Oh, I've run into this issue more times than I'd like to admit! First thing I usually check is the physical connections as mentioned above. It's amazing how often it turns out to be a loose cable or something minor like that.
If everything seems tight and the drive still isn't showing up, diving into the Device Manager to uninstall and then restart (letting Windows handle the reinstallation of drivers) has been my go-to move. It's a quick fix that surprisingly solves the problem most of the time.
Also, don’t forget about updating those drivers directly from the manufacturer’s website. Sometimes Windows doesn’t catch everything and a manual update does the trick.
And as a last resort, before considering hardware replacement, checking out those BIOS settings can uncover some hidden issues with how peripherals are managed on startup. Remember to take careful notes on what you change in BIOS though—it can be quite easy to forget your original settings!
What's worked best for everyone else here? Always curious to hear more solutions or neat tricks others possess tried!
