Solved Multi Boot-Win7 & Win8.1 - Data Drive not seen in Win8.1

wired2

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Hopefully my explanation of this problem is not too confusing, this my first post.

My system is a multi-boot for Win7, Win8.1 & XP. I boot into Win7 most of the time. The multi-boot is controlled via EasyBCD in Win7. My data drive is a separate disk - F. I have been running this configuration for over a year without any major problems.

The system is an older Dell-XPS Core2 Quad CPU Q9450 A 2.66GHz with 8Gb memory
System drive - 1Tb with four partitions
Data drive - 1 Tb one partition

Recently I booted into Win8.1 after a few weeks of using only Win7. The data drive F: was not available. It does not show up in Disk Management and under Device Manager it shows as not connected to the system when the Unavailable Devices are displayed.

Booting back to Win7, the data drive is available, no problems with it. There are not any errors in the event/system logs in Win8.1 or Win7 related to the data drive F.

One possible cause might be that the motherboard battery was replaced about a week ago. I had to go in the BIOS and make changes for problems encountered when Win7 was booted. Unfortunately, I didn't boot Win8.1 to see if it had any problems. I've looked at the BIOS, but don't see anything that might cause this problem.

The config for the EasyBCD is below for boot into Win7
There are a total of 4 entries listed in the bootloader.

Default: Microsoft Windows 7
Timeout: 30 seconds
Boot Drive: C:\

Entry #1
Name: Windows 8.1
BCD ID: {3081a5c6-c566-11e3-808b-85773c60a873}
Drive: D:\
Bootloader Path: \WINDOWS\system32\winload.exe

Entry #2
Name: Earlier Version of Windows
BCD ID: {ntldr}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \ntldr

Entry #3
Name: Microsoft Windows 7
BCD ID: {current}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \Windows\system32\winload.exe

Entry #4
Name: Microsoft Windows XP
BCD ID: {35d885e8-466f-11e2-9b2c-001e4ce68d6b}
Drive: C:\
Bootloader Path: \NST\ntldr


Thanks in advance for your assistance.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Mulit Boot-Windows 7 Professional 64bit/Windows 8.1 64bit/XP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel Core2 Quad Q9459 @ 2.66GHz
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series
    Hard Drives
    ST1000DM003 - 1TB, Partitioned for Win8.1, Win7, XP, Spare
    WDC WD10EADS - 1TB - Data Disk
    eSATA with 2 x 2TB and 2 x 500GB
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Norton
    Other Info
    EasyBCD for multiboot
First off, why so many entries in BCD ?
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 8.1 Pro
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Home made
    CPU
    AMD Ryzen7 2700x
    Motherboard
    Asus Prime x470 Pro
    Memory
    16GB Kingston 3600
    Graphics Card(s)
    Asus strix 570 OC 4gb
    Hard Drives
    Samsung 960 evo 250GB
    Silicon Power V70 240GB SSD
    WD 1 TB Blue
    WD 2 TB Blue
    Bunch of backup HDDs.
    PSU
    Sharkoon, Silent Storm 660W
    Case
    Raidmax
    Cooling
    CCM Nepton 140xl
    Internet Speed
    40/2 Mbps
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    WD
Guess I never paid much attention to the double entry in BCD for XP, it worked so..... I'll clean it up after this.
I've searched the Internet for a solution and tried a lot of things to resolve this, but nothing seemed to work.
I finally gave up on it and restored an image backup of the Win8.1 partition that I had from mid Aug. That fixed the problem. Guess it could have been one of the 50+ Windows updates that caused the problem with the data drive. I'll be sure to check the data drive after every few updates.

Thanks for the reply
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Mulit Boot-Windows 7 Professional 64bit/Windows 8.1 64bit/XP
    Computer type
    PC/Desktop
    System Manufacturer/Model
    Dell
    CPU
    Intel Core2 Quad Q9459 @ 2.66GHz
    Motherboard
    Dell
    Memory
    8GB
    Graphics Card(s)
    ATI Radeon HD 3800 Series
    Hard Drives
    ST1000DM003 - 1TB, Partitioned for Win8.1, Win7, XP, Spare
    WDC WD10EADS - 1TB - Data Disk
    eSATA with 2 x 2TB and 2 x 500GB
    Browser
    Firefox
    Antivirus
    Norton
    Other Info
    EasyBCD for multiboot
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