SOLVED Unable to Find my Hard Drive

[Wooder]

I purchased a HP ENVY All-In-One 27" desk top a few years ago and now realize that I've been working exclusively on the 256 GB SSD and have never used the 2 TB hard drive that is there. While I can "see" the hard drive on the Hardware tab of the Properties command (right click after selecting the C drive), and I can both see the 2 TB disk and successfully test it after restarting the machine in the UEFI bios configuration and following its menus, I can't find it via MS Explorer or using any other method that would allow me execute any commands on it. A friend also tried using the command screen and was unable to even get it listed. I would be very grateful if anyone has any suggestions on how to logically see the hard drive without opening the machine to mechanically check it out. Many thanks. Wooder

 

[Grizzly]

Does it even have a drive letter assigned to it?? If not, Windows cannot display it in the File explorer or on the command line.
This is what you need to check first. The best way is to look in the Disk management if it is listed.
Please report back of what you find in there (a screenshot will be nice to have)...

 

[Wolfie]

Also check in Control Panel > Device Manager to see if it shows there!.

 

[Wooder]

Great directions - thanks for advancing my cause!

I WAS ABLE TO FIND IT by using the Device Manager ( on the attached screen print, it's the ST2000LM003 HN-M201RAD one) along with my native SSD storage and two external disks that I'm using to reposition some of the SSD data. I had previously NOT been able to see it using Disk Management, or the Command Line, probably because it didn't / doesn't have a letter assigned to it. Any guidance on how I can assign a letter to it given that I can see it?

I went into the properties (via the right click and selection), and looked at the Details tab. Under the Details tab within the properties, the Properties sub-window allows looking at a number of elements of the drive. However, my ignorance regarding what to do there (if anything) and what might happen if I do something wrong (Murphy's Law would likely apply to my action) causes me to stop at this point. Any guidance on the next step? I'm really getting hopeful - thanks again!

Wooder

 

[Wooder]

Oops. Here's the screen print showing the drive under the device manager.

Wooder

 

[Wolfie]

If you open Device Manager and right click the drive in question and then on "Properties > Volumes > Populate" it will show you the disk size!.

Once that is done and you have a positive result, open Computer Management > Disk Management and see if your drive shows there even if it isn't active!.

 

[Wooder]

I wish that I could do that, Wolfie, but when I select the volume tab, it comes up devoid of any data - just the format outline. Then when I hit the Populate button it gives me an error message stating that the information could not be found. Bummer! But thanks for the idea.
Wooder

 

[davehc]

Not sure, reading through, if you are following the correct path.
Right click the start icon and select "Disk management"
You should be able to identify the missing HD there. Right click it (It is probably and empty space at this stage) and elect to format it and also give it a letter designation. 8D: ?)
resrta your computer and see if the problem has gone.

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Wooder,

shut down the computer and open the back and see how the drives (I assume SATA) are connected. Assuming the 256GB drive is your boot drive with your main OS on it should be connected to SATA0, the 2TB drive should be connected to SATA1.

 

[Wooder]

Having been able to “see” the 2 TB HDD, but unable to connect to it despite all the fine method you all indicated, I finally took it to my IT savvy former work colleague who had a number of options to consider. After checking with several of his contacts, including one from HP who was adamant that the AIO model 27-b025se did not have a 2 TB disk (which I refuted by purchase paperwork and the ways and actual device retail ID name that we had seen following your guidance), my former colleague delayed opening the machine and taking the HDD out to format it and instead took the OS route first. He initiallyloaded a UNIX into the machine (sorry, but I don’t remember the “brand”) without having success. He then loaded Red Hat Unix and poof – there it was. From there he formatted it for NTFS, and returned my machine. I’m now reloading my primary files onto the 2 TB HDD, with the intent to free up a large portion of the SDD that held them previously. Bye, bye "Low Disk Space" messages.

I do want to thank everyone for their inputs and guidance. Though unsuccessful by themselves, they did educate me a great deal and also provided the hard facts that guided my colleague to the least destructive and quickest fix for my problem. Thank you one and all!



Wooder

 

[Wolfie]

Hi Wooder,

if the HDD had been formatted with a Linux format (Ext4 as an example), Windows won't pick it up, simple as that really!. Glad you got it sorted.