Drive Letter Disappears After Reboot in LTSB

Discussion in 'Windows 10' started by ChaserLee, Aug 14, 2019.

  1. pcnavarra

    pcnavarra MDL Senior Member

    Nov 13, 2017
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    Maybe the cloned partition in cause was a recovery partition on the hard drive that was developing a lot of bad sectors, somehow! the recovery partition after reboot is instantly! hidden.
     
  2. ChaserLee

    ChaserLee MDL Senior Member

    Oct 7, 2014
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    Firstly, I want to thank ALL of you who took the time and effort to put forth ideas and suggestions!!

    I have given careful thought to all of the posts made by members, and I find nothing that would apply here, in my situation. I'm not saying that any of the comments are wrong, but for me, in my situation, they just don't 'fit the bill'. I have used Macrium for well over 8 years for cloning drives and partitions, and it has never, not once, failed to do it's job. So, having that experience base, I'm not convinced that Macrium copied or created 'Something' on the new drive that is causing this issue I'm having.
    As far as not having the correct Admin privileges that I need to assign and retain drive letters, I tested that idea by changing the drive letter on another partition of another drive in my computer, rebooting, and that new changed letter was still there. So my Admin privileges are still in place.
    The original old drive that I cloned onto this new drive is no longer with me. I did make the mistake of getting rid of that drive before I noticed the problem with the newly cloned drive. It's a data storage drive that I just don't access all that often. I have well over 1.5T of data on this new cloned drive, and I'm not willing to loose any of it by just wiping the drive and starting over again in the hopes that the issue would go away after a low-level format and preparation for new partitions and such.
    A question was asked about the drive itself, which was prepped to be a GPT drive, NTFS file system, normal block size and indexing. No recovery partitions were on the original drive that was cloned from.

    What I keep arriving at is that I have a sneaking suspicion that the drive, or the partitions themselves, have somehow been flagged as Hidden. If that is true, then it would result in the very issue that I am having. But I have checked with several partition programs to see if there is a Hidden flag in place, and as far as I can tell, there is not.

    I don't know of a Command Line way to check for Hidden flags. Can that be done using Diskpart? If so, does anyone know the command to check, and then if necessary, clear, the Hidden flag of a drive or partition?

    Thanks again!!!
     
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  3. Atari800XL

    Atari800XL MDL Addicted

    Apr 3, 2011
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    What type of files are on this disk? If it's somewhat "normal" data (docs, sheets, pics, music, video) I still say copy them, refresh disk, then copy back.
    The fact that you never experienced this in 8 years really doesn't say much. Weird things like this do happen, so why not try it out and see what happens. If nothing else, at least you will have *another* copy of your important data.
     
  4. ChaserLee

    ChaserLee MDL Senior Member

    Oct 7, 2014
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    The data on the drive are just normal files, as you listed. I would gladly do as you suggest, but in my situation, it's not possible. I do not have another drive that I can use, either as a temp storage drive for the files, or to use as a replacement for the new one I'm having the drive letter issue with. And to be honest, my mobo is maxed out now, as it is, with the number of drives it will support. There are 6 installed drives total, and I'm really not wanting to expand by using an expansion SATA board.

    So, if I can't find a way to confirm that there are no hidden flags set, then I'll have to settle for the 'dirty' way..... Create a .bat file for diskpart that assigns the letters on bootup, and put an entry into the Task Manager to run that script on each boot. That's sort of where I'm at.
     
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  5. Thomas Dubreuil

    Thomas Dubreuil MDL Senior Member

    Aug 29, 2017
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    #25 Thomas Dubreuil, Aug 14, 2019
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2019
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  6. ChaserLee

    ChaserLee MDL Senior Member

    Oct 7, 2014
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  7. Thomas Dubreuil

    Thomas Dubreuil MDL Senior Member

    Aug 29, 2017
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    #27 Thomas Dubreuil, Aug 14, 2019
    Last edited: Aug 14, 2019
    sorry read wrongly the infos...thought you wanted to display a letter for that drive not change it...I think this utility is able to hide or display, not change letter...sorry
    I remember exactly I used it (some times ago) to hide system partitions that where assignated a drive letter I don't know why, and when applied setting wasn't staying.
    normally... assigning a letter to the drive :)

    next easy thing would be wiping that partition
    but backup sync copy task again
     
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  8. ChaserLee

    ChaserLee MDL Senior Member

    Oct 7, 2014
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    Alright... I had a "WHAT IF" moment. I removed my System C: SSD, and put in a spare 256GB one I have. I installed Linux Mint ( alright everyone, put down those bricks, and do not throw them at me!), which took all of 4 minutes to get installed and up and running. The result is this: Linux sees ALL my drives and partitions just fine. That includes my problem child, the newly cloned drive with the 2 partitions that keep loosing their assigned letters. I did a couple of reboots in Linux, and that OS has no problem mounting, reading, writing, deleting from those 2 partitions I'm having issues with in Win 10 OS.

    Now, I have proof solid that there is nothing at all wrong with the drive, the partitions, or the data located on those partitions. I even ran the Linux checkdsk on that drive, and it reports everything is fine. If the Linux OS can use the cloned drive normally, then Win 10 OS should be able to also, agreed? This leaves me convinced that something in the Win 10 OS itself needs to be addressed. A Reg entry, a stored flag somewhere, something that is OS specific.

    Would everyone agree with me on this so far?? (I'm back running the Win 10 OS SSD now, btw. Linux was just a 'control' test to troubleshoot the drive in question)
     
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  9. Atari800XL

    Atari800XL MDL Addicted

    Apr 3, 2011
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    Well, if you have no space to make a copy of this (so-called?) "important" data, then I suppose it's not that important after all.

    I have multiple copies of my imprtant data here, at least two, and in some cases 3, 4 or more (the most important files are not that big but contain irreplaceable stuff, so it's on all my main systems, laptops, phones, vault, etc.).
    Like I said before, I had some strange drive-related problems in the past, I prefer to discard bad copies and add a fresh and clean (external) drive to be safe for the future.

    External harddisks aren't that expensive anymore, are they? They only cost as much as a few hours' work, and it seems to me you've spent that time already.

    PS: Read your Linux post just now, doesn't really change my point of view. Wheter or not it's the drive index or something, or the registry related to that, either way I say copy the data, reformat and start afresh. The clock's ticking :)
     
  10. ChaserLee

    ChaserLee MDL Senior Member

    Oct 7, 2014
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    I have taken note of your suppositions, your suggestions, and your point of view. Have a great day.
     
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  11. pcnavarra

    pcnavarra MDL Senior Member

    Nov 13, 2017
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    If that helps:
    Unhide Partition
    Start Disk Management (diskmgmt.msc) on your computer and take a closer look at your hard disk. Note the disk number and the partitions.
    Start DiskPart and select your disk: DISKPART> select disk 0
    List all partitions: DISKPART> list partition
    Now, select the hidden partition (see step 1) DISKPART> select partition 1
    Type DISKPART> detail partition and verify that it is hidden. Remember the Type value, this will be handy if something goes wrong.
    Set the type of the hidden partition to 07. Type DISKPART> set id = 07 override
    If everything goes ok, you will receive the following message “Diskpart successfully set the partition ID.“
    All done. Type Exit to close DiskPart.
    Check the Disk Management to see witch drive letter has been assigned to the recovery partition.
    List of partition types:
    07 = Windows NT NTFS
    17 = Hidden
    27 = OEM Recovery
    example: If you want to see the drive to be labeled as "hibernation partition" in disk management you have to change from gpt to mbr mode.
    When you type list disk in DISKPART prompt and see a star on the GPT column of your required disk then its in GPT mode.
    To change that you need to follow these steps.
    First open cmd.exe and type in "disk part"
    At the DISKPART> prompt, type the following commands, in the order shown:
    DISKPART>list disk
    DISKPART>select disk X
    (X is the disk number where you want to create the store partition. Refer to results from “list disk”
    for exact disk number. Disk must be an SSD)
    DISKPART>clean
    DISKPART>create partition primary size=8190
    DISKPART>detail disk
    DISKPART> select Volume Z
    (Z is Volume of your store partition. Refer to results from “detail disk” for exact volume number)
    DISKPART>set id=84 override
    (The id must be set to 84)

    Regards.
     
  12. John Sutherland

    John Sutherland MDL Addicted

    Oct 15, 2014
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    Hello @ ChaserLee - Wow. A lot of replies to your thread since last night. One thing I thought of this morning, and it appears pcnavarra is thinking along similar lines, is the partition identifiers. BIG QUESTION: Is there any chance that the source drive you cloned has a MBR partition table, and the target drive has a GPT partition table? Or vice-versa? How does Macrium Reflect handle that situation?

    When it comes to partition identifiers, MBR partitions and GPT partitions are like apples and oranges. On MBR disks, a simple hexidecimal code is used. This is because the MBR is only 512 bytes long and must reside on the first physical sector of the disk. Some examples:

    07 - Microsoft NTFS Data partition (Windows C:\ system partition and user created data partitions)
    27 - Microsoft NTFS Recovery partition (hidden)
    0C - Microsoft FAT32 partition
    0F - Extended partition with LBA

    GPT partitions uses GUIDs as partition identifiers, or Globally Unique Identifiers. Some examples:

    Windows Recovery Environment (WinRE): DE94BBA4-06D1-4D40-A16A-BFD50179D6AC
    EFI System partition (ESP): C12A7328-F81F-11D2-BA4B-00A0C93EC93B
    Microsoft Reserved Partition (MSR): E3C9E316-0B5C-4DB8-817D-F92DF00215AE
    Basic Data Partition (Windows C:\ system): EBD0A0A2-B9E5-4433-87C0-68B6B72699C7

    As pcnavarra stated, you can use the "set id=" command in diskpart to change partition ids as necessary. But first, you can select a partition using "select part N" to select a partition, then use "detail part" to check the partition id assigned to the partition.
     
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  13. ChaserLee

    ChaserLee MDL Senior Member

    Oct 7, 2014
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    Thanks, John, and to ALL who helped in this thread! The old drive and the new drive were/are both GPT, so that takes care of that possible issue. Also, I did check the IDs on the partitions with diskpart, and they both reported a 07, which is a normal not hidden flag... So, no joy there either... I have read the links provided by whitestar_999 also (thanks very much!) and nothing there that helped me.
    So, at this point, for now until something better might come along, I just put a bandaid on the problem, by using a script and creating a task in the Task Scheduler. For future reference, in case someone else reads this thread in hopes of a solution, even if it isn't the best solution, here is what I did:

    Create a textfile on C:\ named: diskpart.txt
    Put this in the textfile:
    sel disk <drive number>
    sel part <1st partition number>
    assign letter=<drive letter to assign>
    sel part <2nd partition number>
    assign letter=<drive letter to assign>
    (NOTE: the < > brackets are not actually included in the text file, just to be clear of the syntax)

    Then create a second text file on C:\ using your favorite text editor. In that file, put:

    diskpart /s c:/diskpart.txt

    Save as diskpart.bat


    Now go to Task Scheduler in the Admin section on the Control panel.
    Make a new folder in the "Windows" sub folder named "Diskpart"
    rightclick the "Diskpart" folder
    click "Create Basic Task..."
    name it to "Diskpart" and click "Next >"
    select "At Logon of Any User" click "Next >"
    select "Start a program" click "Next >"
    click "Browse..."
    select the "Diskpart.bat" file you saved on C:\, click "Next >"
    select "Open the Properties dialog for this task when I click Finish" click "Finish"
    Properties should come up, now select "Run with highest privileges"
    click "OK" , exit Task Scheduler, and you're done.




    That is the workaround I have in place now, and it at least does the job. It's messy, but it does save me from having to assign a drive letter manually after every reboot.
    Maybe this will help someone in the future. At least, it is one method that gets the job done that is working for me.
     
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  14. kas50

    kas50 MDL Novice

    Aug 16, 2019
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    Hi ChaserLee
    don't feel lonely
    Out of curiosity what is your new drive model ??

    I did clone my D: data hdd (one single volume) on a new Samsung 860 EVO 1T using macrium reflect
    and have to re enter drive letter after each reboot

    Apparently the volume is tagged as hidden and will not show at reboot
    I get a "VDS Basic Provider" errror code 1@01010015 when using the 'Attribute volume clear hidden' command within DISKPART
    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
    DISKPART> list disk
    Disk ### Status Size Free Dyn Gpt
    -------- ------------- ------- ------- --- ---
    Disk 0 Online 238 GB 6144 KB *
    Disk 1 Online 931 GB 1024 KB //<--- D: source **
    Disk 2 Online 931 GB 1024 KB //<--- E: clone candidate **
    DISKPART> select disk 2
    Disk 2 is now the selected disk.
    DISKPART> detail disk
    Samsung SSD 860 EVO 1TB SCSI Disk Device
    Disk ID: 5F940A7F
    Type : USB
    Status : Online
    Path : 0
    Target : 0
    LUN ID : 0
    Location Path : UNAVAILABLE
    Current Read-only State : No
    Read-only : No
    Boot Disk : No
    Pagefile Disk : No
    Hibernation File Disk : No
    Crashdump Disk : No
    Clustered Disk : No
    Volume ### Ltr Label Fs Type Size Status Info
    ---------- --- ----------- ----- ---------- ------- --------- --------
    Volume 4 E Data NTFS Partition 931 GB Healthy Hidden //<-- HIDDEN **
    DISKPART> select volume 4
    Volume 4 is the selected volume.
    DISKPART> Attribute volume clear hidden //<-- unhide volume command **
    DiskPart has encountered an error: Incorrect function. //<-- VDS error message **
    See the System Event Log for more information.
    ///////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////////

    I really want to understand this situation, but may end up with your nice DISKPART script
    Thanks
     
  15. Yen

    Yen Admin
    Staff Member

    May 6, 2007
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    #36 Yen, Aug 16, 2019
    Last edited: Aug 16, 2019
    AFAIK there is a syntax error missed the s at attributes command.

    Either:
    Code:
    attributes volume clear hidden
    or
    Code:
    att vol clear hidden
    Would be correct.

    I only know of missing drive letters on reboot if...
    -Hidden
    -MBR / GPT mismatch. (This might be a win only problem and Linux can handle it anyway.)
    -Unique drive issue. (fast filling with zeros helps. Reported for WD drives).

    Occurring drive letter, but no access is mostly due to permissions.

    Also to keep in mind that fast boot may set the hibernate flag. It can help to disable fastboot to clear it first before trying to change other attributes with diskpart.
    I am not sure if assigning of (new) drive letter would work if fastboot had set the hibernation flag before (at last bootup).
     
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  16. kas50

    kas50 MDL Novice

    Aug 16, 2019
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    Hi Yen,

    Thanks for your response and suggestions

    >> -Unique drive issue. (fast filling with zeros helps. Reported for WD drives).
    While fast filling with zeros using the WD utility, I notice some bad sector warnings
    I have returned the Samsung SSD and ordered the Crucial MX500

    Will let you know the outcome within a week
     
  17. Yen

    Yen Admin
    Staff Member

    May 6, 2007
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    Didn't you try to unhide it applying the right syntax before you returned it?

    Just for my records. :)
    (Samsung 850/860 EVO drives are actually very reliable)...

    BTW: All cases have one thing in common (except there where it was a HW failure.....people always used clones..hmmm...)
     
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  18. kas50

    kas50 MDL Novice

    Aug 16, 2019
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    I returned the drive before getting your answer
    Should receive the MX500 on thursday
     
  19. kas50

    kas50 MDL Novice

    Aug 16, 2019
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    just received the Crucial MX500

    I tried
    - clone disk: hangs at 98% completion
    - Backup/restore: OK but drive letter lost at reboot

    "attribute volume clear hidden" and "attributes volume clear hidden"
    return same error as Samsung drive

    Computer is a new HP Envy 34 curved
    Before cloning, Reflect displays:
    "The following Bitlocker encrypted drive will be cloned without enabling bitlocker on the target
    Please enable bitlocker after cloning"

    I never encrypted the D: partition and Windows 10 Home does not include encryption feature

    Fast boot is disabled

    Any additional idea ??
    TIA