Solved Please Help! External HD suddenly became "unallocated"...

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Goody24

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My external USB 3.0 HD was working perfectly well yesterday. However, today suddenly became an "unallocated" drive without even a drive name. I'm able to detect the drive but I have no way of accessing it.

The only solution that I've tried so far is to access the HD with another computer. But, the results are the same with those computers. I haven't done anything else...

Here's a screenshot of the problem:

V22yT.jpg
 

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Goody24 said:
My external USB 3.0 HD was working perfectly well yesterday. However, today suddenly became an "unallocated" drive without even a drive name. I'm able to detect the drive but I have no way of accessing it.

The only solution that I've tried so far is to access the HD with another computer. But, the results are the same with those computers. I haven't done anything else...

Here's a screenshot of the problem:

V22yT.jpg
Click to expand...
Unallocated space is free space or unused space. I couldn't begin to say why the space suddenly became available; generally, it requires formatting the drive. Recovery of data, for a home user, is not very promising. There are companies that specialize in recovery, but they are costly. Depending on the importance of the data, it is a personal call as to the value relationship.
You can download "MiniTool Partition Wizard", from the following site for a more advanced partition tool;
http://www.partitionwizard.com/
They provide free e-mail support and have been responsive to my requests for assistance. So, you may want to give it a shot, it's free with good instructions on how to use it and has free customer support. Certainly, can't hurt to give it a try.

HTH
 

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I don't know whether this is relevant, but your screenshot also appears to indicate you don't have an active flag on any of the four partitions on Drive 0. I would have expected to see the recovery partition marked as active, because that's where the boot files are.

Are you able to boot into Windows OK?

If so, Partion Wizard's Partition Recovery tool is well worth a try, as suggested by Sir George.
 

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seavixen32 said:
I don't know whether this is relevant, but your screenshot also appears to indicate you don't have an active flag on any of the four partitions on Drive 0. I would have expected to see the recovery partition marked as active, because that's where the boot files are.

Are you able to boot into Windows OK?

If so, Partion Wizard's Partition Recovery tool is well worth a try, as suggested by Sir George.
Click to expand...
I think that the first partition (SYSTEM) is the active one.

CyberZeus
 

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You need to fully expand your disk management layout by double-clicking the separators at the top of the screen, and then post again so that we know for sure.

Have you downloaded Partition Wizard yet as that may be the only answer.
 

My Computer My Computer

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Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-BitIntel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz8Gb Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHznVidia GeForce GTX 460 1024MB dedicated RAM
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HP Pavilion Elite 495UK
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Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
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Intel Core i7 870 @ 2.93GHz
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MSI 2A9C (CPU1)
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8Gb Dual-Channel DDR3 @ 664MHz
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nVidia GeForce GTX 460 1024MB dedicated RAM
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Realtek HD Audio
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HP2310i
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1920 x 1080
Hard Drives
1x1954GB Hitachi HDS22020ALA 330 (RAID), 1x1954GB Hitachi External for backup and storage
PSU
460W
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HP Elite
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Air cooled
Keyboard
Logitech K750 solar-powered keyboard
Mouse
Logitech Wireless M180 mouse
Internet Speed
2Mb
Other Info
Pure Avanti Flow Internet Radio with iPod Dock, 64Gb iPod, HP USB Speakers, Sony MDR-V500 Headphones, Sony Vaio F-Series Laptop
I would also recommend the Partition Recovery Wizard feature included in free Partition Wizard.

If it doesn't find anything to recover then run Check File System on external as I have had that bring several back to life.
 

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Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
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Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
Sir George said:
Goody24 said:
My external USB 3.0 HD was working perfectly well yesterday. However, today suddenly became an "unallocated" drive without even a drive name. I'm able to detect the drive but I have no way of accessing it.

The only solution that I've tried so far is to access the HD with another computer. But, the results are the same with those computers. I haven't done anything else...

Here's a screenshot of the problem:

V22yT.jpg
Click to expand...
Unallocated space is free space or unused space. I couldn't begin to say why the space suddenly became available; generally, it requires formatting the drive. Recovery of data, for a home user, is not very promising. There are companies that specialize in recovery, but they are costly. Depending on the importance of the data, it is a personal call as to the value relationship.
You can download "MiniTool Partition Wizard", from the following site for a more advanced partition tool;
http://www.partitionwizard.com/
They provide free e-mail support and have been responsive to my requests for assistance. So, you may want to give it a shot, it's free with good instructions on how to use it and has free customer support. Certainly, can't hurt to give it a try.

HTH
Click to expand...

Thanks. I tried the Home Edition of Partition Wizard and it worked marvellously. It "found" my "lost" partition and within minutes brought it back to life...

I think it must have been a file system error or something weird with the HD. :S
 

My Computer My Computer

At a glance

Windows 7 Home Premium 64bitIntel i3 2310M4GB DDR3 665MHzIntel HD 3000
Computer Manufacturer/Model Number
HP ProBook 4530s
OS
Windows 7 Home Premium 64bit
CPU
Intel i3 2310M
Motherboard
HP 167C
Memory
4GB DDR3 665MHz
Graphics Card(s)
Intel HD 3000
Hard Drives
Hitachi 320GB, 7200RPM
Good work.

Now run Check File System on the drive with both boxes checked to find and repair errors. Same as Disk Check
 
Wow! What a Life Saver! You guys Rock! Exactly my problem to a T and this app really worked! Thank you guys!
 

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NY
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NY
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