Win7 not recognising new 3rd HDD

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  1. Posts : 68
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit
       #1

    Win7 not recognising new 3rd HDD


    The BIOS sees it. System Info for Windows sees it, but shows no drive letter. Device Mangler lists all 3 drives, but is not much help because Properties shows no Volume or capacity for any of the HDDs.

    Can I assume this drive is an unformatted blank? How do I format it if Win is not seeing it?

    Any help really appreciated.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 7,730
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
       #2

    Before we can offer the best advice we need to see a screenshot of your fully-expanded disk management layout please.

    By fully-expanded, we need to see not only the partitions but a full view of their respective titles.

    If the drive hasn't been partitioned Windows won't see it.
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 68
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit
    Thread Starter
       #3

    Thanks for the reply. I am not sure what you mean, but I hope thsi works.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Win7 not recognising new 3rd HDD-discs1.png   Win7 not recognising new 3rd HDD-discs2.png   Win7 not recognising new 3rd HDD-discs3.png  
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 2,752
    Windows 7 Pro x64 (1), Win7 Pro X64 (2)
       #4

    No... what is needed is a screenshot from running DISKMGMT.MSC.

    Then maximize it to full-screen and spread the columns so that the test in each cell of the upper-half is fully readable.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 7,730
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
       #5

    This is what we need.

    Win7 not recognising new 3rd HDD-dm.jpg
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 68
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit
    Thread Starter
       #6

    Thanks again guys. I think I am seeing the answer but I will ask you to confirm. The disk is a blank.

    See attached, but also when I ran diskmgmt.msc I was told that I had to initialise the new drive before it could be used. That seems pretty definitive.

    EDIT: Uploaded a better shot.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Win7 not recognising new 3rd HDD-better-discs.jpg  
    Last edited by OldNick; 20 May 2012 at 04:54. Reason: Uploaded a better shot.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 7,730
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
       #7

    Initialising a drive is the same as giving the drive a partition.

    Every new drive needs to be intialised and formatted before you can use it.

    Just right-click the drive in question, choose the option to create a new volume (partition), then give the new partition a quick format and a drive letter.

    Windows should then see it, but you may need to reboot first.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 68
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit
    Thread Starter
       #8

    OK. Thanks.

    I was worried that maybe Win 7 was not seeing the drive, although it had data on it. I realise that an empt6y drive will not be seen by Windows. I was worried that somehow Windows would not see a drive that _did_ have data on it. I think that has happened.....:)

    As I said, when I started to use the diskmgmt.msc utility, I started to believe that the disc was empty.

    So. Thanks for the help guys, again.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 7,730
    Windows 7 Ultimate SP1 64-Bit
       #9

    You're very welcome.

    If you feel your problem has been resolved, please mark the thread as solved.

    If you need further help, don't hesitate to post back.
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 68
    Windows 7 Home Premium 32bit
    Thread Starter
       #10

    I'm still not quite sure. The diskmgmt.msc app is still under windows. Can I be sure that the drive is empty, based on what I am seeing? I do not want to unnecessarily lose data. As I say I would just like confirmation.
      My Computer


 
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