Elements Stopped Working USB Device Not Recognized on One Computer

WD External and Portable SSD Portable SSD
1

I have an Elements 5TB drive. I have been using it on a Windows 11 Home computer for some time with no issues. Yesterday it stopped working although the lite is on. When I unplug and plug back in I get a message from Windows “USB Device not Recognized”.

I have tried the following:

  • Unplugging and plugging back in the drive.
  • In Device Manager stopped Root Hub from going to sleep.
  • Changing to a different cable that is known to work.
  • Plugging the drive in to a different port.
  • Plugging the drive in using a hub.
  • Plugging the drive in to a USB port on the back of the computer.
  • Updating Windows and restarting.
  • Selecting the USB device and searching for new drivers.
  • Uninstalling and reinstalling through Device Manager.

The light comes on and I can feel that the drive is spinning but nothing will get the computer to recognize it, also it does not show up in drive management.

The computer it is used with is using Windows 11 Home. I plugged the drive, using the same cable in to a computer using Windows 10 Home and it worked normally. What can I do to get my Windows 11 computer to once again recognize the drive? The computer does recognize all other external devices as normal including a Seagate external drive. It also instantly recognizes anything plugged in like a tablet or phone. When the drive is plugged in it makes the initial “boing” sound but then immediately makes a second “error” sound and shows the Windows error message.

2

In case someone else has this issue here is how you can fix it. Remember this is specifically for Windows 11, in the case the drive was tested in Windows 10 and worked so it was reasonable to think this was OS related.

  • In the Windows Search window type “edit power plan”
  • Click the Edit Power Plan selection from the results, this opens an applet
  • Click “Change Advanced Power Settings”
  • Click USB Settings
  • Change the USB selective suspend option from Enabled to Disabled.
  • Click OK

In my case the drive worked right away after this. I have spent days on this issue so I wanted to post the resolution here, it was not easy to find.

1 Like