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I am having trouble initializing an HDD that I have connected to my PC via USB. I'm stuck, and I need some ideas. Below is detail.
I am running Windows 10. The outboard HDD disk in question was previously the internal C: drive on this PC. I replaced it with a larger drive about four months ago purely so I would have more storage capacity; it was running fine at the time I replaced it, and it has been stored carefully since. I am using a USB 2.0 to IDE SATA adapter cable to connect the disk to my PC via one of the PC's USB ports. I've used this same cable to connect other HDDs to this same PC in the same manner successfully in the past.
When I navigate to ThisPC, the drive does not appear. I right-click on START, choose Disk Management, and the following is displayed:
I click OK, and the following is displayed:
I run DiskPart, and I get this:
The Event Viewer shows me this:
... and this:
... and this:
Note that the second to last screen says the disk was "not migrated due to partial or ambiguous match".
I have no idea where to go from here.
Easy responses would be "the disk is bad" or "the disk is old and no longer supported". I doubt that either is the case. The disk worked fine until it was excised from the machine and replaced four months ago. Since then, it's been stored carefully and not subjected to impact, moisture, extremes of temperature, etc.
Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks.
Locked Question. This question was migrated from the Microsoft Support Community. You can vote on whether it's helpful, but you can't add comments or replies or follow the question.
I've moved things around on my desktop, deleted some things, and added others. The upper left-hand corner of my desktop is empty. What does the icon for the the File Manager look like? Or, is there a command-line command I can use to launch it?
A quick web search suggested it's not standard with Windows, and hasn't been since the 90s. I looked in the Microsoft Store, and found an app by that name offered by a third party. The reviews were awful, so I didn't try it.
Hi,
There is a Data Recovery Tool included with the Partition Editor..
I already forgot which tab it is located under though...
I have never tried this tool, so I can't say what will happen, or how well it works...
Hi,
Open the File Manager on the upper left corner of the desktop and see if it comes up with anything...
It may have a feature to recover deleted partitions... I will check and let you know...
Thanks.
I was able to turn off the Secure Boot feature, and boot to the DVD. Part Magic came up. I chose the only option that seemed to fit my case, which was "Scan and repair disk partitions." It found no partitions at all on the drive in question. (In contrast DiskPart finds one.) There didn't appear to be a an option to, absent a partition on the disk, recover files.
Thoughts?
Thanks again for your help.
Hi,
That should have worked... The files on the image you posted match what I see on mine... I tried both a CD and DVD just to make sure that there was not an issue burning the file to a DVD... There was not...
I'm thinking that you might have a BIOS setting that may be responsible for the "Not Authenticated" error... Look for a setting called "Secure Boot" and disable it temporarily... I think it would be under the Bios "Security" tab, but maybe not...
Another possibility is that there may be a UEFI Bios issue booting with a DVD...
In your Boot Options, look for a "UEFI DVD" as opposed to just "DVD"...
On my machine, Parted Magic started to boot but did not complete when I choose "UEFI DVD", but my machine is not running UEFI Bios at the moment...
To remove the pmagic that is ready to burn... Just right click on it and select delete...
This is a copy of the file you right clicked on and selected burn... It will end up in the Recycle Bin. Be sure to double check that the original still exists before clearing your Recycle Bin, just to be safe...
