[SOLVED] Where is my C: drive ? !!

[Pappy714]

Okay - this is gonna sound weird, but here goes: long story short - contacted Microsoft to help on a small issue I was having with WIn10 and the so-called "tech" who was SUPPOSED to help me bricked my boot drive and then bailed on me (told me to take it to an IT guy, but I am my own IT guy!) This resulted in my attempting to repair the drive, but Windows refused to recognize my SSD. Since I am working remotely, I had to get my computer back up and running so I had to find a drive I could use. Of course, my registry was wiped out, so I lost almost half of my software (not really lost, just unrecognized by new windows , so am rebuilding as I go).

My computer (which I built from scratch) is configured as such:

Operating System- Windows 10 Pro 64-bit; AMD Ryzen 7 2700 (mild overclock); 32.0GB Dual-Channel Ram @ 1197MHz; ASRock B450 Gaming K4 (AM4); 4095MB NVIDIA GeForce GTX 980 (EVGA).

Storage:
465GB Crucial CT500BX100SSD1 (SATA (SSD))
3726GB Western Digital WDC WD40EZRZ-22GXCB0 (SATA )
232GB Crucial CT250BX100SSD1 (SATA (SSD))
5589GB Western Digital WD My Book 25EE USB Device (USB (SATA) (SSD))
465GB JMicron Generic DISK00 USB Device (USB (SATA) (SSD))
465GB JMicron Generic DISK01 USB Device (USB (SATA) (SSD))
298GB JMicron Generic DISK02 USB Device (USB (SATA) (SSD))
1863GB Western Digital WDC WD20 EZRZ-00Z5HB0 USB Device (USB (SATA) (SSD))
465GB Sabrent Dual SATA Bridge SCSI Disk Device (USB (SATA) )
465GB Sabrent Dual SATA Bridge SCSI Disk Device (USB (SATA) )
232GB Samsung SSD 850 EVO M.2 250GB (SATA (SSD))
931GB Western Digital WDC WD10 EZEX-22BN5A0 SCSI Disk Device (SATA )
1863GB Western Digital WDC WD20 03FYYS-02W0B1 SCSI Disk Device (SATA )
3726GB Western Digital WDC WD40 EZRZ-00GXCB0 SCSI Disk Device (SATA )
3726GB Western Digital WDC WD40 EZRZ-00GXCB0 SCSI Disk Device (SATA )
931GB Hitachi HGST HTS 721010A9E630 SCSI Disk Device (SATA )
931GB TOSHIBA MKNSSDRE 1TB SCSI Disk Device (SATA (SSD))
1863GB Hitachi HDS722020ALA330 (SATA )

I process a lot of videos, reason for storage, plus as time has gone on, I just added to system. Now, boot drive is the highlighted {Bold} drive. Probably due to my error (and or panic), I just plugged in drives till my Windows disk recognized one and loaded Win 8.1 then upgraded to 10. Trouble is, I want to clone this drive to a new SSD, but low and behold - there is no drive labeled as a Western Digital WDC WD10 EZEX-22BN5A0 SCSI Disk Device. Short of unplugging every damn drive in my system to find the boot drive, does anybody know why a drive that has my OS on it, would be labeled as a Western Digital drive but the model number and serial number do not match? I will unplug all my drives and start plugging them back in till the damn thing boots, but lord - this has me flustered. I suppose I don't really need a solution, but has anyone else ever experienced this?

 

[JohnBonhamsGhost]

i would recommend while involved in this task,
label all drives according to their specific connection\location and have this documentation stored elsewhere so you can easily pick out drives in the future.

 

[USAFRet]

For future builds, put your OS drive in the lowest numbered applicable port.
You'll always know which one it is, irrespective of any other drives.

For SATA drives, SATA 0 or 1, depending on the motherboard.

 

[logainofhades]

I would recommend getting some larger mechanical storage, and consolidating some of what you have.

 

[Ralston18]

@Pappy714

Open Powershell as Admin and run the following cmdlet:

Get-PhysicalDisk

Likewise:

Gwmi Win32_LogicalDisk

- may prove helpful.

 

[Pappy714]

i would recommend while involved in this task,
label all drives according to their specific connection\location and have this documentation stored elsewhere so you can easily pick out drives in the future.

True True... I had my older drives labeled, buttttt... didn't do it to the newer. As I said OPERATOR ERROR! Thanks for responding.

 

[Pappy714]

For future builds, put your OS drive in the lowest numbered applicable port.
You'll always know which one it is, irrespective of any other drives.

For SATA drives, SATA 0 or 1, depending on the motherboard.

As before - thank you for the input. When I've got down time, I will follow all sage advise. Ah the boomer years... did I say I miss DOS, lol?

 

[Pappy714]

I would recommend getting some larger mechanical storage, and consolidating some of what you have.

You are so right, my workload increased faster than my pocket book, hence grab what I could afford at the time. Will look into investing wisely. Thanks for the input.

 

[SkyNetRising]

18 drives in a desktop system! That just looks insane.
All of that data would fit into two 16TB drives.
I'd suggest getting rid of all the small mechanical drives (1TB and less).

BTW these are not SSDs:

5589GB Western Digital WD My Book 25EE USB Device (USB (SATA) (SSD))​

1863GB Western Digital WDC WD20 EZRZ-00Z5HB0 USB Device (USB (SATA) (SSD))​

 

[Pappy714]

@Pappy714

Open Powershell as Admin and run the following cmdlet:

Get-PhysicalDisk

Likewise:

Gwmi Win32_LogicalDisk

- may prove helpful.

I'll put these in my "toolbox", thank you.

 

[Pappy714]

To all who posted: thank you. One more question - all advice was great and heeded. Can I give you all a trophy??

 

[Pappy714]

18 drives in a desktop system! That just looks insane.
All of that data would fit into two 16TB drives.
I'd suggest getting rid of all the small mechanical drives (1TB and less).

BTW these are not SSDs:

5589GB Western Digital WD My Book 25EE USB Device (USB (SATA) (SSD))​

1863GB Western Digital WDC WD20 EZRZ-00Z5HB0 USB Device (USB (SATA) (SSD))​

You are correct - it is insane, but as I posted earlier, my work load increased faster than my budget. 16 TB drives are waayyy beyond my reach right now, so I gad to adapt as well as I could. I agree, insanity rules though sometimes. I am saving up for better drives, it will just take awhile. The pandemic affected pocketbook way more than affected me.

 

[Pappy714]

You are correct - it is insane, but as I posted earlier, my work load increased faster than my budget. 16 TB drives are waayyy beyond my reach right now, so I gad to adapt as well as I could. I agree, insanity rules though sometimes. I am saving up for better drives, it will just take awhile. The pandemic affected pocketbook way more than affected me.

And to SkyNetRising: I understand they are not SSDs- I just copied what the software reported. I was in a hurry. Thanks.

 

[Pappy714]

While this is all good - my prime question remains. Why is my boot drive being reported as a WD disk, when this does not exist on my system . No drive has the Western Digital WDC WD10 EZEX-22BN5A0 id on its label. Not that this is a great issue, I can isolate the correct drive. But I was mainly curious if anyone else ever saw a situation like this. But again, thank all for their input and comments. I've just never seen this before.

 

[SkyNetRising]

Why is my boot drive being reported as a WD disk, when this does not exist on my system .
No drive has the Western Digital WDC WD10 EZEX-22BN5A0 id on its label.

Show some screenshots - Disk Management, Device Manager (disk drives section).
(upload to imgur.com and post link)
Disconnect USB drives first. There's just too many of them.