Windows 10: Hard drive missing after Windows Update

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Though uncommon, some users reported missing a complete hard drive after a Windows Update. While the primary drive remains visible, any additional hard drive or partition goes missing. If that is the case for you, this post will help you get back the missing hard drive. Hard drive missing after Windows Update Before we start, […]

This article Hard drive missing after Windows Update first appeared on TheWindowsClub.com.

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Hard drive/ OS issue

a guy suggested :

• shutdown
• unhooked HDD
• restarted
• yay !!
• reconnected HDD
• restarted
• yay !!

also , try method 3
How do I unlock the drive where Windows 10 is installed?

 

How to : Hard drives used to show in Windows and are now missing [visible in BIOS]

Skip to bottom for resolution:
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I had a scare today that in hindsight, I possibly could have avoided. I am not certain that I caused the issue, however decided I wanted to share the resolution with my comrades at TPU and hopefully others in the future.
Searching for this type of subject, is difficult as any work around or solution is often piled under results that are for a similar issue though not quite this scenario.

I was changing power supplies and realized I was short of the remaining required SATA power cables. This meant I could only power on my SSDs(normally two SSD, two HDD). After finishing, I had the system up and running for a few hours doing various things when I stumbled across some more SATA power cables. I took the machine down, hooked up the SATA>HDD and booted the system.

Windows did not see the mechanical drives in Explorer. I checked the following :

• Are the drives getting power? Yes I can hear/feel them slightly humming. Good sign.
• Are the drives showing in Device Manager under Disk Drives? No only my SSD show.
• Are the drives showing in Administrative Tools> Computer Management > Disk Management? No only my SSD show.

Turned off the system. I checked the following :

• SATA connections at the motherboard and the hard disks. Connections are firm.
• Double checked in BIOS that they were visible.

I booted Windows again and this time listened intently for that classic crunch sound of the drive head doing it's work. I heard nothing.

A coffee later ( I don't drink coffee, was very stressful times - Defcon 2 I would say) I took stock of what I knew :

• There's power
• There's SATA data transmission
• BIOS has given us a green light
• I didn't do any thing to my knowledge that would trash the drives.

It occurred to me I may have confused Windows, and I remembered that sometimes devices can be hidden (what causes this could be a myriad of reasons that I am unaware of).


Solution :

• Open Control Panel > Device Manager

other ways to reach the Device Manager :

• Start Menu > Run and type mmc devmgmt.msc
• Start Menu and type Device Manager in the search box
• Start Menu and type mmc devmgmt.msc in the search box

• At the top of the Device Manager, click on View and then Show Hidden Devices.
• Down in the main window of the Device Manager, press the arrow or plus (+) sign to the left of the section Disk drives. It will open the list of drives, including any that are hidden. These will be colored with grey text. You should see some familiar models in there, hopefully your missing hard disks and there may be several entries for each (meaning there's duplicates).
• Right click on each of the grey entries that relate to your missing device(s) and select Uninstal (do this for every instance or copy of your missing drives).
• Agree to the OK or Cancel prompt that you receive.
• Reboot your system.

As your system prepares to enter Windows, you will never have been more happy to hear the nasty crunch of mechanical hard disks as the little HD men go to work inside your storage devices.

 

Hard Drive Space Missing

Hi,

It is possible that hard drive space was missing due to a corrupted file system. To better assist you, kindly answer the following questions:

• Have you made any recent changes prior to this issue?
• Have you tried deleting temporary files?
• What troubleshooting steps have you done so far aside from checked the hidden files?

We're looking forward to your response.