[SOLVED] HardDrive unknown and not initialised

[harddrivehelpplease938]

Hello, So a couple of months ago I bought an external Hard drive and transferred a lot of important files on to it, all of a sudden it doesn't show up, when plugged in it makes a sound but doesnt show on my PC - when i check device management it says unknown and not initialised. Does anybody know how to fix this? - I dont want to risk losing the data

 

[Darkbreeze]

You have that data backed up elsewhere in addition to on the hard drive, right? If not, that's a mistake and a big problem. You should always, ALWAYS have any important data backed up to more than one location, like flash drive, optical disks (CD, DVD, BD), another internal or external drive, your primary drive, cloud storage, etc., because it's NEVER a question of whether a drive will fail or not, it's only EVER a question of WHEN. New drives fail all the time and some old drives keep on chugging even after years and years. You can't trust important data to be in only one location without expecting that something like this might happen, because, it always does.

Does the drive show up in the BIOS or in disk management?

https://www.lifewire.com/disk-management-2625863

Have you tried a different USB port and/or USB cable?

What are your full hardware specs?

 

[Banqu0]

Is it making normal HDD sounds or something different than what you've heard it make before? Try different cables. Shorted cables can cause serious problems with external drives. Since the drive is in an external enclosure, the next thing to try would be to migrate the drive to a different enclosure. If you get the same problem, you can exclude the enclosure as the hardware that's failing. Should you still have an issue, try connecting it to another machine. If after all that you still have a problem reading the drive, it's a safe bet that the drive is dying.

If the drive goes kaput, your only option for data recovery will be to send it to a recovery lab and that's going to cost you. Always back up your stuff. If it's particularly important, you should have at least 2 backups in addition to your working copy.

 

[harddrivehelpplease938]

You have that data backed up elsewhere in addition to on the hard drive, right? If not, that's a mistake and a big problem. You should always, ALWAYS have any important data backed up to more than one location, like flash drive, optical disks (CD, DVD, BD), another internal or external drive, your primary drive, cloud storage, etc., because it's NEVER a question of whether a drive will fail or not, it's only EVER a question of WHEN. New drives fail all the time and some old drives keep on chugging even after years and years. You can't trust important data to be in only one location without expecting that something like this might happen, because, it always does.

Does the drive show up in the BIOS or in disk management?

https://www.lifewire.com/disk-management-2625863

Have you tried a different USB port and/or USB cable?

What are your full hardware specs?

So to answer your questions, I did not backup the data anywhere else, I'm not super angry if the data is gone however I'd like to try every route to try and restore the data.

The drive does show in disk management and i'm pretty sure BIOS too, in disk management it says (Disk 2, Unknown, Not Initialised) I've tried every USB port on my computer, I have not tried to use another cable.

My motherboard is a ASUS P9X79

 

[harddrivehelpplease938]

Is it making normal HDD sounds or something different than what you've heard it make before? Try different cables. Shorted cables can cause serious problems with external drives. Since the drive is in an external enclosure, the next thing to try would be to migrate the drive to a different enclosure. If you get the same problem, you can exclude the enclosure as the hardware that's failing. Should you still have an issue, try connecting it to another machine. If after all that you still have a problem reading the drive, it's a safe bet that the drive is dying.

If the drive goes kaput, your only option for data recovery will be to send it to a recovery lab and that's going to cost you. Always back up your stuff. If it's particularly important, you should have at least 2 backups in addition to your working copy.

the HDD has never made a sound really, even when it was working there was never any sound coming from it, it's a Seagate portable drive model SRD0NF1, I've never tried a different cable, but when plugging in the HDD my pc recognises it's been plugged in as it makes a windows sound but it says not initialised and unknown, does that mean the cable is fine or could it still be the cable?

 

[Banqu0]

the HDD has never made a sound really, even when it was working there was never any sound coming from it, it's a Seagate portable drive model SRD0NF1, I've never tried a different cable, but when plugging in the HDD my pc recognises it's been plugged in as it makes a windows sound but it says not initialised and unknown, does that mean the cable is fine or could it still be the cable?

Without trying a new cable it's not possible to definitively eliminate that as the point of failure. However, if your hard drive is making sounds it's never made before in conjunction with your system not recognizing it, that strongly indicates a drive failure.

 

[Darkbreeze]

I would also try connecting it to a different computer, just to see if it comes up.

Otherwise, these are the most common remedies.

Different Ways to Fix Disk Unknown Not Initialized in Windows 10

How to fix ‘Disk Unknown Not Initialized’ error in Windows 10. Learn to apply useful methods smoothy and fix all errors.

www.stellarinfo.com

 

[SkyNetRising]

The drive does show in disk management and i'm pretty sure BIOS too, in disk management it says (Disk 2, Unknown, Not Initialised)

Can you show screenshot from Disk Management?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

 

[Darkbreeze]

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forums.tomshardware.com

 

[harddrivehelpplease938]

Without trying a new cable it's not possible to definitively eliminate that as the point of failure. However, if your hard drive is making sounds it's never made before in conjunction with your system not recognizing it, that strongly indicates a drive failure.

I think i should try a new cable, and sorry for the confusion but the HDD has never made any sounds

 

[harddrivehelpplease938]

Can you show screenshot from Disk Management?
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

 

[Darkbreeze]

Try right clicking on the empty box to the right of "Unknown Not initialized" and assigning it a drive letter.

 

[harddrivehelpplease938]

I would also try connecting it to a different computer, just to see if it comes up.

Otherwise, these are the most common remedies.

Different Ways to Fix Disk Unknown Not Initialized in Windows 10

How to fix ‘Disk Unknown Not Initialized’ error in Windows 10. Learn to apply useful methods smoothy and fix all errors.

www.stellarinfo.com

I am going to try and use it on another PC to see if that works also

 

[Darkbreeze]

 

[harddrivehelpplease938]

Try right clicking on the empty box to the right of "Unknown Not initialized" and assigning it a drive letter.

I can only right click on the box where it says unknown not initalized, the box to the right doesnt allow me to right click, and the options when i can are - initalise disk - offline - properties - help

 

[Darkbreeze]

Select properties, then click on Volumes and click on populate. Take a screenshot and post it here.

 

[harddrivehelpplease938]

Select properties, then click on Volumes and click on populate. Take a screenshot and post it here.

It doesnt say Populate anywhere

 

[fzabkar]

The fact that the external device identifies itself as a "JMICRON JMS579 USB Device" suggests that the OS is talking to the JMicron USB-SATA bridge IC inside the enclosure. If this is the original Seagate enclosure, it should identify as a Seagate product, not JMicron.

 

[harddrivehelpplease938]

The fact that the external device identifies itself as a "JMICRON JMS579 USB Device" suggests that the OS is talking to the JMicron USB-SATA bridge IC inside the enclosure. If this is the original Seagate enclosure, it should identify as a Seagate product, not JMicron.

Yup it is a Seagate HDD, so what does this mean?

 

[fzabkar]

It means that the JMicron bridge IC cannot find a Seagate hard drive. This means that the hard drive is probably dead. If you don't mind voiding your warranty, remove the HDD from the enclosure and connect it to a SATA port inside your computer. In fact, this procedure shouldn't void your warranty, at least not in the USA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson–Moss_Warranty_Act

 

[Darkbreeze]

How old is this drive?

 

[harddrivehelpplease938]

It means that the JMicron bridge IC cannot find a Seagate hard drive. This means that the hard drive is probably dead. If you don't mind voiding your warranty, remove the HDD from the enclosure and connect it to a SATA port inside your computer. In fact, this procedure shouldn't void your warranty, at least not in the USA.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson–Moss_Warranty_Act

I dont care about the warranty so I think Ill try this

 

[harddrivehelpplease938]

How old is this drive?

I'd say about 6 months or so

 

[Darkbreeze]

So then it's still under warranty. If the drive IS dead, simply put it back together and contact Seagate regarding an RMA IF you have access to the original purchase documentation or receipt. Or if you registered the product with them after purchase.

 

[harddrivehelpplease938]

So then it's still under warranty. If the drive IS dead, simply put it back together and contact Seagate regarding an RMA IF you have access to the original purchase documentation or receipt. Or if you registered the product with them after purchase.

Yeah I think that's going to be my last resort, i'm going to try and open the hard drive now​