Modern technical devices, despite their mobility, remain quite fragile objects, the mechanics of which are easily susceptible to external negative influences.
In many respects, this applies to most computer components used to store information, such as flash drives, hard drives or solid state drives.
The specifics of their use implies that they, for many, become guarantors of the safety of their own data, and when such a guarantor ceases to be such for many, a stalemate arises, the solution of which is far from always possible to find.
In the framework of this article, it will be a question of a similar problem, which is characterized by the computer’s unwillingness to determine (initialize the HHD-drive), and, consequently, making it impossible to obtain regular access to the files of interest.
What is the reason? And most importantly, how to find a solution? The answers to these and other questions should be noted further.
Causes of Error
If this is not the first time you have visited our site https://www.911-win.com in search of a solution to various problems (of which, in fairness, hundreds), then you have already come across the statement that in any situation you should look (or better say , determine) a causal relationship, the finding of which can give the right key to solve the whole problem.
A similar statement was directly reflected in the topic under consideration, since the problem with initializing the disk does not have a specific (standard) algorithm for its solution.
The reason for this lies in the fact that you can find dozens of possible reasons that could (in theory and practice) lead to a similar situation, for example:
- The hard drive (whether it is external, is it installed in the system unit, or is it installed on a laptop) is physically faulty, or is it coming to a state of complete wear and tear;
- The information stored on it is damaged, possibly as a result of viral activity or in connection with the manipulations of the user himself;
- The integrity of the cable connection is broken;
- BIOS settings are incorrectly set and much more.
That is why it is extremely difficult to single out a specific procedure that would guarantee a solution to the problem.
The main thing is to try to determine exactly what actions could lead to the problem in question.
Search for a Solution
So, having announced the complexity of such a situation, characterized by the inability (or unwillingness) of the operating system to initialize the hard drive, in fact, you should highlight the correct procedure for this procedure, namely:
- Press the key combination “WIN + R” and execute the command “diskmgmt.msc”;
- Find the problem disk, it will be marked with the corresponding small red circle with the arrow pointing down and right-click on the name of the disk;
- A small menu opens, in which you should select “Initialize Disk”.
After carrying out these actions, in the normal and correct mode, the inscription should appear: “Not distributed”, marked with a black indicator/label.
Further, you only need to do the following:
- Right-click on the unallocated area that appears and click on the line “Create a simple volume”;
- Click “Next” in the first window of the “Volume Creation Wizard”;
- Set the maximum possible size of the created volume and click Next again or set the value you need if you plan to split the disk into several volumes;
- Identify the volume letter from the available list;
- Leave the “Format this volume with the following settings” box intact and click “Next”;
- To finish, click on the “Finish” button.
From this moment you can fully use the capabilities of the hard drive.
Within the framework of the topic under discussion, the user encounters an error, which leads to the inability to use this information storage device.
In order to find a solution, it will be best to turn to experienced users for help and provide them with more detailed information about the situation, obtained as follows:
- Download the CrystalDiskInfo program, you can use this link https://crystalmark.info/redirect.php?product=CrystalDiskInfo, and run it as administrator in accordance with the bit depth of the operating system;
- After opening, diagnostic information regarding the connected physical media will be displayed immediately;
- Choose the one that interests you and take a screenshot of the window with the SMART attributes, which is of particular interest in solving this issue.
The name of the attributes already allows you to get a sufficient picture of understanding how to evaluate the state of the hard disk.
With the data obtained, you need to contact the thematic IT forum http://www.mego-forum.ru, describe in detail from the beginning to the end the problem, be sure to indicate what preceded the problem, and also attach to the question received in the step above SMART of your hard drive.
If you need additional information, you can also provide screenshots of the sections in the DMDE program, which can be downloaded on the official developers website - https://dmde.com/.
So, returning to an independent search for solutions to this issue, we can highlight several points that should be checked:
- Make sure that all cable connection is correct, integrity is not broken;
- Disconnect all third-party media and devices that consume power supply resources;
- Open BIOS and make sure that the media is detected and the boot order (priority) is set correctly;
- A periodic knock may indicate a malfunction of the heads;
- A constant rattle indicates the presence of mechanical damage;
- A scratching sound may indicate the deterioration of the hard disk, which manifests itself when accessing damaged sectors, etc.
There are a lot of variations of examples of such a “conditional” diagnosis, in addition, the sound may differ between devices from different manufacturers.
In any case, if the hard drive began to make sounds uncharacteristic for it, this is an occasion to think about the degree of preservation of the data stored on it.
- Conduct a comprehensive check of the correct operation of the operating system itself. Make sure that there are important updates, the relevance of the driver software, the integrity of the system files, and also, importantly, in the absence of virus software.
The most important task is, again, to determine a possible causal relationship.
But to achieve this alone is extremely difficult, so the best option would be to ask for help according to the algorithm described above.
Finally
In conclusion, it is worth noting that the use of specialized software is also not an optimal solution if there is no proper qualification, since such interference in the structure of the physical medium can lead to its complete inoperability.
Assistance in this matter should not be neglected, including if it is possible to contact a good specialist in a service center.