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Trying to view old HDDs on new(ish) desktop – can’t get them to mount
LockedHi all,
I’m trying to get rid of loads of old hard drives (man cave clearout) and while some of the old drives work, Windows 11 refuses to mount/access some of them.
Most of them are old SATA drives I just want to check/empty – and then throw away (after driling them out). I also have some very old IDE drives I want to do the same to – and I bought this little device for the IDE ones (and it works well for some of the IDE drives): https://tinyurl.com/5xdefc2c
However, for some of them (quite a lot), Windows refuses to access the drive through the Disk Management console.
On opening Disk Manager, it asks to initialise (and choose between GTP or MBR) and whichever I choose (GPT or MBR) it comes back with the same message:
“A device which does not exist was specified”
This is the same whether I add them via a SATA cable to the mboard, or try to read them via a 3.5 disk device reader which connects via USB.
Googling for answers seems to come back to a corrupt MBR sector – but of the 20 or 30 x 3.5 hdds and 5 x 2.5 hdds – half of them work, and half of them don’t.
That would seem to me to be a really high failure rate for so many drives.And the ones that won’t initialise don’t seem to have motor or seek head issues – no dreaded clicking that heralds the EOL of a drive.
Screenshot 1: https://tinyurl.com/y2ttwjn6
Screenshot 2: https://tinyurl.com/mv5s9v49The desktop I’m using is an HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF, OS Win11 64 bit latest May ’23.
So – any thoughts? Any help would be very gratefully received!
Many thanks in advance.
All Answers
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Reply To: Trying to view old HDDs on new(ish) desktop – can’t get them to mount
It sounds like you’re facing some challenges with accessing old hard drives on your Windows 11 system. Here are a few suggestions to troubleshoot and potentially resolve the issue:
Check Drive Connections: Ensure that the SATA cables and connections are secure and properly connected to both the motherboard and the hard drives. Sometimes loose connections can cause issues with drive detection.
Try Different Ports/Cables: If possible, try connecting the problematic hard drives to different SATA ports on the motherboard or using different SATA cables. This can help rule out any issues with specific ports or cables.
Check Power Supply: Ensure that the power supply to the hard drives is adequate and stable. Insufficient power can cause issues with drive initialization and detection.
Update Drivers and Firmware: Make sure that your motherboard’s chipset drivers and firmware are up to date. Sometimes outdated drivers or firmware can cause compatibility issues with older hardware.
Use Disk Management in Safe Mode: Try accessing Disk Management in Safe Mode to see if you can initialize the drives without interference from other software or drivers that may be causing conflicts.
Test with Different System: If possible, try connecting the problematic hard drives to a different computer to see if they can be detected and initialized. This can help determine if the issue is specific to your HP EliteDesk 800 G3 SFF system.
Data Recovery Services: If you’re unable to access the data on the problematic hard drives and suspect they may be failing, you may consider seeking professional data recovery services to retrieve any important data before securely disposing of the drives.
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