One disk is missing in USB Disk

  • Thread starter Thread starter jakein2008
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J

jakein2008

I connect one removable hard disk to my Vista PC by USB,I can only see one
disk and another disk is missing from the system, how should I fix this
problem?

Thanks.
 
Details! Details! Details!

You don't give enough for anyone to give you a valid response.

How many hard drives are in your system? How many partitions? What type of
partitions (primary, extended or logical)? Does one of the internal hard
drives disappear when you plug in a USB drive? What kind of USB drive is it?

Try again for help.
 
Hi, thank you for your answer,

My removable disk has 2 partitions, when in another computer I can see all
the two partitions, but in my vista PC , I can only see one partition,
another one is missing, the internal disk has no problem right now.

So please help me to fix this problem?

Thanks
 
OK

Another question. When you use disk management to look at the USB drive do
you see 2 partitions? Or, do you see 1 partition and a space where the 2nd
partition should be? What is the indicated condition of the 2nd partition?

See what I mean about details! (-:
 
jakein2008 said:
Hi, thank you for your answer,

My removable disk has 2 partitions, when in another computer I can see
all
the two partitions, but in my vista PC , I can only see one partition,
another one is missing, the internal disk has no problem right now.

So please help me to fix this problem?
Click to expand...

Windows only supports a single partition on removable media drives, so
as far as I know you are pretty much out of luck.
 
He has already said that when connected up to another computer he sees 2
partitions!
 
Richard Urban said:
He has already said that when connected up to another computer he sees
2 partitions!
Click to expand...
And from reading other posts from the OP, it is likely that this hard
drive was connected up as an internal drive, not in an external USB
enclosure. My reply stands: Windows only supports a single partition on
removable media drives.
 
Cody Jarrett said:
Take that one out of your answer bag immediately and put it back where
you found it (which was probably far up yer arse).
Click to expand...

Actually, no. This is a well-known limitation of Windows and external /
removable media, especially Flash drives, but the same holds for any
drive that is seen by Windows as removable media.
 
Cody Jarrett said:
Reeeeeeeeeaaly?? <SNORK>

Tell that to the WD My Book that I have connected to my system via
USB. It's definitely removable. It currently has two partitions. It
had three until I changed it recently.

OH... I almost forgot: I also have a 160GB Toshiba 2.5" USB drive
that I connect when I need to use it to copy directories to my
notebook: it has three partitions on it.

Can you explain how both of those somehow managed to slip under the
"well-known limitation" <SNORK> you refer to?
Click to expand...

Well, ignoring your aparent upper respiratory issues, I'd say that to
Windows, they don't appear as removable media drives. Many USB
connected drives show as removable media, some don't (generally those
with separate drivers).
 
Well, ignoring your aparent upper respiratory issues...
Click to expand...


Zaphod,

Good one! I almost snorked my coffee when I read it.

Regards,

Len Agoado
(e-mail address removed)
 
And from reading other posts from the OP, it is likely that this hard
drive was connected up as an internal drive, not in an external USB
enclosure. My reply stands: Windows only supports a single partition on
removable media drives.
Click to expand...

I have a 20 gig HD from my old computer set inside a USB enclosure
with three partitions. XP and Vista have no problem seeing those three
partitions.

....although IIRC Windows won't recognize EXT3 or other *nix flavor
partitions & the OP hasn't said what the other computer was.
 
Since this "limitation" is so well-known, perhaps you can supply a
cite or two that talks about it.

Something that includes Vista and isn't from Win98 days, preferably.
Click to expand...

There seems to be some terminology issues that are causing some confusion
here. Both sides in this "discussion" are correct.
You (the generic you, not specifically aimed at Cody, I just happened to
choose his post to respond to) need to get past the bus type (USB) issue
and look at how Vista sees the drive in question. There are two possible
ways that Vista will view a USB drive:

1. As a Hard Disk Drive (hard disks in USB enclosures).
2. As a Device with Removable Storage (USB thumb drives).

If Vista sees the device as a Hard Disk Drive (designated as such in
Explorer and the disk will show up as a Basic, Dynamic, or GPT disk in Disk
Management) one can create and delete partitions or volumes on the disk as
one sees fit.
If Vista sees the device as a Device with Removable Storage (designated as
such in Explorer and the disk will show up as Removable in Device Manager)
one cannot manipulate partitions and volumes and only a single partition is
directly supported in Vista.
Although ultimately all USB devices are "removable" when it comes to
determining what partitioning scheme Vista supports, you need to look at
whether or not Vista designates the device as Removable or not.
In any case, this is not a security issue and really doesn't belong here.
 
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