2nd Hard drive disappeared after Windows Update

[loyalrogue]

This morning I had a Windows 7 update waiting.
I shut down to let it do the update and went to work.
When I came home and started it back up it stayed hung-up on the startup screen for 15 minutes before I hard rebooted.
When it came back up, the second drive disappeared from My Computer.

I looked in Disk Management and it says the disk is not initialized.
I had 3 partions of data on that drive and want to know how to get the drive back active without losing the data.
Can anyone offer any suggestions?

Thanks.

 

[dsperber]

Can you please post a screenshot from DISKMGMT.MSC. Be sure it's full-screen, and please spread the columns so that all text in the cells is visible.

As far as recovery, if the drive and partitions on it have not actually been genuinely corrupted or destroyed, you might well be able to recover them intact using the "partition recovery wizard" function of Partition Wizard. Download and install the free version 7 "home edition" which is fine for just about everything you could want to do. Also download and burn the ISO image for standalone boot CD, which is used for functions involving work on the C-partition when Windows cannot be running, and also if you just want to feel more comfortable. All functions are available with either version, but the standalone boot CD version obviously will not show Windows drive letters like using the installed version under Win7 will.

If this problem drive is not your primary drive on which the Windows C partition lives (and I'm guessing it's not) you could use the installed version under Win7 to see if that drive can be recovered using the "partition recovery wizard" functionality. Or, you can do the same thing with the standalone boot CD.

Note that Partition Wizard also has an "explore partition" function, which will actually look at that partition's file system if possible, even though Win7 says "needs to be initialized".

But before you do anything let's see that DISKMGMT screenshot.

 

[loyalrogue]

Hi dsperber,

Thank you for the assist.

Here is the screenshot. Hope it's what you needed to see.

 

[Petey7]

If I'm not mistaken, you should be able to right-click the drive, in this case Disk 1, and initialize should be an option you can click. Some people do not realize you can click the drives, not just the space shown.

 

[loyalrogue]

Yes, I saw that option when I right-clicked, but didn't know if it would affect any data on the drive if I did.
It's a 2TB drive that was originally setup with 3 partitions, and I don't remember what the sizes were.

 

[Golden]

Hi,

I'm not 100% sure here, but if you do initialise the drive, I think all the data on it may be lost.

Perhaps there is another solution?

Regards,
Golden

 

[dsperber]

I wouldn't "initialize". That sounds pretty extreme, and I can't imagine it's equivalent to "recover all previously existing partitions".

Ok... that second drive is not showing "offline" (as it might if for some reason there was a disk signature "collision" which is easy to fix). But it might be as simple as repairing the MBR, which is exactly the type of thing that Partition Wizard's "partition recovery wizard" is designed to do... among other recovery techniques.

So, as I mentioned earlier (if you haven't already downloaded, installed, and burned the ISO) I would suggest that you get Partition Wizard. Then run the program (you can use the installed version under Win7, since this is not your Disk0) and see what PW can make of the drive's contents.

Then, you can certainly at least START the "partition recovery wizard" function for that second drive, and see what PW can figure out about it. You don't have to actually push the APPLY button until you're convinced that PW has figured it all out and claims to be able to recover your partitions.

Since you'll be using PW under Win7, you can also take screenshots during the wizard dialog and post here if you have questions.

My sympathies here for your dilemma, and let's hope you can recover the three partitions and their data. But reality requests that you be prepared for a true worst-case disaster, and the possible loss of the data on those three partitions... if you're forced to re-initialize and re-partition that drive to zero. Hopefully you have some form of backup from which you can recover some/all of this data (especially if it's "critical or valuable data"), or else I'm sure there will be much crying.

 

[Golden]

^ I agree - try Partition Wizrd to see if you can interrogate the partitons. If may be just a case of nominating them as logical disks......?

Regards,
Golden

 

[Petey7]

I'm actually not sure on this one, as I have not done it myself before. The data will certainly not be wiped. Initializing is not the same as formatting, but it might not restore your partitions and you may need to use a recovery tool to excess your data. However, I did read one thread where the problem seemed to be that the hard drive was not getting enough power. You may want to disconnect and reconnect the hard drive and see what happens. You have a desktop, correct? Turn the computer off, disconnect all cables going to the hard drive, reconnect them, and then restart the computer.

 

[loyalrogue]

Thanks for all the advice.

Already downloaded and installed PW, but it throws an appcrash when run.
I'm burning the ISO now to try and run it off a bootable CD.

Will try the unplugging and plugging trick when I shutdown after burning, before trying to recover the partitions.

Most of the data is backed-up externally, but the most recent projects will be lost, and I will definitely be crying.

 

[Petey7]

Recuva is a pretty good free recovery program. I hope it doesn't come to having to use it, but just in case I will go ahead and provide a link to it.

Recuva - Undelete, Unerase, File and Disk Recovery - Free Download

 

[Britton30]

I think Initialize will destroy your data, at least it did on a USB drive which got corrupted when Windows said it had to be when I plugged it in.

 

[loyalrogue]

UPDATE: Success!

None of the above options worked.
The drive was only visible in disk management, and not recoverable by any data recovery tools.

Partition Wizard only reported "Bad Disk" on scanning, and Power Data Recovery couldn't scan or detect any data on the disk at all.

I tried unplugging/replugging with no luck.
Tried moving to an external enclosure with no luck.
Moved back to the PC and tried several free tools for repairing/recovering partions and partition tables with no luck.

At this point I realized that all of the files for the new business I started last month were on this drive. A few files were on jump drives, but EVERYTHING was on this drive.
I was ready to shoot myself.

As a last resort I was ready to try to initialize or reformat the drive in the hopes that if it was recognizable in some form I might be able to finally recover some data.
I went into Disk Mgmt again to initialize, but now the disk had changed status to "Errors" and initialize wasn't an option anymore.
Now I was really ready to shoot myself.
Instead, I did some reading on the errors staus which lead me to other solutions for "Offline" and "Missing" statuses.

On a fluke I decided to change the drive to "Offline" and back to "Online".
Hallelujah!, One of the partitions was recognized and back with drive letter and volume name, and the other was reporting as healthy but with no drive letter.
(I was mistaken earlier. I thought it had 3 partitions, but it only has 2)
I assigned a letter and path to the unknown healthy partition and bingo, it was back with the original volume name and accessible again.

I've already backed-up the latest files that were only on this drive, and am now backing-up all the rest of the files again just in case this drive is on the way out.

Normally I have an automatic backup drive plugged into one of the USB ports on this box, but a couple of months ago I needed to use both ports for another drive and a tablet, and never plugged it back in.
I can only hope that I've learned my lesson...
Sheesh, what a night.

Thanks to all who helped with suggestions and advice.

Cheers!

Reps spread around for all the help and solid advice.

 

[Petey7]

Glad to hear that you were able to get all the data off of the drive successfully. It does indeed sound like your hard drive might be about to die, which is sad because hard drive prices are sky-rocketing. I recommend downloading the hard drive diagnostic tool for your brand hard drive and run all the test that it offers to be sure.

 

[Golden]

Good news. Now ... backup, backup, backup and test that hard disk.

Some suggestions:

CrystalDiskInfo - Software - Crystal Dew World
http://www.sevenforums.com/tutorials/187346-robocopy-create-backup-script.html

Regards,
Golden

 

[Britton30]

Good news indeed, this will be helpful for others.
Here are a few maufacturer-specific drive test tools. Alwayg good to have options in your arsenal.
7 Free Hard Drive Testing Software Tools