Question HDD letter not being read

[Artisanico]

When I connected up my old IDE HDD the PC could see that there was a storage device there but couldn't read the drive letter. I can see only one possible reason: the drive is getting on twenty years old. I can't afford to take it to a lab; is there any hope for this? TIA.

 

[USAFRet]

When I connected up my old IDE HDD the PC could see that there was a storage device there but couldn't read the drive letter. I can see only one possible reason: the drive is getting on twenty years old. I can't afford to take it to a lab; is there any hope for this? TIA.

How, exactly, are you connecting this to your current PC?

 

[stonecarver]

When I connected up my old IDE HDD the PC could see that there was a storage device there but couldn't read the drive letter.

Extremely common dragging and old IDE drive out and current windows looses the drive letter.

If the drive shows up in Disk Management and if it shows no drive letter just right click and assign it one. Drive will than be accessible.

All your doing is giving the drive a letter. DO NOT DO ANY FORMATING.

 

[Artisanico]

Extremely common dragging and old IDE drive out and current windows looses the drive letter.

If the drive shows up in Disk Management and if it shows no drive letter just right click and assign it one. Drive will than be accessible.

All your doing is giving the drive a letter. DO NOT DO ANY FORMATING.

OK so the PC - which I connected to my old caddy when I wrote the OP - will be inaccessible for any weeks, as it's being used to recover data. On the advice of members of this forum I have bought a new caddy; my old one is in other usage. (I needed to buy a connector extension for the new caddy to get the IDE connections in place, as it's an old PATA disk.) Now the disk is not being so much as recognised in computer management. I have looked carefully at the (new) USB cable but can't see a problem with it. The disk is buzzing so I know that power is getting through. Between the issue with the drive letter that I mentioned in the OP and now, I have not done anything with my HDD. Can anyone help? TIA

 

[Ralston18]

Make, model, capacity of that old PATA disk?

 

[Artisanico]

Make, model, capacity of that old PATA disk?

I don't know the exact details but it is 250 Gb, manufactured by Hitachi and I bought it in 2008.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Now the disk is not being so much as recognised in computer management.
Can anyone help?

Show screenshot from Disk Management and
screenshot from Device Manager - disk drives and storage controllers sections expanded.
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

 

[Artisanico]

Show screenshot from Disk Management and
screenshot from Device Manager - disk drives and storage controllers sections expanded.
(upload to imgur.com and post link)

https://imgur.com/a/R4hVMAM

View: https://imgur.com/a/R4hVMAM

 

[Ralston18]

Stated capacity = 250 GB

Disk Management indicating 28.89 GB

I suggest posting some photographs of the drive and the plug and port connections.

And any adapters and cables.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I don't know the exact details but it is 250 Gb, manufactured by Hitachi and I bought it in 2008.

There is no 250GB drive being detected.
Only your OS drive is being detected.

Show, how you have 250GB drive connected. Make photos.