DISKPART tried to create a Partition, has not worked

Hi Guys

My nephew has tried to create a partition. It clearly hasn't worked. The 'D' Disk is there, but not showing any files on it. I can't upload screenshots at the moment. Any experts out there, that can tell me what he's done?

Disk### Status Size Free

Disk 0 - Online - 931GB - 931GB
Disk 1 - Online - 54GB - 24GB


Volume ### - Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status

Volume 0 - D - - - DVD-ROM - 0 B - No Media
Volume 1 - C - ESO-USB - FAT32 - Removable - 32B - Healthy (this is the Windows 10 ISO)

Thanks in advance guys. Any help appreciated.

Welcome to tenforums @rebel1

rebel1 said:

My nephew has tried to create a partition. It clearly hasn't worked...

Code:

Disk###    Status    Size     Free

Disk 0      Online   931GB    931GB
Disk 1      Online   54GB      24GB


Volume ###  Ltr   Label    Fs    Type      Size    Status

Volume 0    D                   DVD-ROM     0 B   No Media
Volume 1    C   ESO-USB  FAT32  Removable  32 GB  Healthy

Volume 1 C ESO-USB FAT32 Removable 32 GB Healthy (this is the Windows 10 ISO)

Well, the first question that springs to mind is "why did he use Diskpart?".

The 'D' Disk is there, but not showing any files on it.

Well it wouldn't, not unless there's a DVD in the drive. The D: drive is an optical disk drive.

He is obviously trying to install Windows on a new empty drive. Windows Setup is quite capable of creating all the partitions it needs on its own. By default Setup will use all available space on the target drive. If he wants to leave some space for a data partition later by installing Windows in a smaller partition, then all that can be done by selecting Custom Install, you can then create, delete and format partitions at will from within Setup. There was no need at all to use Diskpart.

See Step 10 onwards in this tutorial.

Clean Install Windows 10

If, as I guess, he wants to keep half the drive for data, then I would create two equal sized partitions. The I would delete the first partition to leave the first half of the drive as unallocated space. The tell Setup to install Windows in this unallocated space. There will be several partitions created during the install, but Setup will take care of that for you.

rebel1 said:

...my nephew went into Diskpart to create a new partition. I don't know why he did that. He now says he didn't remove any volumes; but clearly he has, as I can't access the personal files, etc.

That's a different kettle of fish. The existing partition info has been lost/damaged and the first priority is to repair the partitions and recover the files. Using Diskpart probably hasn't helped .

See if this thread helps...
How can i recover lost partition and data in it

Tools like MiniTool Partition Wizard may help. If you can remove the drive from the PC and put it in an external drive enclosure you can try to repair the partition(s) and recover the files. Others like @NavyLCDR who posted on that thread may have further suggestions. Don't do anything else to the drive yet! Wait for further advice before proceeding.

If you can't take it out of the PC, there was a free bootable ISO from MiniTools for version 9, but now in version 10 it is a 'paid-for' feature. The old version 9 ISO can still be found in the Internet Archive Wayback Machine.
https://web.archive.org/web/20150416...otable-cd.html

Thank you. Data recovery is not my speciality, but there are a lot of experts here that can offer assistance.

An external HDD should appear in Disk Management when connected, even if it just shows as 'unallocated' or 'raw'. Until it is seen in Disk Management you won't be able to use any recovery tools.

What does Device Manager show under 'Disk drives'? (you may need to select View > Show hidden devices)

If a yellow warning triangle shows against an 'unknown device' then the device hasn't been recognised correctly. Uninstall it in Device Manager and try connecting it again.

rebel1 said:

'Currently, this hardware device is not connected to the computer. (Code 45)

If you have clicked 'show hidden devices' then all drives that have ever been connected will be listed. Have you used a Toshiba ext drive in the past? If so, that entry would be for it.

If you are not showing hidden devices, but do have a Toshiba usb HDD connected and working it should look like this. The other Toshiba drive with the model number is the laptop's own internal HDD.



What is the brand of the external enclosure you bought? I'd be very surprised if it was identifying itself as a Toshiba. It's more likely that the drive enclosure isn't working correctly and not being seen by the PC. Check the drive is seated correctly in the enclosure and that the cables are securely connected. Also, try another usb port. If you have another spare drive you could try that in the enclosure to test that it is working.