My D drive has just disappeared/missing

Gr3y Tig3r 0 Reputation points
2026-09-10T06:38:42.55+00:00

My D drive was there 6 hours after posting this, and since then there was a windows update and now its not showing. Please help

Windows for home | Windows 10 | Devices and drivers
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  1. AI answer

    2026-09-10T06:39:06.2+00:00

    If the D: drive disappeared after a Windows update, first check whether Windows still detects the drive at the hardware level.

    1. Open Disk Management.
      • If the drive appears as Offline, right-click it and select Online.
      • If it appears Online with a Healthy partition but has no drive letter, add a drive letter.
      • If it shows as Not Initialized, the disk may have a corrupted signature or hardware problems.
    2. Open Device Manager.
      • Look for any device with a yellow exclamation point.
      • If the missing drive or a related storage device shows an error, right-click it, select Uninstall device, then use Action > Scan for hardware changes.
    3. If the drive is being shown incorrectly as a CD/DVD device, try reinstalling the device driver:
      • Press the Windows logo key, type Device Manager, and press Enter.
      • Expand DVD/CD-ROM drives.
      • Right-click the listed CD/DVD device and select Uninstall device.
      • Confirm Uninstall.
      • Restart the PC. Windows will automatically reinstall the driver.
    4. If that does not help, remove and reinstall the IDE/ATAPI controllers:
      • In Device Manager, select View > Show Hidden Devices.
      • Expand IDE/ATAPI Controllers.
      • Uninstall ATA Channel 0, ATA Channel 1, Standard Dual Channel PCI IDE Controller, and any additional entries there.
      • Restart the PC so Windows reinstalls them automatically.
    5. Check BIOS/UEFI.
      • Verify the drive is enabled and detected there.
      • If the drive is not detected in BIOS/UEFI, contact the device or drive manufacturer, because this points to a hardware, BIOS setting, or chipset driver issue rather than File Explorer alone.
    6. If the drive still does not appear, test the disk on another PC if possible.
      • If it also fails there, the disk itself is likely the problem.
    7. Registry fix for CD/DVD detection issues only.
      • If Device Manager shows CD/DVD-related error codes such as Code 19, 31, 32, 39, or 41, corrupted registry entries can be the cause.
      • This uses Registry Editor and carries risk. Back up the registry first, and follow the steps carefully.
      • Remove the UpperFilters and LowerFilters entries under: HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SYSTEM\CurrentControlSet\Control\Class\{4D36E965-E325-11CE-BFC1-08002BE10318}
      • Restart the PC afterward.
      • Some CD/DVD recording apps may stop working until reinstalled.

    If the drive contains important files, avoid initializing it unless it is a new empty disk, because initialization can erase access to existing data.

    AI-generated content may be incorrect. Read our transparency notes for more information.

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  2. DaveM121 928.6K Reputation points Independent Advisor
    2026-09-10T07:11:52.43+00:00

    1

    Right click your Start Button and open Disk Management.

    Expand the bottom pane in Disk Management, so all drives are visible in that pane.

    Please provide a screenshot of that window.

    2

    Right click your Start Button and open Device Manager.

    Expand the Disk Drives section.

    Please provide a screenshot of that full Device Manager window.

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