Windows 7 NTFS being read as RAW, not accesible

jimdog38

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Mar 7, 2013
I have a computer with Windows 7. I have Windows 7 on a 750 GB HD. Along withthis I have a 3 TB HD that is working, formatted with 1 test file on.
I removed the 750 GBdrive and in its place put in a 256 GBOCZ Petrol SSD
I disconnected the 3 tb drive
I installed Windows 7on a 256 GB SSD HD.
When I connect the 3TB HD it shows up as RAW
When I go through the Computer Management the drive is seen,and I have a drive letter assigned.
Through My Computer it shows up but is not accesible.
When I try to format the 3TB to set it up as NTFS, it runsfor a while then a blue screen comes up stating that Windows has detected aproblem and will shut down.
When I reboot, Windows starts and I am back to square one. 3TB is RAW.
If I swap back to the 750 GB the 3 TB works fine, file isNTSF
Swap back to the 256 SSD and the 3 TB is RAW. Again it willnot format. Blue screen shows up again.
If I use the 256 GB SSD along with the 750 GB plugged in,all the 750 GB files are accessible,while the 3TB still shows up as RAW, again if I try to format I get the bluescreen.
One more thing, I have formatted the 3TB a few times whileusing the 750 GB and I get no blue screens, It formats fine, If I put it backwith the 256 GB SSD it is RAW again.

How do I get the 3TB to be read as NTFS with the 256 GB SSD

 
I believe the 3 T drive needs to be formatted GPT instead of MRB.
Joe
 
It is formatted to GPT. It works with the 750GB drive, If I format it with the 256 GB I can't I get blue screen
 
Sounds a little strange the drive would work with one Windows install and not another. Did you use UEFI on the SSD or still MBR for the bios configuration?

Using the first drive, you used no special software to configure the 3 TB drive? Is it connected to a controller you may need an additional driver for, which is not yet been installed on the new Windows 7. Could there be a mechanical problem with the drive's connection after the removal and reinsertion?

How did you convert the drive to GPT originally?

Are you familiar with Diskpart and the commands used to check a drive and set its configuration?
 
Not sure about this part "Did you use UEFI on the SSD or still MBR for the bios configuration?"

Using the first dirve I did use Acronis True Image to configure the 3TB to GPT.

I have it connected to SATA that works.

The only software I have on the SSD is Acronis, If i go to "Add Disk" with Acronis, Acronis says the disk is (Basic GPT) 2.79 TB NTFS
 
I do not have a 3 TB drive to compare to your settings, but you might open an Administrative command prompt and type Diskpart to open the utility.

Then lis dis to see which drive is the 3 TB, then sel dis 1 if 1 is the 3 TB drive. Then detail dis to see what the description might show.

This is a listing for my system. You might check it against the one (2 TB) drive I show.

DISKPART> lis dis

Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
-------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
Disk 0 Online 223 GB 1024 KB *
Disk 1 Online 1863 GB 1024 KB * <-- asterisks annotate GPT
Disk 2 Online 119 GB 1024 KB *

DISKPART> sel dis 1

Disk 1 is now the selected disk.

DISKPART> detail dis

WDC WD20EURS-63S48Y0
Disk ID: {08FAAC24-8136-4F17-B09F-3E024B825B68}
Type : ATA
Status : Online
Path : 0
Target : 1
LUN ID : 0
Location Path : PCIROOT(0)#ATA(C00T01L00)
Current Read-only State : No
Read-only : No
Boot Disk : No
Pagefile Disk : No
Hibernation File Disk : No
Crashdump Disk : No
Clustered Disk : No

Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
Volume 3 D Data NTFS Partition 488 GB Healthy
Volume 4 E Video NTFS Partition 1374 GB Healthy
 
Saltgrass, here are screenshots, first one is with the SSD installed, The second is with the 750 HD installed, I noticed the path and target are different on each also, SSD is RAW.. 750 is NTFS. jpg.JPG750 hd cmd diskpart.JPG
 
Would you happen to know why it is showing as a RAID type drive? If it is in some type of RAID configuration, it might explain the situation.

Can you get into any type of RAID OpRom when the system boots, usually by using CTRL+A when the OpRom page is showing...

Edit: If you have an Intel system, you may have the Intel Rapid Response utility which could help look at and configure the drives.
 
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I could not get into OpRom it just booted to windows--I do have Intel
but no Intel Rapid Response utility.
 
Edit: I seem to have mixed up which drives you are having the problem with. I have changed the reference.

I think, because the 3TB drive is basically empty, we should clean and reconfigure it. I would suggest doing this outside of Windows because it will add an MSR partition at a 17 K offset. You can do this in Disk Management if you want. You could always do it the below, later if you wanted. But in Disk Management, make sure to convert the drive to basic then gpt and all the partitions would have to be removed first.

So if you could get into the Windows RE environment and use the command prompt, we could use Diskpart to clean and configure. Once in the Command Prompt, type the following commands with enter after. Make sure when you select a disk, it is the 3TB one.

Diskpart

Lis dis

sel dis 1
<-- Make sure Disk 1 is the 3TB drive from the prior listing.

This next step will wipe the drive you selected, so be very sure.

clean

convert gpt

exit

Now you should be able to partition and format the drive the way you want using Disk Management.

As far as the SSD, I am not an expert in RAID, so whether it thinks it is part of a RAID array, or just a Dynamic drive, I can't really judge. Maybe someone else will know.

The Intel utility is actually called Rapid Storage Technology and there may be an icon for it in the hidden icons on the Taskbar or something on the Start Menu. But I would use it, if you can find it, to check the drive to see if it is configured in some type of RAID. I am not sure what Acronis can do.

If you can't find the Intel utility, it is probably a download for your system, if you wanted to use it. And normally listed under the SATA section of the drivers.
 
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After some more checking it appears if you have your system controller set to RAID, the drives will show as RAID. So if that is your situation, the RAID designation does not seem to be relevant.

But cleaning the 3 TB and configuring it without Acronis, might be relevant. Perhaps something on the other install has some setting that allows the drive to be seen correctly.
 
Excellent advise, By cleaning the 3TB outside of windows did the trick. I was a little skepticle of it working. When I formatted it in disk mgt. it worked, that is where it would give me a blue screen previously. Boot up speed is back to normal. Now the dogs get to go for a walk, Thanks, Jim
 
Glad you got it working. I keep thinking I need to get a 3 TB drive to test it out....but maybe later.. :)
 
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