My second 4TB internal HDD doesn't show up in Windows 10 half the time. Is there a way to fix this?

[Fallen Gemini]

I bought a second HDD because I was running out of space on my 1.75TB HDD. After installing it and using Disk management to partition the HDD, it worked the first two times. Now, the HDD sometimes shows up when I boot the PC. I have read that Windows 10 has an issue recognizing HDDs that are over 2TB in size. Is this true? Any help in remedy the issue would be greatly appreciated.

I am using a 4TB WD Black HDD for my second HDD whereas I left my first HDD, which is a green HDD that is 1.75TB, as my primary HDD - I plan to swap it out with a 1TB SSD HDD several months from now.

 

[USAFRet]

Win 10 has no issue talking to large drives.
How is this drive formatted?

Can you post a screencap of your Disk Management window?

 

[Fallen Gemini]

Win 10 has no issue talking to large drives.
How is this drive formatted?

Can you post a screencap of your Disk Management window?

The HDD was brand new - I opened it from the packaging and installed it using the SATA3 and PS plugs, I went to Disk Management and right clicked it to add it to my PC via new simple volumne. After reading tutorials online, I choose GPT when partitioning the HDD. It is also in NTFS format.

As you can see in the screenshot above, drive D: is missing. That is where the drive should be in. It shows up sometimes.

 

[USAFRet]

If it shows up 'sometimes', possibly a faulty or loose cable?

 

[Fallen Gemini]

If it shows up 'sometimes', possibly a faulty or loose cable?

I was planning to test that out, but what is odd is that if I hit reset, the hdd was either disappear or reppear.

 

[D_Know_WD]

Hi there Fallen Gemini,

I would agree with USAFRet and say that this sounds like a connection related issue. Try using different SATA and power cables. You can use the ones of your OS drive. Also, you can attach it to another SATA port.
Another thing you can do is to just go to your MOBO's website and update all your drivers.

In case the issue persists, you can back up the data stored on the drive and test it with WD's Data Lifeguard Diagnostic tool(short and extended): http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=Y4M4f1

Let me know how this goes,
D_Know_WD

 

[Fallen Gemini]

Hi there Fallen Gemini,

I would agree with USAFRet and say that this sounds like a connection related issue. Try using different SATA and power cables. You can use the ones of your OS drive. Also, you can attach it to another SATA port.
Another thing you can do is to just go to your MOBO's website and update all your drivers.

In case the issue persists, you can back up the data stored on the drive and test it with WD's Data Lifeguard Diagnostic tool(short and extended): http://products.wdc.com/support/kb.ashx?id=Y4M4f1

Let me know how this goes,
D_Know_WD

It is definitely not a cable connection issue as I just spent an hour switching different SATA cables and SATA 3 ports. Each time I turned it on, the drive wouldn't shown. What was interested is when I switched the SATA ports between the boot HDD and the 4 TB HDD - the computer crashed when Windows was starting.

As stated in my initial post, this is a Windows 10 issue. I found another site where ppl had the same issue. I will follow the instructions there and get back to you guys:

http://answers.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/forum/windows_10-hardware/windows-10-does-not-recognize-my-second-hard-drive/11f1cf28-0320-4a5e-aabb-e66e13a7526b?auth=1

 

[USAFRet]

If Win 10 has issues with drives over 2TB, my HTPC would like a word with you.
3 x 3TB drives. Seagate and WD.