Solved Can't see hard drive or DVD drive in Computer or Windows Explorer

[Denotenator]

I reinstalled Windows 7 and everything went well. I can access the internal drive and the DVD drive through Open on Disk Management and a shortcut for the hard drive on the desktop that I created after the install but can't see the hard drive or the DVD drive in Computer or Windows Explorer.

I have an external hard drive that stopped appearing in Computer or Windows Explorer before I reinstalled. It is still accessible through Disk Management but still doesn't appear in Computer.

Thanks for any tips.

 

[VistaKing]

Do you have any yellow exclamation mark symbols inside Device Manager .

 

[Denotenator]

No yellow exclamation points - all three drives appear normally.

 

[VistaKing]

Does it appear inside Computer ?

 

[Denotenator]

The subject of the post is "Can't see hard drive or DVD drive in Computer or Windows Explorer"

 

[Faladu]

Does a 3rd party file manager app like Total Commander or XYplorer see/allow use of the drives?

Narrowing this down...

I'd try SFC /scannow from START | search box [admin acct] or command prompt with admin rights.
Verify your windows files and then scan for viruses with the usual virus tools.

 

[jumanji]

Hi Denotenator,

You seem to have an OEM machine, DELL ( from your System Specs )

What media did you use for the clean install? Is it DELL OEM installation Disk, DELL recovery disks you probably made or if other than these two what is it?

 

[Denotenator]

Does a 3rd party file manager app like Total Commander or XYplorer see/allow use of the drives?

Narrowing this down...

I'd try SFC /scannow from START | search box [admin acct] or command prompt with admin rights.
Verify your windows files and then scan for viruses with the usual virus tools.

Total Commander will access C: drive but not Computer. XYplorer will not access C: because it can't access Computer.

SFC / scannow did not show any problems. Norton has been running scans and no problems show up.

 

[Denotenator]

Hi Denotenator,

You seem to have an OEM machine, DELL ( from your System Specs )

What media did you use for the clean install? Is it DELL OEM installation Disk, DELL recovery disks you probably made or if other than these two what is it?

I have a Dell 960 and I reinstalled Windows 7 Pro from a CD. I didn't use Dell recovery disks. All data remained on the disk, and apparently so did Dell drivers. There were no driver updates needed when I checked. Windows 7 downloaded over a 100 updates.

 

[Lee]

It would appear that you have one of those "Ole My God" problems. . .

Sometimes you just have to "Bite the Bullet," and do a reinstall, or attempt a "Recovery.". . .Darn!

 

[Denotenator]

Every problem has a cause and every cause a solution; there are no acts of god according to my holly roller pastor.

Since the reinstall was my previous step, what would a recovery look like, buying a new machine?
The only thing I did differently than all my 15 other reinstalls was not to wipe the disk first.

 

[Lee]

Every problem has a cause and every cause a solution; there are no acts of god according to my holly roller pastor.

Since the reinstall was my previous step, what would a recovery look like, buying a new machine?
The only thing I did differently than all my 15 other reinstalls was not to wipe the disk first.

Very true, and quess what the cause usually is. . .

 

[jumanji]

Hi Denotenator,

You seem to have an OEM machine, DELL ( from your System Specs )

What media did you use for the clean install? Is it DELL OEM installation Disk, DELL recovery disks you probably made or if other than these two what is it?

I have a Dell 960 and I reinstalled Windows 7 Pro from a CD. I didn't use Dell recovery disks. All data remained on the disk, and apparently so did Dell drivers. There were no driver updates needed when I checked. Windows 7 downloaded over a 100 updates.

I am not sure why you wanted to do a reinstall.

I am also not sure whether you can do such a reinstall from other than DELL media - a DELL OEM reinstall Disk or Recovery disks for your system. Perhaps that could be the reason for your problem.

Did you not make the recovery disks for your system?

Anyway, do a reinstall as Lee suggested. If the problem persists, you may have to do a reinstall either with the DELL Recovery Disks/Recovery partition ( Check the system document for details) or a clean install with the DELL OEM installation disk. In both cases you will lose all data, so be sure to back it up beforehand.

If you are resident in U.S.A you may request for the OEM reinstall disk (free of cost) http://www.dell.com/support/troubleshooting/us/en/19/KCS/KcsArticles/ArticleView?docid=124442

 

[RvB Vakama]

Try this: Right click computer and go manage

then to disk management

then find the drive that has does not show up and then right click it

then you should see something like: "change drive letter and paths" or "assign drive letter"

If there is no letter assigned to it, it wont show in explorer, if it has a letter, then sorry i cant' help :/

 

[Denotenator]

Hi Denotenator,

Anyway, do a reinstall as Lee suggested. If the problem persists, you may have to do a reinstall either with the DELL Recovery Disks/Recovery partition ( Check the system document for details) or a clean install with the DELL OEM installation disk. In both cases you will lose all data, so be sure to back it up beforehand.

I did the clean reinstall using recovery disks and everything looks good. Thanks for your help.

 

[jumanji]

Glad to know that. So my perception that installation with anything other than the OEM Recovery Disks/install media may be the cause of your problem proved right. OEMS are permitted to make minor tweaks/changes to Windows to suit their system.

If you want a clean install without all the crapware, you may still obtain the OEM reinstall disk from DELL. It will be unadulterated Windows 7 media with only all language packs and OEM activation data.( A clean install with the OEM installation disk will also preserve the OEM activation just as in the Recovery disks.)