Second hard drive "unallocated"

Welsh · 19 Jul 2011

Hiya guys

Sorry if this has been on before but I'm really starting to worry that I have lost my second internal hard drive. I will start at the start (usually the best place,eh)

I have a 1TB internal western digital hard drive which seems to have gone missing in action. When it was first installed I had no issues with it and decided to partition it to be able to allow me to keep work / personal stuff separate. So 1 had all my work files (4 years worth) and the other had all my family pictures, videos, drivers and other files.

I went to get a file the other night and the drive had just vanished, I restarted the system thinking it would just reconnect type of thing but it never did. I tried adding the drive letter in my computer > manage > disk management and that didn't work so I removed the letter. The drive has not web formatted although it wanted me to when I hanged the letter of the drive. It shows in disk management as a the drive but says unallocated and there is nothing in the file system part, whereas there is for my local c drive.

I ran a trial program of recovermyfiles and it showed as the files being there but it took over night plus a few hours as there is that much data.

I was advised by a friend to run it in ubuntu through a pen drive - so I loaded ubuntu and it says the drive is ok, but again you can't go in to the drive?

I was hoping there is a way I can restore the drive so that I can take what I need and format it and start again.

Please tell me that I haven't lost all this as I think it may send me over edge - your help will be greatly appreciated!

Thanks

Ps, I'm running windows 7 ultimate 32 bit. If you need more info please ask :)

Thanks again in anticipation.

brianzion · 19 Jul 2011

hi and welcome to the forum :)

first have you tried this >>

shut pc down unplug mains cord from mains socket press the on/off button on the pc for 8-10 secs (this discharges power in the psu and any power in the MB.
undo the pc case now touch a unpainted part of the pc chassis (to help discharge static electricity if you don't have a special wristband)
unplug the drive from the power connector and the main sata cable on the motherboard
reconnect after a few minutes
power up the pc.

brianzion · 19 Jul 2011

here is a link to a excellent recovery program called Recuva by piriform it may help you to recover files >> Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File and Disk Recovery - Free Download

Accidentally deleted an important file? Lost something important when your computer crashed? No problem! Recuva recovers files deleted from your Windows computer, Recycle Bin, digital camera card, or MP3 player.

Recovery from damaged or formatted disks
The dreaded hard drive crash. The file you forgot to backup before you reformatted a drive. The camera memory card with your holiday snaps that no longer works. Recuva can handle them too.
Windows (and other operating systems) uses a hidden index on hard drives, USB drives, and memory cards. Instead of having to search through the entire drive for a file you request, all it has to do is look it up in the index -- a much faster process.
Unfortunately, if the index is damaged, Windows can no longer find your files, even if the files themselves haven't been corrupted. That's where Recuva comes in.
Unlike Windows, Recuva scans all parts of a drive, looking for the bits that make up your files. If a drive's index has been damaged, chances are other parts of the drive may have been damaged too. Recuva will show you a list of files it has found on the drive, and give you an estimate of the likelihood of success of recovering them.
Similarly, when you format a drive (especially if you use the Quick Format option), Windows erases the hidden index but does not overwrite the existing files until you start saving new data to it. Recuva can still scan the drive's contents to find your files.

Welsh · 19 Jul 2011

Hi, Thanks for the quick response!

I have tried your first post and nothing happens, although I beleive somehow i changed the drive to a dynamic drive, can i change this back? as you can see from the screenie it seems to have lost the filesystem part? Are there any other steps i could take before trying to use the recovery link?

thanks again

http://imageshack.us/photo/my-images/580/capturebq.png/

brianzion · 19 Jul 2011

How to Convert a Dynamic Disk to a Basic Disk >>> Convert a Dynamic Disk to a Basic Disk

seavixen32 · 19 Jul 2011

Good information here explaining the difference between basic and dynamic disks:

Basic and Dynamic Disks (Windows)

Welsh · 19 Jul 2011

Excellent, so I have this now: If I retry the reboot and remove power cable would it work this time? possibly?

seavixen32 · 19 Jul 2011

No, all you need do is to create a partition or partitions on drive 1.

Just right-click the drive and choose New Simple Volume to the size you want, go for a quick format, allocate a drive letter and you should be good to go.

Welsh · 19 Jul 2011

Thanks for the help Seavixen, but I think you are misunderstanding - the drive had a partition on it, which seemed to vanish. I need to try and get back the 2 partitions that were on there as it has all my work files and family pics etc, I have tried adding the letter but it doesnt do anything apart from offer a format, which i dont want to do? - The Recuva tool isnt working either as it isnt picking up the drive it is only visible through Disk Management.

karlsnooks · 19 Jul 2011

welsh,

Don't repartition that drive or reformat that drive.

You have made a major mistake, as you have learned.

DO NOT convert a basic to a dynamic unless you've saved everything off and furthermore. don't do it. Dynamic disks are for a system environment that you are not in.

Don't do anything to that disk until one of our experts in this kind of matter get to you with either a recommendation or a final wreath.

Let us hope that GregRocker sees this as he has some experience these matters exotic.

I will see if he can take a look at this.

Just do nothing until then.