Cannot Find External HDD Partition (18.75GB) Visible in Disk Analyzing Programs
When dealing with a 2TB external HDD that has an NTFS primary partition of 480GB, you might encounter a situation where the combined size of all files present is 18.5GB, with only 256MB of free space. This results in a total used space of 18.75GB, which is equal to the size of the largest partition on the drive. However, when analyzing the disk with various programs, this partition is not visible. This article will cover the possible causes and solutions for this issue.
Partition Not Visible in Disk Analyzing Programs
There could be several reasons why the partition is not visible in disk analyzing programs. Some of the most common causes include:
- The partition table is corrupted or damaged
- The file system is not recognized by the program
- The partition is hidden or marked as active
Checking the Partition Table
The partition table is a critical component of any hard drive, as it stores information about the location and size of each partition. If the partition table is corrupted or damaged, it can cause the partition to become invisible in disk analyzing programs. To check the partition table, you can use a low-level utility such as fdisk or parted.
sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdb
Disk /dev/sdb: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00000000
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1 2048 976771071 976769024 465.8G 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdb2 976771072 3907028991 2930257920 1.4T 83 Linux
In this example, the partition table is of type dos, and there are two partitions present on the drive. The first partition (/dev/sdb1) is an NTFS partition with a size of 465.8GB. If this partition is not visible in disk analyzing programs, it could indicate a problem with the partition table.
Checking the File System
Another possible cause for the partition not being visible in disk analyzing programs is that the file system is not recognized by the program. This can happen if the file system is not commonly used or if it is damaged or corrupted. To check the file system, you can use the fsck command.
sudo fsck -t ntfs /dev/sdb1
fsck from util-linux 2.34
e2fsck 1.44.5 (15-Dec-2018)
ntfs_probe: unable to read the boot sector
ntfs_probe: NTFS volume is not consistent
NTFS signature is missing.
/dev/sdb1: UNEXPECTED INCONSISTENCY; RUN fsck MANUALLY.
(i.e., without -a or -p options)
fsck exited with status code 4
In this example, the file system is not recognized as an NTFS volume, which could indicate a problem with the file system. To fix this issue, you can use the ntfsfix command to repair the file system.
sudo ntfsfix /dev/sdb1
Mounting volume... OK
Processing of $MFT and $MFTMirr completed successfully.
Checking the alternate boot sector... OK
NTFS volume version is 3.1.
NTFS partition /dev/sdb1 was processed successfully.
Checking for Hidden Partitions
If the partition is still not visible in disk analyzing programs, it is possible that the partition is hidden or marked as active. To check for hidden partitions, you can use the fdisk command with the -l option.
sudo fdisk -l /dev/sdb
Disk /dev/sdb: 1.8 TiB, 2000398934016 bytes, 3907029168 sectors
Units: sectors of 1 * 512 = 512 bytes
Sector size (logical/physical): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
I/O size (minimum/optimal): 512 bytes / 512 bytes
Disklabel type: dos
Disk identifier: 0x00000000
Device Boot Start End Sectors Size Id Type
/dev/sdb1 2048 976771071 976769024 465.8G 7 HPFS/NTFS/exFAT
/dev/sdb2 976771072 3907028991 2930257920 1.4T 83 Linux
In this example, there are two partitions present on the drive, but neither of them is hidden or marked as active. If a partition is hidden or marked as active, it will be indicated in the output of the fdisk command.
In this article, we covered the possible causes and solutions for a situation where a partition on a 2TB external HDD with an NTFS primary partition of 480GB and a combined size of files present of 18.5GB is not visible in disk analyzing programs. We discussed the importance of checking the partition table, file system, and hidden partitions as possible solutions to this issue.