"wd Elements" Portable Hard Drive Not Showing In Explorer On Windows Xp

John Jr. · Jan 27, 2019

Hello,

My new "WD Elements" portable hard drive is not showing in "My Computer" on Windows XP Professional.
Then, I can not copy files from my PC to this portable hard drive.
In the "Safely Remove Hardware" interface, I can read "WD Elements 25A1 USB Device at location 0". In "Properties", I can read "This device is working properly".

All the "WD Elements" portable hard drives I bought before 2019 are showing in "My Computer" on Windows XP Professional. So, I can copy files from my PC to these portable hard drives.

Please, how could I solve the issue I am having with my new "WD Elements" portable hard drive?

Your sincerely,

John

Imandy Mann · Jan 27, 2019

This is from wddotcom page on the drives

"Formatted NTFS for Windows® 10, Windows 8.1, Windows 7. Reformatting may be required for other operating systems. Compatibility may vary depending on user’s hardware configuration and operating system."

plodr · Jan 28, 2019

I own 7 external Western Digital hard drives. The last one I purchased, is an Elements model. The other six are Passport or Passport Ultra.
I use Acronis from a boot CD or USB stick to create and restore images.

When I try to use the Elements hd on a computer that came with XP and now also has Windows 7 on it, the computer will not even boot from the CD. It just hangs. I have no problem with the other 6 hard drives. I've come to the conclusion that XP and my Elements hard drive will not work together.

Here is why.
https://community.wd.com/t/using-elements-external-hd-with-windows-xp/175147

Since I don't want to format the drive, I'll use the other six drives only on that computer.

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"wd Elements" Portable Hard Drive Not Showing In Explorer On Windows Xp

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