Zombie-drive (HDD)

[CornFlix._.]

Hi,

my HDD (D: Data) is not showing up anymore in the partition manager in windows ("Partition.png") but i can still access it from the explorer ("Explorer.png") and copy files from it at full speed.

I first noticed that when I saw my second partition (B: Backup) on that drive fail with the dialog window with the option to format that partition showing up. I don't know why but i deleted that partition shortly after.

The HDD was formated in a weird way: D:Data was in a sandwich between B:Backup. For some unknown reason I could only split B:Backup in two parts which were I think it's called a portable partition (the bar was a dark green color) - It's shown in "Partition old.png".

I am very worried now that the D:Data partition is also going to fail - I have nowhere to back that data on there up because I dont have a big enough drive.

[Note: B:Backup wasn't a place where i would backup the data from my PC, I had data from my old phone and laptop on there which weren't very important]

[Note: The HDD is a 2TB WD Blue]

If you need anything from the pictures translated to english or any additional information please just ask.

[Naijin]

5 minutes ago, CornFlix._. said:

Hi,

my HDD (D: Data) is not showing up anymore in the partition manager in windows ("Partition.png") but i can still access it from the explorer ("Explorer.png") and copy files from it at full speed.

I first noticed that when I saw my second partition (B: Backup) on that drive fail with the dialog window with the option to format that partition showing up. I don't know why but i deleted that partition shortly after.

The HDD was formated in a weird way: D:Data was in a sandwich between B:Backup. For some unknown reason I could only split B:Backup in two parts which were I think it's called a portable partition (the bar was a dark green color) - It's shown in "Partition old.png".

I am very worried now that the D:Data partition is also going to fail - I have nowhere to back that data on there up because I dont have a big enough drive.

[Note: B:Backup wasn't a place where i would backup the data from my PC, I had data from my old phone and laptop on there which weren't very important]

[Note: The HDD is a 2TB WD Blue]

If you need anything from the pictures translated to english or any additional information please just ask.

Never seen a dynamic drive before. Copy all contents somewhere safe and create "new simple volume"

EDIT: see this

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/disk-management/change-a-dynamic-disk-back-to-a-basic-disk

[CornFlix._.]

1 minute ago, Naijin said:

Never seen a dynamic drive before. Copy all contents somewhere safe and create "new simple volume"

EDIT: see this

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows-server/storage/disk-management/change-a-dynamic-disk-back-to-a-basic-disk

My problem is that I have nowhere to put all of that data and I am asking if there is a fix for that problem of the drive not fully showing up in partition manager anymore.

I also assume that this behavior won't change by formating the drive - also I only can format the D:Data partition in windows and not the whole drive.

[Applefreak]

21 minutes ago, CornFlix._. said:

My problem is that I have nowhere to put all of that data and I am asking if there is a fix for that problem of the drive not fully showing up in partition manager anymore.

I also assume that this behavior won't change by formating the drive - also I only can format the D:Data partition in windows and not the whole drive.

You need to move the data off the drive then delete all partitions (Partition löschen) and then reformat it. You can get a cheap 1 TB drive to backup the important stuff fairly cheap these days (the external USB ones). They are not great but good enough for the occasional backup. Loosing the Steam folder ist not a big deal just a pain to download all the things again. I would generally advise not to create partitions on drives as it can cause issues with moving data, at least in windows, where partitions are actually physical locations on the drive. You can convert a HDD from Dynamic to Basic but I am fairly certain data on it will be unreadable and scrambled. 

[CornFlix._.]

12 minutes ago, Applefreak said:

You need to move the data off the drive then delete all partitions (Partition löschen) and then reformat it. You can get a cheap 1 TB drive to backup the important stuff fairly cheap these days (the external USB ones). They are not great but good enough for the occasional backup. Loosing the Steam folder ist not a big deal just a pain to download all the things again. I would generally advise not to create partitions on drives as it can cause issues with moving data, at least in windows, where partitions are actually physical locations on the drive. You can convert a HDD from Dynamic to Basic but I am fairly certain data on it will be unreadable and scrambled. 

Okay, so it looks like i don't have any other option.

Do you know how I can format the whole drive? Because at the moment i can only format D:Data

[Applefreak]

2 minutes ago, CornFlix._. said:

Okay, so it looks like i don't have any other option.

Do you know how I can format the whole drive? Because at the moment i can only format D:Data

You need to delete both partitions first, then convert the drive to normal type and then you can format it with NTFS or exFAT if you like.

If the windows diskmgt makes troubles you can use diskpart in cmd prompt in as well (Eingabeaufforderung). 

[CornFlix._.]

22 minutes ago, Applefreak said:

You need to delete both partitions first, then convert the drive to normal type and then you can format it with NTFS or exFAT if you like.

If the windows diskmgt makes troubles you can use diskpart in cmd prompt in as well (Eingabeaufforderung). 

Datenträger 1 (die HDD die ich formatieren möchte) wird mir auch in diskpart nicht angezeigt 

[Applefreak]

5 minutes ago, CornFlix._. said:

Datenträger 1 (die HDD die ich formatieren möchte) wird mir auch in diskpart nicht angezeigt 

Could be a driver issue. Try installing the most current driver for your chipset. If the drive is connected to a raid controller port, you may need to install an additional driver for that. Also try with a windows install disk, it should list all drives on the setup screen. You can then wipe the drive's partitions with the erase icon and create a new drive on there and then just restart. Another way would be to use a linux live installation as it can usually handle drives better than windows. My guess, your windows installation has some issues. 

[CornFlix._.]

1 minute ago, Applefreak said:

Could be a driver issue. Try installing the most current driver for your chipset. If the drive is connected to a raid controller port, you may need to install an additional driver for that. Also try with a windows install disk, it should list all drives on the setup screen. You can then wipe the drive's partitions with the erase icon and create a new drive on there and then just restart. Another way would be to use a linux live installation as it can usually handle drives better than windows. My guess, your windows installation has some issues. 

I will try the linux life install

[CornFlix._.]

2 hours ago, Applefreak said:

Could be a driver issue. Try installing the most current driver for your chipset. If the drive is connected to a raid controller port, you may need to install an additional driver for that. Also try with a windows install disk, it should list all drives on the setup screen. You can then wipe the drive's partitions with the erase icon and create a new drive on there and then just restart. Another way would be to use a linux live installation as it can usually handle drives better than windows. My guess, your windows installation has some issues. 

It worked and everything is back to normal, thank you!