Trouble initializing a USB drive

Anonymous
2018-07-10T15:32:31+00:00

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.

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Install and upgrade

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  1. Anonymous
    2018-07-17T22:32:15+00:00

    Hi,

    The disks you chose will do the job... The designation is in fact a bit confusing...

    There is also a DVD+R type disk... This is because at one time DVD-R was the only choice, but was not compatible with some devices... So they started making DVD+R as well...

    You have the correct selection highlighted, although the other would probably work...

    The catch to that is that if "Used Like a USB Flash Drive" is selected, the disk can be written to more than once... regardless of the fact it is a write once only disk...

    With the selection you have chosen, a DVD will be "Full" even if it only has 100mb written to it... The Disk is "Finalized" after writing, and no more can be added even though there is room...

    With the "Use As A Flash Drive" chosen, the Disk IS NOT "Finalized" after writing a file, and as long as there is room, more can be added... This sounds good, but a lot of devices can not read this type of Disk that is not "Finalized"...

    If you have a DVD burning program that will burn as a "Image" you could use that after making your selection in the posted window... But most likely after hitting "Next" you will be directed to the "Windows Disk Image Burner"...

    I probably missed something you have a question about... I will be available off and on this evening to check my mail if you have problems... Burning a DVD used to be simple... In the process of making the Disks more versatile, they have complicated things...

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  2. Anonymous
    2018-07-17T18:23:35+00:00

    I'm still wrestling with the fine details of getting this done.

    First off, I bought a pack of Maxell DVD-R disks.  According to the packaging, they can be written once (and only once).  I think these should do the job, right?  (Is it just me, or is the designation "DVD-R" confusing.  To me, the "R" suggests "read-only".)  It seems that in my various efforts, I've been able to write some stuff to at least one such disk but, without getting into the detail, I've seen confusing things happening.

    I load one of these into the DVD drive tray, push it in, and I get this.

    Which choice is correct?  I've tried a bunch of things that haven't worked and unfortunately, at this point, I'm not sure what I've tried and what I haven't tried.  It would be helpful to remove the uncertainty by knowing the correct answer to the above.

    Thanks.

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  3. Anonymous
    2018-07-16T23:36:16+00:00

    Hi,

    First off, it needs to be burned to a CD as a Image (ISO) file...

    It is bootable after you put it in the tray and close it... Then Restart the computer...

    You might need to hit a key to boot from a CD... that varies by machine...

    If you didn't burn as an image, try again... Right click on the ISO file you downloaded and select "Open With" then Windows Disk Image Burner" from the list...

    If it is not on the list, select "Choose Another App"... "More Apps" at the bottom, the "Look For Another App On This PC"...

    Then browse to, and select C:\Windows\System32\isoburn...

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  4. Anonymous
    2018-07-16T21:20:29+00:00

    OK, so I've downloaded pmagic_2013_08_01.iso, and I've burned it to a disk.  The fact that it's called "bootable" implies to me that I should place it in the tray, push the tray in, and things should happen.  But such is not the case.  Nothing happens.

    So I open the disk and look at the files I see there, and there's nothing that looks like an application that I can launch.

    What's supposed to happen at this point?

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  5. Anonymous
    2018-07-14T20:57:39+00:00

    Hi,

    Parted Magic and the Linux Live CD Jim mentioned are not installable...

    They are intended to be run from a CD or Flash Drive... The Linux Live CD MIGHT be installable on a separate HDD, but there would be a chance of messing up your boot...

    You could try to install them on the Cygwin and see what happens...

    The only thing I can think about your ChkDsk is that it might be scanning a directory for files that no longer exist... It is most certainly possible that the Tech deleted your entire Windows partition, but it should be showing up in Disk Management and etc. as Unallocated Space, or something like that...

    Both of those programs can also be burned to a bootable Flash Drive...

    I've used a program called "YUMI" from PenDrive Linux to do that...

    It works better than the name sounds...

    https://www.pendrivelinux.com/yumi-multiboot-usb-creator/

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