Lost the logical drive

[visualgame]

i lost my logical drive (external hard drive) due to the unsafely unplug, i guess.

now, it can't be recognized by windows( from 2000 to window 7). i even can't format it because it's invisible from window.

tried several recovery softwares, it could be recovered some files but, the whole drive still remain invisible. before throw it away, is there any program can make it visible? or is there some "super power" format program that can format such lost logical drive?
thanks

 

[RealBeast]

Attach the drive and run diskpart in the windows command prompt box. If it shows up you can delete and re-create a partition. Here is a site that has all the commands and details: http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc770877%28v=ws.10%29.aspx

If it does show up you can probably fix it with diskpart, in the command prompt box, type:
diskpart
list disk
select disk n (where n = your external drive)
clean
create partition primary
assign letter = x (where x is the drive letter you want to use)

 

[nhasian]

TestDisk, Data Recovery
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NOTE If seeked lost file are still missing, give PhotoRec a try. PhotoRec is a signature based file recovery utility and may be able to recover your data where other methods failed.

PhotoRec is file data recovery software designed to recover lost files including video, documents and archives from hard disks, CD-ROMs, and lost pictures (thus the Photo Recovery name) from digital camera memory. PhotoRec ignores the file system and goes after the underlying data, so it will still work even if your media's file system has been severely damaged or reformatted.

 

[visualgame]

it didn't show up after diskpart command performed. any other solutions?
thanks

 

[visualgame]

still the missing external hard drive remains invisible.

 

[RealBeast]

Is the drive also invisible in disk management? (start button, right click computer, select manage, then disk management) If it is visible there does it have a drive letter?

 

[visualgame]

it's invisible in all the window programs except window 7. however, it can't be initialized so can't signed with a letter, can't format, can't do anything.
i did use some recovery software to see the structure trees and files and i did recover most of the files but, the hard drive remain invisible and no way to re-use it so far.

i hate to use it as a paper weight but it seems like out of option for me.

 

[RealBeast]

No, if you can just see it in disk recovery you can fix it. For hard jobs I usually use GParted ( http://gparted.sourceforge.net/livecd.php ), which is freeware and can be run from a CD or USB stick. Windows just isn't very good for fixing these types of problems, but Linux based tools can usually handle them.

 

[visualgame]

i did try...the disk i could see but couldn't do anything include format.
i have all the backup, so i am not worry about lost the data. i just wanna enable to format it and enable to re-use it.

 

[RealBeast]

You could see it but not fix it with GParted?

 

[visualgame]

yes, tried gparted with boot from cd. after scanning, found the hard drive. but all the option were gray out except creat a new partition.
then through create new partition table, i/0 error messages show up all the time, ignored all the pop up windows, the final resolute remained the same....all the options stay gray, couldn't do anything.