External Drive internal

bsa07eagle

Commendable
Jul 29, 2016
5
0
1,510
Hello, I am in the process of building an HTPC. I got it to boot of an ssd and installed everything I need and it is a great stable computer. I then tried to shell an external 4tb wd green drive and hook it up internal via SATA. When I did so it showed up in the BIOS and in disk management (but as unallocated/unformated space), but not in my computer. I was finally able to get it to show up in my computer, but only as a drive letter when it asks you to format it before you can access it (which I really don't want to do). I used the usb adapter that was inside the drive enclosure to ensure the data wasn't corrupted somehow and it came right up in computer with all the files I had on it. What would make the drive not show up when internal SATA, but perfectly normal via usb external.
 
Solution
Looks like to me the drive is formatted in a configuration foreign to Windows but OK for the USB adapter. May wanna consult with WD tech support see what they say. There is no way to save the save the data somewhere else, then re-copy it over after you have re-formatted as it now likes?

bsa07eagle

Commendable
Jul 29, 2016
5
0
1,510
This is so confusing to me. I have the drive plugged in usb to the same computer I have been putting it inside and it is perfectly fine. All files show up accessible in windows. The second I plug it in via SATA internal it's almost like it corrupts the drive. I got it to show up in windows once but after a restart it went away. I don't think the usb connector is secured since it's just a simple WD drive. I have tried just about everything I can think of, getting very frustrated.
 
Looks like to me the drive is formatted in a configuration foreign to Windows but OK for the USB adapter. May wanna consult with WD tech support see what they say. There is no way to save the save the data somewhere else, then re-copy it over after you have re-formatted as it now likes?
 
Solution

bsa07eagle

Commendable
Jul 29, 2016
5
0
1,510
That's what I would like to do, I just don't have enough storage to put 4tb of data elsewhere. Guess I have to go buy something big enough to swap the data over for a format.