drive lights up, showing that it recognizes that it's connected to a USB3 port, and the drive shows up on my PC only on the device manager and nowhere else. Help?

 

[Sedivy]

Are there any essential files on that drive you're trying to keep? Would you be averse to wiping it?

 

[GreyCatz]

Could you give us the full model name of your new Windows PC? And also the full name of the Toshiba hard disk - and I'm guessing it's an external HDD that connects via USB.

 

[GreyCatz]

You said you were using it with a Mac machine; could it be this device you're talking about:
http/storage.toshiba.com/consumer-hdd/external/canvio-premium-for-mac

If so, there's your answer: It's specifically formatted for Mac OS - and can only be used with those systems. For your Windows PC you need to get another HDD.

 

[eliemhess]

Are there any essential files on that drive you're trying to keep? Would you be averse to wiping it?

Yes, there are a lot of files that I'd really like to keep. Wiping it would make me very sad.

You said you were using it with a Mac machine; could it be this device you're talking about:
http/storage.toshiba.com/consumer-hdd/external/canvio-premium-for-mac

If so, there's your answer: It's specifically formatted for Mac OS - and can only be used with those systems. For your Windows PC you need to get another HDD.

My new PC is the newest model of 13.3" Dell XPS13, and my Mac is a 2011 MacBook Pro. And no, that's not the hard drive model I have, it's this one (HDD that connects via USB, yes)

 

[Sedivy]

You could get something like Parted Magic on a dvd and then boot into it, and see if it can see the drive instead. If you've got a decent size usb stick or another external drive, might be even able to get the files off for you, at least until you can re-format the drive, so you can put that stuff back on.

 

[GreyCatz]

OK, so it's the Basic one, but in your Amazon link it does say in the description (under 4) that if you use it with a Mac device, it will have to be formatted to a Mac OS system. When you first used it with your MacBook Pro, you probably didn't notice that.

But it means you can't use it with a Windows-based system unless you format it again.