After non-destructive reinstall of W7 2x4tb internal HDD's not showing

[rocks911]

So my W7 64 bit PC became unstable after infection so I performed a non-destructive re-install of the W7 64 bit OS. After 24 hours and 170+ updates it would appear that my PC is much more stable now.

However, I have 2 internal HDD's that do not appear in "My Computer". In Computer Management/Device Manager/Disk Drives the drives do appear but without any information.

I have a lot of data on those drives, is there any way to get them to appear without formatting them? It would be colossally difficult to recover the data.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Can't say I've heard the term "non-destructive re-install". I'm wondering if you nonetheless destroyed something.

Describe how you did this reinstall. Did you use an ordinary Windows DVD that you purchased? Or did you use a burned ISO? Or what?

Did you have these other 2 internal HDDs connected when you did this reinstall?

Were they just data drives? I assume your PC operates fine with them disconnected?

Post a screen shot of Windows Disk Management.

 

[rocks911]

I got the idea from Windows forum. Heres it described in detail:
https://www.winhelp.us/non-destructive-reinstall-of-windows-7.html

Its about not destroying existing apps/settings/documents/programs. I was having problems with Windows Update and the registry that I could not resolve, hence the reinstall. I used a burned ISO. Everything went swimmingly. Not a single problem, well except for this.

I did have the 2 internal drives installed before the reinstall. They were drives X and Y. They were simple data drives. Yes the PC works just fine now.

http://s24.postimg.org/q8u2qwe11/Disk_Management_screenshot.png

 

[rocks911]

I can right click in the disk 2 and 3 field for options but I think the options provided will render the drives....well, erased of content. The option that I remember selecting when I installed them was "new simple volume" but I'm loathe to do that because I fear it will erase the drives of content.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

I can right click in the disk 2 and 3 field for options but I think the options provided will render the drives....well, erased of content. The option that I remember selecting when I installed them was "new simple volume" but I'm loathe to do that because I fear it will erase the drives of content.

It appears disk 2 and 3 are already erased of content--that's what unallocated space is. The drives appear as they would when first purchased--no partitions, no data, nothing.

The top portion of that pic you linked shows 4 partitions: C, D, Z, and System. But in the bottom area of that pic we see only disks 2 and 3.

Can you post another picture which will show C, D, Z, and System in the bottom portion, along with disks 2 and 3?

I know nothing at all about that method described in that winhelp link you provided, but the first rule when restoring Windows is to disconnect any drives unrelated to Windows--which you apparently did not do and which has apparently led to the deletion of whatever partitions were on disks 2 and 3.

It looks like your main hope now is that you can recover those partitions and thus the data on them.

That requires special tools. Most likely Partition Wizard. I'm not an expert in that tool, but you need help from someone who is, perhaps Jumanji on this forum.

I urge you not to do any writing to disks 2 and 3. Just let them sit for the moment.

You might want to start a new thread in the backup and recovery section of this site, with a title of something like "Need to recover deleted partitions".

Maybe there is another explanation for where you are now, but that's what it looks like to me.

 

[rocks911]

Actually I do have this data backed up. I did not know that when one reinstalled Windows that one needed to disconnect the drive. Thanks for the quick reply. I'll just have to move the data from my backup.\

I learn something every day.

 

[ignatzatsonic]

Actually I do have this data backed up. I did not know that when one reinstalled Windows that one needed to disconnect the drive. Thanks for the quick reply. I'll just have to move the data from my backup.\

I learn something every day.

OK.

Good decision to have the backups. Just format that unallocated space and restore your data.

I'm guessing that you may have made a mis-step when following those instructions on the non-destructive re-install. I'd assume that wiping out all data on non-Windows drives is not an intended result of that procedure. I dunno--I didn't read through it.

That's why it's good practice to disconnect non-Windows drives, so that you can't effect those drives if and when you make a mis-step.

Even during an ordinary re-install, if you leave other drives connected, Windows can at times put your boot files on a second drive and you'd be unable to boot if that second drive failed.

 

[dsperber]

Actually I do have this data backed up. I did not know that when one reinstalled Windows that one needed to disconnect the drive.

It's definitely NOT MANDATORY. Windows will install perfectly fine to the target drive/partition of your choosing, as long as you control the installer properly and your BIOS boot sequence is set properly with the multiple drives still connected, etc., even if you have multiple other drives still present and connected.

Disconnecting your "data" drives is simply super-conservative and guaranteed protective good technique, which of course would guarantee you couldn't make a mistake by accident and destroy something you had no interest in destroying. And as has been mentioned, this approach also guarantees that your "system reserved" partition (which is marked "active" by the installer, and is where Boot Manager is placed) will be on the same drive as the true installed Windows system partition itself.

Note that this is obviously inappropriate if you just added a second drive and want to place the new Windows to be installed on this second drive, when an existing bootable OS is already on your first drive. That would require the Boot Manager menu (in "system reserved" on the first drive) to be updated to point to your new second Windows on the second drive, something which would be done automatically by the Windows installer during this second Windows install. So disconnecting the primary drive in this scenario is clearly NOT what you want to do, because of the unusual target configuration you want to end up with in this very special case.

But for almost all normal one-OS installs, it is just recommended technique with good justification to "protect" any data drives from accidental unwanted damage during the current Windows install.

Thanks for the quick reply. I'll just have to move the data from my backup.

You could also first try Partition Wizard's "partition recovery" feature, before restoring from your backup.

If these drives have truly not been wiped somehow, so that the old partition contents on these drives are still as they were, PW may be able to discover the partition boundaries and reinstate them. You wouldn't have to restore them from your backup if so.

Worst case, if PW can't recover the partitions then you can still proceed with your restore from backups. Can't hurt to at least try using PW first, as it might save you a fair bit of recovery time that would otherwise be unnecessary.