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#1
AHCI SATA disk E: suddenly DISAPPEARS (auto-ejects..?!)
I have been using XP for many years, now I'm building a pc for the son of a friend of mine, with Windows 7 x64.
I decided to go for a Corsair P64 SSD for (C:), and a 1 TB WD Caviar Black for (E:).
I connected first the SSD and installed Windows 7,
then after I had installed drivers through auto-update and a few other programs,
I connected the WD E: drive also, and moved the
C:\Users\username\Downloads\ folder into
E:\Downloads\
The issue is that once in a while, I suddenly notices that the E: drive has disappeared.
The first time I noticed it was after I had uninstalled Java JRE6 u19 and tried to download u20.
Then I noticed that the file was instead downloaded to the desktop.
I clicked the
Favorites > Downloads (which is mapped to E:\Downloads)
to check why it wasn't downloaded there, and then I got the error
"explorer.exe
This file does not have a program associated with it for performing this action.
Please install a program or, if one is already installed, create an association in the
Default Programs control Panel."
I checked the both Device Manager and Disk Management
- no 1TB WD disk, no (E:) volume
So I clicked Start -> Shut Down -> Restart,
and when into BIOS, and the E: drive was visible there.
Then I exited BIOS and loaded into Windows 7 again,
and the E: drive was back again.
This has happened 3 times after this, over the last 4 days.
If I just restart Windows, it comes back, with no signs of it ever being gone.
I have tried looking at the Event Viewer logs...
..I believe the Windows Logs are OK.
But about those Applications and Services Logs.. wow.. there are a lot of services..
..I have checked the 3 DiskDiagnostic* at least, those are empty.
When the drive has disappeared, the icon for the Favorites > Downloads folder becomes all white.
I examined the C:\Users\username\Links\Downloads.lnk shortcut,
the "Target:" field was all blank.
Then I copied the Downloads.lnk to C:\temp, renamed it to Downloads.txt
and when I opened it, I saw that it was still pointing to the original
C:\Users\username\Downloads\ folder.
Also, the C:\Users\username\Links\Downloads.lnk shortcut file still has the
time created / modified / accessed from the original Windows 7 installation.
So I assume the moved of the
C:\Users\username\Downloads\ folder into
E:\Downloads\
does not affect the actual shortcut - instead a registry value, I'd guess?
Another thing - since I have two computers side by side now,
the new one that I build have once and again gone into "sleep mode" since
I am busy using the old (my own).
I was thinking maybe there is a kind of "power saving" thing,
that Windows 7 turns off the power to the E: drive since it has been so long since
it has been in use.. and for some strange reason, it doesn't manage to get it back on-line
without a restart of the OS itself.
Hmm.. what's more:
The Corsair SSD disk has two volumes, first is a 100 MB hidden boot volume it seems,
then the rest is the C: volume.
When I look at the registry, I see
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\hivelist
\REGISTRY\MACHINE\BCD00000000 = \Device\HarddiskVolume1\Boot\BCD
\REGISTRY\MACHINE\SAM = \Device\HarddiskVolume2\Windows\System32\config\SAM
So I would guess that there existed a HarddiskVolume3 that was the (E:) volume on the WD disk,
but when I search for this in the registry, there are no results.
When the WD disk is online, and I go to the Disk Management,
Disk 0 = Corsair P64 SSD, with 100 MB boot volume and 59.93 GB (C:) volume
Disk 1 = WD 1 TB, with 931,51 GB (E:) volume
However!
I remember when I had connected the WD disk and started Windows,
I got a message telling that I had to initialize it, and if I would do that now.
I chose no, because.. hmm.. I don't recall..
..but a few minutes later, I went to Disk Management,
and then - either
- before I initialized the WD disk, or
- after I initialized it but before I formatted it, or
- after I initialized it and after I formatted it,
- I noticed that it was the opposite:
Disk 0 = the WD disk, maybe initialized / formatted or not
Disk 1 = Corsair P64 SSD, with 100 MB boot volume and 59.93 GB (C:) volume
I remembered I was thinking
"Oh no.. how could this happen? I hope it won't cause any troubles..
..Hmm I wonder if this is because I had that USB drive inserted while I installed Windows 7.."
I had to update the ASUS P7P55D-E's BIOS because of the Core i5 660 was so new,
and I did this using the USB drive, and then I forgot to remove it before I started installing Windows 7.
I don't know if this has any relevance at all - I just thought I'd mention it.
I guess the "obvious" solution to try would be to reinstall Windows 7 and all the other programs..
..however, since I'm not getting very much payment from this, I'd like to not having to do that..! :cry:
In fact, I have already told my friend she could get the pc very soon now,
so I'm thinking I should just leave it as it is, and tell him (her son)
to just restart Windows if he sees that the (E:) is gone.
But - then I thought -
"Maybe some other people in the Windows 7 Forums have experienced / heard of something similar..?
I'd guess it's worth a try.."
BTW: I have built 10+ pc's with XP and installed XP at least twice as many times,
but this is my very first experience with Windows 7
(and Vista, I have only used for a few hours on a friends laptop)
I noticed the "Safely Remove Hardware AND Eject Media",
which (usually) lists both the Corsair SSD and the WD disks.
So, could it be possible that the WD disk is somehow suddenly auto-ejected?
When I open "Devices and Printers" I see there are a difference between them:
The WD disk has an additional "AutoPlay" > "Local Disk (E:)"
while the Corsair does not have any AutoPlay at all.
I know there exists a programs that can hide disks from the tray menu;
"USB Safely Remove" made by a company called... "Safely Remove" (lol!)
- I was wondering if I should try installing that and hide both disks
since the user in question will have no need for ejecting them anyway.
So - if any of you have bothered reading all this - do you have any ideas about
the reason for the disappearing disk - or any tricks that I may try out..?