E Drive Suddenly Dissapeared

simanton

New Member
Joined
Jul 29, 2020
Hi,

When I woke up this morning I turned on my computer and it had an error message, unfortunately I didn't look at this error message and continued to start up (computer updated, see attached for list of updates). When I loaded up I noticed many different programs weren't accessible anymore. Upon further inspection I learned that my E: Drive was missing. I tried researching this as much as possible but I am not too techy and wasn't able to find an answer. What I can say is that I have checked the Disk Management section as well as several others and the drive is not appearing even after rescanning for disks. I opened up my computer and checked the connections and they seemed to be good, but again I don't really know enough.

The hard drive in question is a 2tb HDD Barracuda. Any help is appreciated as it seems like the drive is not being recognised by the computer at all but I am not sure what the next step is.

Thank you for the help!
 

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I assume that the error message was automatically installed update has turned off your usb ports

Why was the computer running all night i.e, what was it doing before you went to bed?

Sent from my SP9 using Windows Forums mobile app
 
Is the drive an externally attached drive or internal?

Open of Disk Management and see if Windows recognizes the device.
  • Press [Windows key + X]
  • Select "Disk Management"
If it doesn't show up under disk management I'd suspect a failed or failed drive if it does show please report the status (on the left side where it says Disk 0, Disk 1 etc below the size it should list a status such as Online or Offline) and right click the "Disk #" section and select properties and report the device status.
 
I assume that the error message was automatically installed update has turned off your usb ports

Why was the computer running all night i.e, what was it doing before you went to bed?

Sent from my SP9 using Windows Forums mobile app
I always leave the computer on at night so I just left it as usual. Before bed I think I was playing some games, not new ones if that matters.
 
Is the drive an externally attached drive or internal?

Open of Disk Management and see if Windows recognizes the device.
  • Press [Windows key + X]
  • Select "Disk Management"
If it doesn't show up under disk management I'd suspect a failed or failed drive if it does show please report the status (on the left side where it says Disk 0, Disk 1 etc below the size it should list a status such as Online or Offline) and right click the "Disk #" section and select properties and report the device status.
It is an internal drive.

I have already tried Disk Management and it doesn't recognise it.

How do I test if the drive is failed?
 
I would next boot into the firmware(BIOS/UEFI) menu and see if it's detected there. If not then I'd say the drive has failed.
 
I would next boot into the firmware(BIOS/UEFI) menu and see if it's detected there. If not then I'd say the drive has failed.
Will do, and if it isn't detected there what do I do? I just find the timing odd being that I just installed a windows update.
 
Windows updates have no bearing on the firmware. If it's not detected the drive will need to be replaced.
 
I would next boot into the firmware(BIOS/UEFI) menu and see if it's detected there. If not then I'd say the drive has failed.
Just tried the BIOS and it isn't detected there either.

Is there a chance the connection just became loose? Or that the cord is just broke?

If so how would I test this?
 
Open the computer and plug the SATA cable back in, but it's extremely unlikely though.
 
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