The disk that isn't there.
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Thread: The disk that isn't there.

  1. #1
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    The disk that isn't there.

    Some time ago I had a 1TB Intel M1 SSD installed as my boot drive. I took it out but Disk Manager continues to report that it's there even though that same slot is now occupied by a Kingston drive. Programs like Macrium, AOMEI, EaseUS et al, all claim their programs are reading physical disks on bootup and when you Refresh, you're making it read the disks again. This can't be possible if the physical drive is not attached to the system. The curious thing is I can read from the non-existent disk, copy and paste files to it but it isn't there!

    My theory is that the system is getting the drive name, type and location from the BIOS. That's passed to Disk Manager and Macrium is reading from Disk Manager not the physical drives. The reason I can read and write to it is because the system believes it's there, so it allows me to alter the File Allocation Table. Am I right?

    I'm sure we can all agree that the system can't be reading a disk that isn't attached but it could be getting information it's happy with by some mechanism like the above. The only 'problem' it causes is a bewildering display of drive letters. The missing drive had three partitions so I'm seeing an extra 3 drives.

    To test my theory I'm going to remove all references to it in the BIOS but I'm curious to know what you guys think.

    Thanks - rev

  2. #2
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    Strange. I wonder if somehow one of your backup programs like Macrium is mounting an image of the older drive after boot. If your backup images are on an external drive try temp disconnecting it and rebooting.

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  3. #3
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    I was about to create backup images when I noticed the issue. I wrote to Macrium complaining of false information but they didn't believe me. They told me to 'look again' for the drive.

    >backup programs like Macrium is mounting an image of the older drive after boot.
    The behavior is exactly the same, but I didn't make any images so if you're right, Macrium has somehow made an image and mounted it, all with no input from me. I didn't want to work with the program when it clearly isn't telling the truth.

    Here's where I'm at:
    The information about the drive, it's partitions and the list of files must be stored on the system somewhere because that disk is not attached. Something that didn't get updated when the drive was replaced is enabling all that info to persist but where is it coming from? I mentioned I was going to get rid of references to the drive in the BIOS, I haven't done that yet. I'll get back to you with the results.

  4. #4
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    BTW.. you should delete that text file attached above. Anyone who has wanted to look at it has done so by now
    and it contains some sensitive info that should not be made public.

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  5. #5
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    >it contains some sensitive info that should not be made public.
    Really? How do I get it out of the post?

  6. #6
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    I deleted it. It contained your Windows license key which you don't want to be seen publicly.

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  7. #7
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    OK, thanks!

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