Solved External drives larger than 4TB are no longer recognized

QuicktellPro · Jan 3, 2026

FreeBooter said:
Okay not much i can do if you can't understand me i'm not going to type all that instruction here it will take long time which i don't have.

Thanks for everything anyway. I will read the TestDisk documentation and see if I can use it.

FreeBooter · Jan 3, 2026

You are very welcome!

QuicktellPro · Jan 3, 2026

Without doing anything, the RAW drive suddenly dropped its drive letter W and replaced it with a red/white cross (like a first aid symbol). It still shows in Explorer as W: and refreshing the tree makes no difference. In diskmgmt I cannot even change its letter because it is shown as unallocated. The only option I am being given is to ititialize the disk, but if I do that it will wipe all the data, won't it?

XxXxX · Jan 3, 2026

please have a read of post #2
it may be of help as the drives may need to be set or reset to GPT

it also maybe an idea to do one drive at a time
backups of that drive would be an idea before proceeding.
best of luck Steve ..

jumanji · Jan 4, 2026

QuicktellPro said:
Without doing anything, the RAW drive suddenly dropped its drive letter W and replaced it with a red/white cross (like a first aid symbol). It still shows in Explorer as W: and refreshing the tree makes no difference. In diskmgmt I cannot even change its letter because it is shown as unallocated. The only option I am being given is to ititialize the disk, but if I do that it will wipe all the data, won't it?

So from RAW it has now gone to unallocated. I see that you have one too many disks and also you have been playing with drive letters. In all probability you may need to do a drive (lettter) cleanup and start afresh.

Before that I would like to investigate the disk W:
1. Please furnish complete details of that disk. Manufacturer, Model No, capacity ( most probably it is a 1.5TB )
2. To avoid clutter and remain focussed on that disk, safely remove all external disks, docks, USB hubs, and USB connected printer if any,. In short anything and everything plugged into the USB ports except USB keyboard and USB mouse. Shut down your PC.
3. Reboot and plug in only that faulty disk.
4. Post the screenshot of Windows Disk Management. That should show only your PC's internal disks and this faulty disk. Pictures speak more than words.

QuicktellPro · Jan 4, 2026

XxXxX said:
please have a read of post #2
it may be of help as the drives may need to be set or reset to GPT

it also maybe an idea to do one drive at a time
backups of that drive would be an idea before proceeding.
best of luck Steve ..

The suggestion in post #2 requires me to format the drive which would wipe it clean of all the data currently stored on it. Only 1 drive is concerned. Backing-up its contents is impossible because the drive cannot be accessed.

Since my last post, it is no longer visible in Explorer. diskmgmt asks me to initalize the disk as MBR or GPT (default). As far as I am aware, initializing is the same thing as formatting.

QuicktellPro · Jan 4, 2026

jumanji said:
I see that you have one too many disks and also you have been playing with drive letters.

I intend following your instructions, either today or more likely tomorrow as we have guests at the moment. However, I would like to know what you meant when you said I have one too many disks?

Please note that X, Y, and Z are virtual drives created with Elby Virtual Clone Drive. I probably only need a single virtual drive though. Lord knows why I set it to three.

jumanji · Jan 4, 2026

@QuicktellPro
One too many here means, you have many many many disks. That said take your time to respond.

You can disable the virtual drives in the Virtual CloneDrive Settings/Peferences. Choose 0 for the number of Virtual drives. Also disable it from starting with Windows.

If that disk W is only a 1.5 TB disk, there is absolutely no need to convert it into a GPT disk.

Do not initialise the disk.

Edit: Please note my local time.Time Now 9:16 PM. I will be gone to sleep in another hour and will see you my tomorrow morning after about 10 hours from now.

XxXxX · Jan 4, 2026

QuicktellPro said:
The suggestion in post #2 requires me to format the drive which would wipe it clean of all the data currently stored on it. Only 1 drive is concerned. Backing-up its contents is impossible because the drive cannot be accessed.

Since my last post, it is no longer visible in Explorer. diskmgmt asks me to initalize the disk as MBR or GPT (default). As far as I am aware, initializing is the same thing as formatting.

View attachment 158908

please burn to a USB stick drive a live Linux distro such as Ubuntu using Rufus

Download Ubuntu Desktop | Ubuntu

Ubuntu is an open source software operating system that runs from the desktop, to the cloud, to all your internet connected things.

ubuntu.com

Rufus - Create bootable USB drives the easy way

Rufus: Create bootable USB drives the easy way

rufus.ie

then boot into the live Linux desktop
it wont install anything

then plug in your USB HDD and see if the data can be accessed
if the data can be accessed then transfer the data off the HDD.

best of luck Steve ..

QuicktellPro · Jan 4, 2026

XxXxX said:
then plug in your USB HDD and see if the data can be accessed
if the data can be accessed then transfer the data off the HDD.

I cannot plug it in because it is not an external HDD. It appears to be a PCIe M.2 SSD. Should I still attempt your Ubuntu solution?

XxXxX · Jan 4, 2026

QuicktellPro said:
I cannot plug it in because it is not an external HDD. It appears to be a PCIe M.2 SSD. Should I still attempt your Ubuntu solution?

yes
Linux looks and uses drives in a different kinda way then Windows
if the data is recoverable then linux will be able to do it
linux will also check the drive status, its a handy tool to have.

best of luck Steve ..

QuicktellPro · Jan 5, 2026

This morning, on start-up, the rogue disk has disappeared. There is no longer any trace of it in diskmgmt. Does this mean Windows automatically resolved the issue, or has the disk died?

QuicktellPro · Jan 5, 2026

XxXxX said:
please burn to a USB stick drive a live Linux distro such as Ubuntu using Rufus

You won't believe this Steve, but I downloaded Ubuntu v25.10 and then plugged in a fresh 64 GB USB drive. Although Windows made its usual "new device connected" sound, the drive did not show in Explorer. I opened diskmgmt and it is shown there as disk 9 with 2 partitions which is odd because it has never been used before. I am unable to assign it a drive letter either. In fact, the only option available is to delete the volume. What should I do please?

XxXxX · Jan 5, 2026

QuicktellPro said:
You won't believe this Steve, but I downloaded Ubuntu v25.10 and then plugged in a fresh 64 GB USB drive. Although Windows made its usual "new device connected" sound, the drive did not show in Explorer. I opened diskmgmt and it is shown there as disk 9 with 2 partitions which is odd because it has never been used before. I am unable to assign it a drive letter either. In fact, the only option available is to delete the volume. What should I do please?

View attachment 158999

with the USB stick attached to your system restart
and enter the boot menu

on the boot menu scroll down to the USB entry and press enter
the system will restart and boot into Ubuntu.

now open the file manager and check your drive.
best of luck Steve ..

QuicktellPro · Jan 5, 2026

You didn't understand. Windows cannot see the USB drive so I can't see it in Rufus either, which means I can't write Ubuntu to the drive.

As the only option available is to delete the volume, would doing that solve the problem? The drive has no data on it so it's not as though I'm risking anything other than the loss of a new empty drive.

XxXxX · Jan 5, 2026

QuicktellPro said:
You didn't understand. Windows cannot see the USB drive so I can't see it in Rufus either, which means I can't write Ubuntu to the drive.

As the only option available is to delete the volume, would doing that solve the problem? The drive has no data on it so it's not as though I'm risking anything other than the loss of a new empty drive.

i have a very strong feeling that its not the drives that have a problem
but the operating system has the problem and thats why it cant see the drives.

please try a repair install which will replace the Windows system but retain
files, folders and data.

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

best of luck Steve ..

DJNelson · Jan 5, 2026

Microsoft needs to fire Satya Narayana Nadella and get their bs fixed. The fact of the matter is going from windows 11 25H2 to any previous version is an UPGRADE.

QuicktellPro · Jan 5, 2026

XxXxX said:
i have a very strong feeling that its not the drives that have a problem
but the operating system has the problem and thats why it cant see the drives.

please try a repair install which will replace the Windows system but retain
files, folders and data.

Repair Install Windows 11 with an In-place Upgrade

This tutorial will show you how to do a repair install of Windows 11 by performing an in-place upgrade without losing anything. If you need to repair or create a new recovery partition or having problems with the Windows 11 operating system on your PC, and the usual solutions will not fix it...

www.elevenforum.com

best of luck Steve ..

I have a very strong feeling you are right.

How do I know which of these I need, please?

QuicktellPro · Jan 5, 2026

DJNelson said:
Microsoft needs to fire Satya Narayana Nadella and get their bs fixed. The fact of the matter is going from windows 11 25H2 to any previous version is an UPGRADE.

Of course, I agree with you. Windows 10 was far superior to this pile of crap. The trouble is 24H2 was loaded with problems so going back to that is a non-starter. I fear that installing 23H2 would create more trouble than it's worth.

jumanji · Jan 5, 2026

Hi @QuicktellPro

I have a strong feeling that the Ubuntu flash drive you created is not proper. I created a Ubuntu flash drive using Rufus and it looks like this. (I used a 32GB Sandisk flash drive)

I even booted into it on this PC and I got the Ubuntu Desktop but I don't know how to use it

When I booted I got the GRUB menu with "Try or install Ubuntu" highlighted. I got into panic mode because I didn't know what to do with that highlighted.What should I do to make sure that it is only try and not install ? I pushed power button off and shut my PC. I rebooted into Windows and i did some reading that said that I can safely press enter on the highlighted "Try or install " and it will be try mode only. When on the Ubuntu Desktop at the bottom right corner I found the "Install Button" Only if is pressed it will permanently install.

I have also read that Ubuntu cannot see raid with Intel Rapid storage Technology (IRST). Your PC with 2 disks are in Raid mode. Read your own computer specifications in "My Computer"

So be warned on doing something on presumptions and assumptions without really testing.

Solved External drives larger than 4TB are no longer recognized

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