5 Easy Ways for Hard Disk Unallocated Repair in Windows 11, 10, 8, 7

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Help! My external hard disk suddenly became unallocated

"Your Seagate external hard drive has suddenly become unallocated, making it inaccessible. Try running a disk check using the built-in Check Disk utility (chkdsk) or a third-party tool like EaseUS to identify and fix any errors. If that doesn't work, you can try using a partition recovery tool like EaseUS or MiniTool to recover the lost partition and make the drive accessible again."

-Extracted from seven forums

What does it mean when a hard disk is unallocated?

When a new PC's hard drive is unallocated, it means the drive doesn't have a drive letter assigned to it, making it unable to store files or programs. This is a common issue when the drive comes straight from the factory. The drive needs to be formatted and partitioned before it can be used to store data.

A hard disk can become unallocated at any time, even after regular use, rendering it inaccessible and putting data at risk of being lost.

If you want to safely fix an unallocated hard drive, you can try formatting it, but this will delete all data, or use a data recovery software, which may not work if the drive is severely damaged. Alternatively, you can try using a disk repair tool, or take the drive to a professional data recovery service, or even try to recover data from a backup, if available.

Why is the hard disk unallocated?

Facing an issue where your internal or external hard drive suddenly becomes unallocated on your PC? You're not alone! This can happen for various reasons, including disk errors, corrupted file systems, or even accidental deletion of partition tables. Fortunately, there are ways to recover your data and get your drive back to its allocated state. Before attempting to fix it, it's essential to understand the root cause of the problem, which can be disk errors, corrupted file systems, or accidental deletion of partition tables. Once you identify the issue, you can take steps to resolve it and regain access to your valuable data.

Infection with a virus or spyware

Removing the hard disk improperly

Hard driver is outdated

File system error

Hard drive internal error

5 Ways to repair unallocated hard disk in Windows 11/10/8/7

To repair a hard disk with an unallocated list in Windows 11/10/8/7, first try running anti-virus software to clean up any viruses on your PC and external hard drive. If this resolves the issue, great! If not, you can try the following technical methods to fix the problem.

• Way 1. Update the hard driver via Device Manager
• Way 2. Check and fix hard disk internal error or file system error
• Way 3. Recover the unallocated space via partition recovery software
• Way 4. Repair unallocated disk space by creating a new partition
• Way 5. Delete volume

Way 1. Update the hard driver via Device Manager

1. To access the Device Manager, click on the "Start" button and type in "devmgmt.msc" to open it directly, or navigate to the Control Panel and click on "Device Manager".

2. To update the driver for the target disk, right-click on it under Disk drive, select "Properties", go to the Driver tab, and click on "Update Driver".

If the above method doesn't work, you can try downloading the driver for your device from the manufacturer's website. This should resolve the issue.

Way 2. Check and fix hard disk internal error or file system error

If you're experiencing internal hard disk errors or file system errors, there are two methods you can try to check and fix them. Firstly, you can try running a disk check using the built-in Check Disk (chkdsk) utility in Windows, which can scan and repair any errors on your hard disk.

A. Run CHKDSK

To run a full disk check on the G: drive, follow these steps: Press the Windows key + R to open the Run dialog box, type "cmd" and press Enter, then type "chkdsk g: /f /r /x" and press Enter. Note: Make sure to run the command prompt as an administrator to ensure the command is executed with the necessary permissions. The "/f" option forces the check, "/r" scans for bad sectors and repairs them if possible, and "/x" forces the volume to dismount before scanning.

● g: The command `chkdsk` refers to the drive letter of the drive that you need to check, followed by the command itself. For example, if you want to check the C drive, you would type `chkdsk C:`.
● /f fixes the errors found in the F partition/volume.
● /r The command /r locates the bad sectors on the drive and recovers readable data, but some data may not be recoverable with this method. Therefore, it is essential to develop a habit of making regular backups to ensure that all data is safely stored.
● /x forces the drive to dismount before the process starts.

B. Check and fix the hard drive error via Qiling Disk Master

If you're not familiar with complex commands or fear making errors like checking your hard drive but your computer no longer works, consider using a third-party tool like Qiling Disk Master. This software is user-friendly and can run on Windows 11/10/8/7, making it accessible to both experts and novices. To check and fix hard disk errors with Qiling Disk Master, simply follow its intuitive interface.

1. Download the freeware, install and launch it, then right-click the drive partition you need to check and select "Check Partition" under "Advanced".

2. To resolve the issue, you can choose one of the following options: check partition, which will scan the partition for errors and fix them; or, use chkdsk.exe to check and fix the error in the partition; or, select the other two options based on your specific needs.

Bonus tip: You can also right-click the disk which shows as unallocated space, and choose Surface Test to check for bad sectors on the hard drive.

Way 3. Recover the unallocated space via partition recovery software

Accidentally deleting a hard disk partition can result in an unallocated space, but it's still recoverable. You can use software to recover the deleted partition in a few simple steps, and as long as you don't overwrite any data on the unallocated space, the original data will also be restored.

1. To recover a partition, install and launch Qiling Disk Master Professional, then click on the "Partition Recovery" option.

2. Select the disk that shows unallocated space and click Proceed.

3. Tick the lost partition you want to recover and click on Recover.

The unallocated space will be converted into a partition, allowing access to the data within.

Way 4. Repair unallocated disk space by creating a new partition

If the above methods to repair an unallocated hard disk fail, you can create a new partition on the unallocated space, but this will erase all data, so it's necessary to recover data using a recovery tool first, then use a partition manager to create a new partition.

1. Run Qiling Disk Master, right-click the unallocated space on the hard drive and select Create Partition to create a new partition.

2. 1. Open the Disk Management tool.

3. Click Proceed to commit the operation.

To merge the unallocated space into another partition, you can use the "Merge Partitions" function. This will combine the unallocated space with an existing partition, effectively expanding the size of the partition.

Way 5. Delete volume

Sometimes the volume may need to be manually deleted, which Qiling Disk Master Standard can also help with.

Step 1. Launch Qiling Disk Master. In the main interface, right-click the partition, and choose "Delete Partition".

Step 2. Waiting for a while to delete the partition.

Bonus reading: How to recover data from unallocated space?

If you have important files on an unallocated hard drive, there's a risk of losing data. If you don't have a backup and find that you've lost data, you can still use Qiling Disk Master to recover them.

This software allows you to recover lost files from an unallocated hard disk on Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, and restore over 200 types of data, including pictures, documents, videos, emails, and more. It's also helpful in case of data loss due to a virus attack, accidental deletion, formatting, corruption, or system crashes.

To use Qiling Disk Master for data recovery, simply follow these steps: download and install the software, then select the drive or partition where your lost data is located. Choose the recovery mode and scan for the lost files, and once the scan is complete, select the files you want to recover and save them to a safe location.

Step 1. Begin by installing and launching Qiling Deep data Recovery. On the Main Tab, select scan type then select "Next".

Step 2. Identify the partition location from which you wish to initiate data recovery, and then click "Start Scan".

Step 3. After the scanning process is finished, you will see a list of all deleted files, items from the recycle bin, and raw files. Select the desired data and click "Recover" to retrieve it.

Step 4. Choose a specific folder path on your PC where you want to save the recovered data.

Step 5. Once the recovery process is initiated, it will automatically start scanning and extracting your data from the selected backup or storage location. Once the scan is complete, the system will verify the integrity of the recovered data to ensure it is in a usable state.

Summary

With the available methods, hard disk unallocated repair can be completed in Windows 11/10/8/7. This means you don't have to feel overwhelmed when encountering such errors. Qiling Disk Master not only repairs hard disk unallocated errors but also handles other issues like USB drive showing 0 bytes and non-system disk errors. Its Server edition offers additional features for effective disk/partition management on Windows Server 2008 (R2), 2012 (R2), 2016, 2019, and 2022.

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