Windows 10: Windows 10 just removed my 2 internal hard drives from My PC and looks to have wiped them also

Hi all,


My PC seems to have removed my 2 internal storage devices that have been in for months. They are showing in disk management but it not allowing me to change path name or assign a new letter. They seem to have no data on them , so looks like my 7TB of data has been wiped for some reason. Can anyone assist ?

:)

 

Internal hard drive

I have an internal hard drive, that I installed over a year ago. It is no longer listed in "This Computer. " It is only a year or 2 old. before I replace it is there a way to look for it in file management. Maybe a windows update changed a setting?

[Moved from: Windows / Windows 10 / Windows update, recovery, & backup / PC]

 

How to wipe a hard drive

modder I already used kill-disk. The deletion is done, I need to reinstall everything.

 

Converting an internal hard drive to an external backup

I want to remove a 3.5 inch internal hard drive from a problematic (dying) desktop and use it as an external backup for a different PC via a USB 2 connection. How do I prepare this hard drive for removal and re-use?

My (few) friends frequently tell me that I know only enough to be dangerous. You folks are apparently very knowledgeable individuals, and I would very much appreciate any assistance you can provide. Perhaps you could just point me in the right direction for reference material, tutorials, etc.

The hard drive in question is a 100GB Seagate ST3100011A (Barracuda 7200.7). According to Seagate's instructions on how to interpret their model numbers, the drive has a 2MB cache and an ATA (IDE?) interface.

I've found a fairly highly-rated external enclosure (Rosewill RX355-U) from a reputable retailer that seems to fit my needs, but I am open to any alternatives you might suggest.

I am completely ignorant as to what I need to do to the hard drive before removal from its sick host. Caches, partitions and the like are totally Greek to me.

I assume the Windows XP operating system installed on the drive will have to be removed at some point in the process, but there is data on the drive that I would like to preserve if possible. The PC for which the hard drive will serve as a backup is running Windows 7.