Does the latest PW boot disk see it? Try running it's HD Surface Scan and File Checker if it will run from boot.
Scan with Partition Recovery Wizard to see if it finds anything missing.
Finally, if the drive shows up long enough I'd wipe it from PW CD Disk Tab to see if clearing the boot sector makes it readable. This is the only thing I can think of that could keep it from being read or booting if it tests out good with WD Lifeguard.
The originally assigned drive letters were your own invention (unless they were purely sequentially assigned at first-sight by Windows).
Then they disappeared, and now they've reappeared... if i understand your story correctly. The drive "signature" itself may also appear different, which is why Windows would simply assign new first-time letters to the partitions it sees, having no relation to what it used to have with the original drive signature.
You can simply re-letter your partitions again as you see fit, and those customized new assignments will stick... as long as the physical drive is still recognized by its signature and you don't change cabling or BIOS hard drive sequence assignment.
Of course if the drive has now once again vanished from view... this is moot.
Cabling? Is your power cable inserted firmly? Disappearing drives can certainly be tied to flaky cables or "adapters" joining segments of cables.
Crikey ... I feel like I'm repeating Step A here. I am apparently not bright enough to burn a new PW boot CD on my laptop. I rebooted the desktop with the PW4 boot disk and once again rebuilt the MBRs for all disks.
It promptly booted back with all disks aboard - snapshot attached.
Is the data visible on Disk0 now? It doesn't appear to have much on it.
I would reinstall Programs to C as they should be to keep them together with the OS for imaging purposes, since they become part of the OS when integrated into Registry.
Also no other but an OS drive should be marked Active as it can derail the Win7 boot files to itself when you run Repairs. For this reason I would also have the OS drive in Disk0 slot since Repairs/Installer writes/repairs boot files to the first Active partition it finds.
I take your suggestions under advisement. I have historically kept my prgrams on a separate drive, so that a windows issue doesnt have to wipe out the whole system.
That said, I think I have other issues that may be contributing. Explorer is hogging memory over time and eventually this causes a crash and that messes the MBR ... leading to drive recognition issues. Does that sound plausible?
There is no use for separated Programs if Win7 becomes irreparable because they must be reinstalled anyway.
Not so for User files which can be protected in their own separate data partiUser Folders - Change Default Location tion linked thusly:
What I would do is clean reinstall to get a perfect reinstall with Programs onboard, then we can troubleshoot the issues which may have to do with other install irregularities that will be shaken out: Reinstalling Windows 7
Be sure to unplug all other HD's during reinstall, then wipe the target HD first using PW CD to clear the boot sector.
No offense, but there are 42 GB of programs on that drive!
Assuming I undertook that task, I don't see how I'm any further ahead. You seem to be saying that whenever something screws up I should meticulously reinstall windows and all my programs. Why is it any easier to troubleshoot what is perhaps a windows problem, just because my programs are on the same drive?
If you don't have a "system image" that you can instantly restore from, then in worst case where a Windows reinstall is required then yes... you WOULD also have to then reinstall all of your application programs.
You can't just always RUN programs from a \Program Files directory unless they're written and packaged to be "portable". But most programs create registry entries, desktop and start menu shortcuts, etc., that are the direct result of running their INSTALLer. Simply having the resulting \Program Files folder for that program is just one of many things making up its usability.
So simply putting the \Program Files parent folder on a second drive is no different than putting it on your main C-drive. It cannot just be used to run programs following a new fresh Windows install which when installed originally created all of those other Windows objects as well as the program folder itself.
You can of course include any drives you want in a "system image", over and above the bare minimum boot-related drives which are grayed-out and which you can't de-select. But you can add more, if you want. So if you really had placed your \Program Files folder on a second drive you SHOULD include that second drive in the "system image". It is this "system image" which is how you instantly recover, which in your case could have included both C as well as the other partition containing \Program Files if it was on a second partition.
But it is not having your \Program Files on a second physical hard drive from the disk containing your Windows partition that is going to provide "instant usability" for all 42GB of your programs. You HAVE TO reinstall them all into the newly installed Win7. That's just the truth, in the absence of a "system image" restore.
I only said that is what I would do, as a clean reinstall specialist who insists on getting it perfect from the start then relies on an image in place of any further reinstalls.
So what are the problems you need to work out now, if the drive is showing up?
Ii would work through the logs to resolve repeat errors, use the System Resources, retest the HD regularly with both Disk Check and HD Diagnostics: troubleshooting steps
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