I am currently running windows 10 on a custom computer and recently my second hdd, with a large amount of data on it, has disappeared from My Computer, Device Manager, and Computer Management. Although the drive does not show up in windows, I can still see the drive in the BIOS.
Slave HDD suddenly disappeared
- Thread starter trs100
- Start date
If the BIOS "sees" the unit the issue likely is software or configuration. To start, look in Disk Management and tell us what it says.
To do this, click on Start, then RIGHT-click My Computer and choose Manage from the menu. Choose Disk Management. On the right there should be two panes, upper and lower. Each of these SCROLLS so you can see all they contain. Look particularly a the LOWER RIGHT pane for your second HDD represented by one horizontal rectangle. At its left end will be a bit of info in a label. To the right will be one or more blocks representing Partition(s) on the HDD. For a trouble-free drive, each Partition will have some info showing: a disk name assigned from its initial set-up, a letter name assigned by Windows like D:, a size, a File System like NTFS, and a couple more things.
For your troubled HDD, look first at the File System note at the end of the second line. If it does not say "NTFS", but says "RAW", that's one type of problem that can usually be fixed with file recovery software tools. The real cause of this problem usually is that some bits of data in the HDD's Partition Table or Directory are corrupted and Windows cannot understand what to so with it. But your data are still on the HDD, just cannot be read yet. IF this is what you see, post back here for advice.
A much simpler situation occurs when your Partition does have a valid NTFS File System on it, but it simply does not have a letter name like "D: " assigned to it by Windows. If that is what you see, just RIGHT-click on that Partition block and you can choose a letter name to give it. Then back out of Disk Management and reboot for this to take effect.
If neither of those applies, post back here the info you do see for that second HDD.
To do this, click on Start, then RIGHT-click My Computer and choose Manage from the menu. Choose Disk Management. On the right there should be two panes, upper and lower. Each of these SCROLLS so you can see all they contain. Look particularly a the LOWER RIGHT pane for your second HDD represented by one horizontal rectangle. At its left end will be a bit of info in a label. To the right will be one or more blocks representing Partition(s) on the HDD. For a trouble-free drive, each Partition will have some info showing: a disk name assigned from its initial set-up, a letter name assigned by Windows like D:, a size, a File System like NTFS, and a couple more things.
For your troubled HDD, look first at the File System note at the end of the second line. If it does not say "NTFS", but says "RAW", that's one type of problem that can usually be fixed with file recovery software tools. The real cause of this problem usually is that some bits of data in the HDD's Partition Table or Directory are corrupted and Windows cannot understand what to so with it. But your data are still on the HDD, just cannot be read yet. IF this is what you see, post back here for advice.
A much simpler situation occurs when your Partition does have a valid NTFS File System on it, but it simply does not have a letter name like "D: " assigned to it by Windows. If that is what you see, just RIGHT-click on that Partition block and you can choose a letter name to give it. Then back out of Disk Management and reboot for this to take effect.
If neither of those applies, post back here the info you do see for that second HDD.
TRENDING THREADS
-
-
-
-
-
Discussion What's your favourite video game you've been playing?- Started by amdfangirl
- Replies: 4K
Facebook
Twitter
Instagram