HDD is not showing in My Computer and Empty

wawizahini

New Member
Messages
4
Hello,

i am having problems with my transcend 500gb external hard disk drive.

First, it's not showing in My Computer. i tried to uninstall the device, but when i plug it in, it still recognize as an old device and it doesn't install as a new device.

Secondly, when i open up the disk management, the hard disk is showing as unallocated. and then a pop up message came up saying that i need to initialize the disk (MBR or GPT) thingy but i didnt do it, afraid that i might lose everything in the hard disk.

Thirdly, I tried one solution using the Minitool Partition Wizard. (followed the steps here: disk 1 is unknown, not initialized, unallocated - Windows 7 Help Forums) and i found out that, i don't have any partition for my hard disk and it's empty. its impossible though for it to be empty since i know the last time i checked, its almost full.

need a huge help for this problem! Thanks!
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 64-bit
1. Post a screenshot of how your 500GB Transcend external drive appears in Windows Disk Management. If it throws up the message to initialise it, do not initialise. Just cancel or close that window and take a screenshot. Follow the guidelines here to take the screenshot. Disk Management - Post a Screen Capture Image - Windows 7 Help Forums

2. Post a screenshot of the first screen that appears as soon as you launch Partition Wizard.

( Remove all other external drives and have only your faulty external HDD connected when you do the above)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
Screenshot (6).pngScreenshot (7).png

Hi Jumanji,

Thank you for your reply. Forgive me as I replied late due to connection problems. But, I did as you told. Posted a Screenshot and hoping that You could help!

Thanks! :)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 64-bit
Sorry, I don't visit Eight forums often and totally forgot about this.

Run Quick scan in Partition recovery Wizard.

Click on Partition Recovery Wizard in the Left Pane > Select your drive to be recovered >Next > Full Disk > Next > Quick Scan > Next. Post a screenshot that shows the found partitions but don't do anything further. After you post the screenshot, click on Cancel and then close PW. Let me examine those shots and we shall proceed further.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
Hi Jumanji, I can totally understand that as I also have issue with availability of WiFi connection. If it's not a problem with you, we can contact directly through email (wwi79@live.com) and just post attachment there. But anyways, I did try to Quick Scan in Partition Recovery Wizard on Disk 2 (see post #3) few days back but as soon as I finished scanning, It doesn't show any " found partition ". I promise to get back to you with a posted screenshot of the finished scanning of the partition wizard to prove that it doesn't show " found partition ". I'm starting it now, and it takes a lot of patience for it to be done.

edited with attachment

Screenshot (8).png
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 64-bit
OK, I have seen your post. Will take sometime to tell you the next step. Just keep watching.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
OK, When Quick Scan fails, a Full Scan is recommended. But I would like to cut short and examine your drive directly at the sector level.

Since you have the 64bit version of Windows, download and install the 64bit version of Bootice ã€BOOTICE v1.3.3.2: 功能强大的å¯åŠ¨ç»´æŠ¤å·¥å…·ã€‘-å*逸轩

On how to use bootice see my post here Lost partitions! Solved - Windows 7 Help Forums . Stop with the first four screenshots that explains the menu items. ( While you may read further, we will not be using the save and restore feature now unless needed.)

As shown in the first screenshot there, select your external drive, click on Sector Edit. Click on the Partition Button and post a screenshot of what it shows.

After that click on the Sector Indicator field, type 63 > OK and it will show you the contents of sector 63 . Post a screenshot.

Now go to Sector 2048, and post a screenshot of it.

After that quit bootice. Let me examine those sectors and decide what next to do..

( Before running Bootice, reboot your PC and straightway run Bootice. Do not open any other drive accessing programs like Windows Disk Management, Partition Wizard etc., which may lock the drive and make the drive inaccessible to Bootice)
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
Hi Jumanji. I did everything you said in the previous post and as a result, it doesn't show anything but I will just post you the screenshot for prove.

Screenshot (10).png
screenshot 1 (Partition button clicked)


Screenshot (11).png
screenshot 2 (sector indicator = 0)


Screenshot (12).png
screenshot 3 (sector indicator = 63)


Screenshot (13).png
screenshot 4 (sector indicator = 2048)

Basically, it doesn't show any sectors of the given instruction even if i clicked refresh.
 

My Computer

System One

  • OS
    windows 8 64-bit
You did a good job using bootice to show me sector 0, 63 and 2048. As far as the screenshot is concerned, in future select only the Window that is of interest and required and take a screenshot. What is in the background is not required.

Examining the screenshots, I would think that your PC is infected and that some virus screwed up the all important sector 0, and the NTFS bootsector 63 writing some nondescript data into it. This is purely a guess. Notwithstanding, I would recommend that you download, install, update and run Malwarebytes Anti-Malware https://www.malwarebytes.org/antimalware/ and get rid of any malware. Report the results.

Queries:

1. How many partitions did you have in your Toshiba HDD?

2. How was it formatted? FAT32/NTFS

3. Was the drive in regular use? Approximately when was the last time you used and it worked normally?

After hearing from you, I shall proceed with the next step. It is already in my mind. But I shall take sometime to enumerate it.

Edit: Using bootice you may also scroll through all the sectors and check whether it is populated with any data. To scroll keep your mouspointer inside the bootice window and use the roller in the mouse. Whatever hexadecimal data you see should not be the same as in Sector 0 and sector 63. It should also be not all zeros as in sector 2048.
 
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My Computer

System One

  • OS
    Windows 7 Ultimate 32bit
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