This browser is no longer supported.
Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support.
![](data:image/svg+xml, %3Csvg xmlns='http://www.w3.org/2000/svg' height='64' class='font-weight-bold' style='font: 600 30.11764705882353px "SegoeUI", Arial' width='64'%3E%3Ccircle fill='hsl(128, 8%, 22%)' cx='32' cy='32' r='32' /%3E%3Ctext x='50%25' y='55%25' dominant-baseline='middle' text-anchor='middle' fill='%23FFF' %3EA%3C/text%3E%3C/svg%3E)
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'm not clear what you are suggesting regarding the Linux File Explorer. Are you suggesting I connect the disk to a machine running Linux, and try to interrogate the disk from there?
I don't have a Linux machine. I do, however, have CygWin installed on my machine. I could try to mount the remote disk from CygWin, I suppose.
Thoughts?
You can use a bootable Linux live CD.
Hi,
Based upon the image you provided, it seems the rest of your drive is simply missing... Like it was deleted for instance...
What I was suggesting is that you download a bootable ISO of the free version of Parted Magic and burn it to a CD..
Then you can run the program and it's features directly from the CD with no need to install anything...
The Linux Live CD Jim mentions may have a similar feature.. Both of these programs run from memory after the CD boots, which leaves no potential residual files on your computer...
This a link to a site that provides a download of one of the last free versions of Parted Magic... http://www.majorgeeks.com/files/details/parted_magic.html
You can do a search and see what you can find if you wish..
I don't know anything about Cygwin... In fact I have never heard of it until now...
I was unable to find what applications are included with it, but it may have a feature similar to the File Explorer I mentioned...
The only drawback to using it is that it is running on windows.. That may or may not effect it's functions as compared to running the same program from a bootable CD or Flash Drive...
This drive used to be my C drive. I sent the machine out to have the drive replaced with a larger drive, so I'd have more space. The tech who did the swap pulled all user data off the drive and installed it to my new drive. I would have thought he'd have copied it, rather than deleting it from the old drive, but I suppose it's possible he did delete it from the old drive.
But there's something more than that going on here. Chkdsk says there are files on the drive.
... but File Explorer doesn't see them ...
I'd try your idea, but I no longer have any burnable CDs. I haven't used any in years. I could go out and buy some, I suppose. Why wouldn't I just try installing Parted Magic on my C: and running it from there. Are you saying that in that scenario, Parted Magic would be reliant on aspects of my OS that may be causing the problem and that, therefore, it might not show me anything chkdsk and diskpart haven't?
CygWin is a Linux emulator. Basically any application that is available for Linux will run on CygWin (with, I imagine, some exceptions).
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...
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?
