Windows 10 Drive Disappear


  1. Posts : 4
    Win 10 Pro 64 Bit
       #1

    Windows 10 Drive Disappear


    When I log into Windows, I can see all of my drives: My boot SSD (C), my primary Storage (D), Secondary Storage (E), and DVD/CD RW (F).

    Around 10 or so minutes later, if even, the DVD drive disappears from "This PC" and anywhere else where you can access it (Disk Management, Device Manager, etc.). Another 30 or so minutes pass and 2 of the 3 drives disappear/disconnect (D: and E).

    I've had all of my drives disconnect randomly at the same time once. It just happens and I don't know why.

    The drives do appear in my BIOS and when I first boot into Windows. I've always had this problem since installing a fresh install of Windows.
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 26
    Windows 10 Home (x64)
       #2

    Open up the case and double check cable connections to PSU, motherboard, the drives themselves, etc. If that's not the problem, update the storage driver drivers
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 3,367
    W10 Pro x64/W7 Ultimate x64 dual boot main - W11 Triple Boot Pending
       #3

    Hello Urmomfails Welcome to the Ten Forums!

    While this is rather unusual it is far from being unheard of since Windows as well as any other OS is loaded from the drive into the active ram or active memory.

    One thing you can try would be going direct to the Control Panel>Device Manager to look at the items found under Storage controllers as well as under IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers to see which are present as well as a look under Other devices in case of any of the main controllers are missing or disabled. If you find anything with a yellow mark try a right click to have the automatic search for updates run. Sometimes Windows will see some drivers made inactive.
      My Computers


  4. Posts : 4
    Win 10 Pro 64 Bit
    Thread Starter
       #4

    Looking at it now, it appears that the DVD/CD Drive is more prone to the problem. Haven't had any of the other drives disconnect after replugging them in.

    I've tried several other "solutions" on different forums specifically for DVD/CDs.

    I've also got my Hard Disk set to "Turn Off Hard Disk After: Never"

    Edit: I believe it's because I'm not using the drive. If I use it, it usually doesn't disconnect.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 3,367
    W10 Pro x64/W7 Ultimate x64 dual boot main - W11 Triple Boot Pending
       #5

    That still sounds a bit like a controller driver going limp on you there! Did you look in the Device Manager at all? You would want to look under "Other devices" as well as the default location mentioned earlier in case a driver is getting knocked out temporarily. Seen that happen on numerous occasions where the right click to run the automatic search for an update or seeing it disabled for a couple of system restarts and then re-enabled again would refresh the driver set and things would be back as they should be.
      My Computers


  6. Posts : 4
    Win 10 Pro 64 Bit
    Thread Starter
       #6

    I don't have an "Other Devices" slot.

    I've narrowed the problem down somewhat. I've re-plugged in the SATA cables into different ports and it appears that when I'm playing CS:GO, the DVD/CD drive disappears. If I'm idling, it stays connected.

    I've also checked for updates on most, if not all of the devices in my Device Manager.


    One more abnormality: when i run the troubleshooter for hardware and devices (TroubleShooting->Hardware and Sound-> Configure a device). The problem always comes up as "Your PC must be restarted". Even after multiple repeated restarts...
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 3,367
    W10 Pro x64/W7 Ultimate x64 dual boot main - W11 Triple Boot Pending
       #7

    That last part about the system requiring a restart would suggest something never went on fully. This is common with upgrade installs while not so common among clean install of Windows but far from unheard of. You may want to try running a few tools to see if those will help with this being the System File Checker started manually at the Command prompt(admin) option by simply typing in "sfc /scannow" at the dos like prompt.

    And for the Disk Check tool for scanning and fixing disk errors which is better off scheduled for the next startup while you can simply right click on the main drive's icon to bring up the properties screen and opening up the Tools tab will reveal the Error checking button for that drive alone. At the Command prompt(admin) however you would type in the "chkdsk /r/f" command seeing both the r=Repair and f=Fix switches added on. That will then be automatically scheduled for the next startup which will take several minutes to complete.

    The two are not a guaranteed solution but if the drive happens to be loaded with errors Windows will typically end up seeing all types of unusual events and may even stop running! Yet it will only be from a few simply errors on the drive itself that can prevent Windows from starting up! I ran into this back in 2012 when trying out the 8 Customer Preview in a dual boot with 7 where both versions ended up failing to start! The Disk Check tool brought 7 right back while the CP saw a PC Refresh at the time which added 7 in. Previously the CP was the one added into the 7 BCD there. And once again following the refresh of 8 both ended up back in limbo!

    The SFC tool on the other hand will check for any missing or goofed up system files and with previous versions could end up prompting for the Windows media if needing to extract replacements for files found missing. The Windows cab files then get some activity there as each replacement is extracted from those archives.

    After seeing those two tools run the next step would be going to the manufacturer's support site to look up the board updates for things like Sata/PIDE controllers in order to refresh the driver sets with replacements where hopefully 10 will see them made active and keep them that way. That should keep the drives available at all times.

    The switch around of cable most likely knocked some dust out but unless cables are replaced you wouldn't know if any of them was having a continuity problems as far as making the proper electrical type contact for each wire inside at both ends of each cable that is. I've ended swapping out sata data cables as well as on old builds replace ide ribbon since even sata cables depending on the quality can go bad at times. You just don't see it as often however since it takes a bit longer for them to stiffen up and become a problem with age as well as wear.

    On one other note I had problems initially with one or two of the first sata optical drives and actually went back to IDE but switched from LG sata to MSI IDE until the two put in eventually started to show signs of wear and were seeing problems. Both were later replaced by two updated and faster MSI Sata 24x speed burner and so far so good after nearly 3yrs. time already! You might be having a problem with the optical drive itself which would explain why that continues to be a problem while the hard drives have bounced back to normal. It can' be ruled out quite yet.
      My Computers


  8. Posts : 4
    Win 10 Pro 64 Bit
    Thread Starter
       #8

    Windows Resource Protection found corrupt files but was unable to fix some
    of them. Details are included in the CBS.Log windir\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. For
    example C:\Windows\Logs\CBS\CBS.log. Note that logging is currently not
    supported in offline servicing scenarios.


    ^I got that from sfc /scannow


    I'll edit it later after running chkdsk.


    Edit:
    Running chkdsk failed for me on C: and D:. E: was fine. I wasn't able to complete the disk check on the first two because it froze.
    Last edited by Urmomfails; 24 Jan 2016 at 20:52.
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 3,367
    W10 Pro x64/W7 Ultimate x64 dual boot main - W11 Triple Boot Pending
       #9

    At least you now have something to work with! If you ran the SFC tool without any 10 media plugged in as far as a usb flash drive or dvd in some cases the tool won't be able to replace them. But you would certainly see the led blinking rapidly with a Windows dvd in the optical drive when the tool is extracting replacement files!

    If the problem is too serious then you may end up needing an Upgrade to Repair type install or see 10 go on completely fresh. Those are the two last resort options however. The tool can only do so much and is not a remedy for every situation by any means while some may tend to count on it too heavily.

    As for the CBS log and run of the Disk Check tool those will be important in seeing how far you can get as well as seeing what the log shows up until this point as well as cleaning up any errors on the drive. You're not completely out of options yet.
      My Computers


 

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