HDD Not Showing in Windows Explorer

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  1. Posts : 25
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
       #1

    HDD Not Showing in Windows Explorer


    Have done a reinstall of Win 7 onto my SSD C drive. Decided to continue cleaning my PC by doing a disk clean with Diskpart command on my D drive - carefully following the steps in Brink's Disk - Clean and Clean All With Diskpart Command tutorial. The procedure failed, with the error message: "Clean is not allowed on the disk containing the current boot, systems pagefile, crashdump or hibernation volume"

    This is odd, since status in the Computer Management/Disk Management window shows it as "Healthy(Primary Partition)" without mention of boot, pageflie, crash dump or hibernation vol. Those are shown for the C Drive. (I will add that I was very conscientious in identifying the correct drive for the Clean)

    I exited the elevated command prompt, subsequently checked my computer explorer and found my D drive is no longer listed.

    The disk is still listed as #0 in Computer Management/Disk Management window with two partitions: System Reserved (100 MB NTFS Healthy {System, Active, Primary Partition}) and Volume (930 GB NTFS Healthy {Primary Partition})

    The disk also shows up in device manager under Disk Dives as working properly.

    How do I now restore my D drive?
    Last edited by BlueDog888; 13 Mar 2014 at 06:32.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #2

    The mistake you seem to have done is reinstalling Windows 7 on the SSD with the other drive also connected.

    Just disconnect the other drive and try to boot your system. If it does not boot, then definitely the boot files are on the other drive.

    Simplest solution I would perform is to reinstall Windows 7 on the SSD after disconnecting the other drive.

    Confirm you are able to boot into the system and then groom your Windows 7 on it.

    Afterwards you can connect the other drive and format it the way you like.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 25
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Hi Jumanji, thanks for your response.

    I just want to clarify a few things before I do anything just to make sure we are on the right track.

    The Win 7 reinstall was carried out several days ago and was successful. The PC showed both C (SSD) and D drives in the Explorer window. The D drive was not affected/addressed during the reinstall. After monitoring the system for a few days, I decided to do the clean on the D drive because it contained a lot of junk. I moved the progs/data I wanted to keep onto an external drive so that I could move them back after the disk clean.

    After receiving the error message during the disk clean process I exited and closed down the elevated command prompt, assuming the process had not worked and the D drive was as before. It was then I found the D drive no longer showed up in Explorer.

    I'm hoping that something like entering a command in command prompt will fix the problem.
    Last edited by BlueDog888; 13 Mar 2014 at 18:35.
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #4

    Just do the simple test I prescribed in my last post.

    Disconnect both the power and data cables from the second drive and try to boot. If your system does not boot then certainly the boot files have gotten onto the second drive which you had failed to disconnect while reinstalling Windows 7 on your SSD.( It is always recommended to disconnect all other drives and have only the drive on which Windows 7 is to be installed, to avoid this possibility and that is the reason why I recommended a fresh install)

    Well, it is definitely possible to repair your current situation and bring the boot to your SSD without a fresh reinstall. You may please wait for others to tell you how if that is the way you want to do it.

    ( Personally, I always prefer doing things the right way ab-initio rather than doing it in a wrong way and then repairing it. And for that reason I do not recommend or advocate such procedures. (Between the cup and the lip there can be many slips. :)) )
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 25
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    Thread Starter
       #5

    Hi Jumanji, apologies if I appeared to question your approach. Certainly that was not my intention.

    I have done the test and the system will not boot with D drive disconnected. Receive the message "disk boot failure, insert disk and press enter". So it looks like I'm commited to a reinstall with D drive disconnected.

    Too tired tonight so it will have to wait till tomorow. I'll let you know how I get on.

    Ragards and thanks.
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #6

    Not to worry. I didn't take it that way except perhaps forcefully reiterating my stand.:)

    There are circumstances when a repair procedure is inevitable for various reasons.

    In your case, since you have only recently installed and you have also already backed up the essentials on the other drive, a fresh install with other drives disconnected will give you a pristinely clean system and I felt that is the way to go.

    If you have any problems during the installation or doubts even before (especially installing on an SSD) please do return and we have here any number of installation experts who will be willing to give you all the necessary support and help. ( I haven't done any installation on SSD and so I do not qualify.:). Since you have already done an installation I presume you know the nuances like aligning the SSD etc.,)
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 25
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    Thread Starter
       #7

    Thanks for the caution, Jumanji. I had no idea installing windows on SSD would be different. Last time I just reinstalled as for a normal HDD and all seemed to work. However maybe my install was not optimal.

    A quick google suggests setting the BIOS to AHCI. Checking the tutorials gives a guide on aligning, but suggests Win 7 will sort that out on a new SSD. However, I am confused so perhaps I should get advice from the forum experts as to whether to align or not - and whether there is anything else I should be aware of.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 25
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Progess has been made. Followed your advice and reinstalled windows on SSD with the other HDD disconnected. Install appears successful, however there are some irregularities.

    In windows Explorer under Computer I now see three annotations:

    Local Disk (C) (the SSD)

    System Reserved (E) (which is the boot sector of the SSD)

    New Volume (F) (the HDD)

    Checking Computer Management/Disk/Management shows the two drives, both with two partitions:

    Drive 0: New Volume (F) as one partition and System Reserved (100 MB) as the other.

    Drive 1: (C) and System Reserved (E).

    The question is, should I do something about the (E) annotation in Windows Explorer, or just let sleeping dogs lie?

    Ideally, I'd like to do a fix if possible, and I'd still like to clear the F drive of junk and get rid of the system reserved partition, again if possible.

    Your advice please.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 7,055
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32 bit
       #9

    The System reserved partition in your SSD need not have a drive letter. This may create problems. So you can remove the drive letter E. How to remove a drive letter from the - MS System Reserved partition (VSS)

    As for as the other drive, the HDD, is concerned ( Disk 0 in your post) you have two options:

    1. Delete the System Reserved partition in it as well as the partition F in Windows Disk Management. This will make the whole drive unallocated. Format the drive with Windows Disk Management the way you like. Of course you will lose all data in that drive.

    2. If you want to keep the data in that second drive and yet delete the 100MB old system reserved partition and annex it to the larger F partition, you cannot do it in Windows Disk Management which does not allow extending a partition to the left.

    Install Partition Wizard Home Edition v 8.1.1 Free download Magic Partition Manager Software, partition magic alternative, free partition magic, partition magic Windows 7 and server partition software - Partition Wizard Online.

    Run Partition Wizard. Delete the old System reserved partition in the HDD and extend the other partition to include that unallocated space.

    ( Take care to select the correct drive.)

    Finally you can change the drive letters of all the drives (except C) the way you want as given in the reference at first para of this post.
    Last edited by jumanji; 15 Mar 2014 at 12:24. Reason: typos corrected
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 25
    Windows 7 Home Premium x64
    Thread Starter
       #10

    All problems sorted out. Thanks for your help Jumanji.
      My Computer


 
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