[SOLVED] replacing HDD in Win10 - disk shows empty

[hdddee97]

I've had a smart warning on my 2TB drive for several months, so bought a replacement (also 2TB).

I plugged it in as an external drive using a HDD USB adapter kit (external power to SATA connections, plugging into the pc on USB) so I could copy all the folders I wanted to keep to it from the failing drive.
This is something I've done before with the same PC successfully before, but this time, when I came to open the case and switch the drives, I boot up to find the new drive shows as unnamed and with two partitions, one RAW and the other 'unallocated' - I was expecting to see the same partitions as viewable when I had the drive connected as an external, and of course all the files intact.

So, I thought, I could just plug in the HDD I'd removed from the case as an external using the same adapter kit so I could start the long process of copying everything over again. To my horror, this drive now shows up unnamed and unallocated with no partitions (previously it had two). I don't have another PC to test the - now external - drive that's showing empty.

I'd be very grateful for your expert thoughts of how I might be able to resolve this.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Connect both drives internally (without any USB adapters).

USB adapter uses non-standard HDD partitioning. Windows can't detect it properly.
If you move drive from USB adapter to internal connection it must be reformatted.

 

[hdddee97]

Many thanks for the suggestion - will certainly try it. As I said, though, I'm doing this in the same way as before with the same kit - then it worked perfectly with all folders viewable on the new drive, while the old one was also viewable externally on the USB adpater connection and appeared as it had when connected internally.

 

[SkyNetRising]

I'm doing this in the same way as before with the same kit - then it worked perfectly with all folders viewable on the new drive, while the old one was also viewable externally on the USB adpater connection and appeared as it had when connected internally.

Those probably were smaller drives.
Large drives like 2TB and more may get handled differently.

 

[hdddee97]

It was also a 2TB drive, two years ago - the one I've now just replaced because of the SMART warning.

 

[hdddee97]

Very many thanks for your help, SkyNetRising. I connected the drive I'd taken out as an internal drive again, and Win10 was able to view its original contents. Big sigh of relief. Then it was back to copying over the files from it to the new drive already installed - but showing up blank - from the earlier replacement. Thanks again for your suggestion. I won't be using the USB kit again to format a new drive ahead of another replacement, if I ever need to do this again. Hope this is useful for anyone else with the same challenge.