WD Elements not recognized but light on

[djingodjango]

When I plug in my WD elements hard drive, the light on the device is on but the computer doesn’t recognize it. I checked the Device Manager and the device is there, but has the following error:

Windows cannot load the device driver for this hardware because a previous instance of the device driver is still in memory. (Code 38)

The driver could not be loaded because a previous version of the driver is still in memory.

The device is recognized but only after I restarted my computer. But if I unplug the device and plug it in again, it is not recognized by the computer again. PLEASE HELP!!!

[Keerti_01]

Hi @djingodjango,

Please refer to the following article for further troubleshooting steps:

Title: Windows or macOS Cannot Find My Drive

Western Digital Support | Western Digital

Please refer to the link below to test the drive using Drive Utilities:

Title: Setting up and downloading WD Drive Utilities:

Western Digital Support | Western Digital

[Jose2020]

There can be various reasons for an HDD to become unresponsive. It can be a hardware issue or some technical issue in the software. Reconnecting the HDD won’t help in most cases. The HDD remains visible and may be detected by the system if you connect it to another PC, but it doesn’t respond.

Below are a few possible reasons for HDD being unresponsive:

• A Lot of bad sectors
• Infected File (Virus or Malware)
• Driver issue
• Mechanical failure

You can try the below options to resolve the issue:

• Run CHKDSK
• Use an Antivirus & Anti-Malware tool
• Re-install the drivers

However, there is a solution as well for the same. Here, I suggest you to check out the below blog to know the possible solutions for this issue: https://www.stellarinfo.com/blog/how-to-fix-not-responding-hard-drive/

Hope this will help.