Fixed: Disk 1 Unknown Not Initialized in Windows 11/10/8/7
Disk 1 unknown not initialized Windows 10/11
When using an external hard drive on Windows 10, you may encounter an issue where Disk 1 is shown as unknown and not initialized in Windows Disk Management, displaying no disk space. This can be caused by various factors, including incorrect disk configuration, corrupted disk metadata, or issues with the disk's hardware or firmware. To resolve this issue, you can try running the built-in Check Disk (chkdsk) utility, which can identify and potentially fix disk errors.
The disk is shown as Disk unknown, not initialized, unallocated space in Windows Disk Management, displaying a screenshot of the Disk Management window with the disk highlighted in yellow, indicating that it is not initialized.
The Disk 1 is inaccessible, and attempts to initialize it using Diskpart and Disk Management result in an error stating the disk is not ready, leaving the user without a solution to resolve the issue.
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Why Disk 1 unknown not initialized in Windows Disk Management?
The "unknown not initialized" error on SSD or HDD can occur due to various reasons, and understanding these causes is key to resolving the issue. This error can be triggered by a range of factors, making it essential to investigate and address the underlying problem to successfully fix the issue.
1. An outdated driver may cause the "Disk 1 unknown not initialized" error in Windows Disk Management, as the driver may not be compatible with the current operating system or hardware configuration.
2. Virus attacks can sometimes cause external hard drives to appear as unknown or not initialized, especially if the virus has infected the drive itself.
3. The disk unknown not initialized error may occur when a partition on the hard drive is lost or deleted.
4. When your external hard drive is not initialized, showing no disk space, it's possible that there are bad sectors on the drive, which can cause the issue.
5. Corruption of the Master Boot Record (MBR) can cause an operating system to fail to access data on the hard drive, leading to potential system crashes and data loss. The MBR contains critical boot code and partition information. If it becomes corrupted, the system may not be able to boot properly or may display error messages. In severe cases, corruption of the MBR can lead to complete system failure and data loss.
How do I fix disk not initialized Windows 10?
In Windows 11/10/8/7, if Disk 1 is unknown and not initialized, it may show two different scenarios in Disk Management. In one scenario, the hard drive has no information and does not display the disk capacity. In the other, the disk shows the capacity but cannot be accessed. These situations are caused by different reasons and require different solutions to resolve the issue.
Situation 1: Disk unknown, not initialized, no disk space
If Disk 1 is unknown, not initialized, and has no disk space in Disk Management, you need to disconnect the hard drive from your computer and check if there's an issue with the disk itself.
If there is a physical error, you only can replace it with a new hard drive.
If there is nothing bad of the disk, The disk initialization issue may be caused by a problem with the PC's motherboard, which could be preventing the disk space from being displayed.
To resolve the issue, you need to shut down the PC, disconnect the hard drive, and remove the battery for a while. Wait for 10 seconds, then reconnect the battery, insert the hard drive, and turn on the PC. Finally, shut down the PC, reconnect the hard drive, and restart the PC.
If the issue persists, check if your driver is outdated. If so, update the driver, reformat the external hard drive, and it should resolve the problem.
1. To access the Device Manager, click the Start button on your computer, type "Device Manager" into the search bar, and select it from the list of results that appears.
2. If you see your external hard drive with a yellow alert, right-click on it and select "Update Driver" to resolve the issue.
3. Select Search automatically for updated driver software.
- Notes:✎...
- If Windows can't find a driver for your device, you can try looking for one on the device manufacturer's website, where you can usually find the latest drivers for your device. Follow their instructions to download and install the driver.
- If the troubleshooting steps don't resolve the issue, try reinstalling the driver. To do this, open the Device Manager, right-click on the device name, and select "Uninstall." Restart your PC, and Windows will attempt to reinstall the driver automatically.
Situation 2: Disk unknown, not initialized, unallocated space
In Windows 10 or Windows 11, you may encounter a situation where Disk 1 is unknown and not initialized, often due to unallocated space. To resolve this issue, you can try various methods.
1. Initialize Disk 1
If your hard disk is shown as the second situation like the Scenario showed, you can initialize disk with Disk Management to fix the issue.
To access Windows Disk Management, right-click "This PC" and select "Manage," then click on "Disk Management." Once open, you can view the disk's status and right-click on the desired disk to initialize it, selecting either MBR or GPT partition style in the resulting window.
- Notes:✎...
- Initializing Disk will completely erase all data on the hard drive. Before proceeding, ensure that there are no important files or data on the drive, as this process cannot be undone. If necessary, use data recovery software to retrieve any valuable information before proceeding with the initialization.
- To initialize a disk using Diskpart, follow these steps: Open Command Prompt as Administrator, type `diskpart`, and press Enter. At the Diskpart prompt, type `list disk` and press Enter to identify the disk you want to initialize. Note the disk number (e.
2. Fix or rebuild MBR
Another effective way to fix the issue is to fix or rebuild the Master Boot Record (MBR) using third-party software, such as Qiling Disk Master , which can help you do this without payment. With this software, you can follow the steps listed below to resolve the problem.Standard, which can help you do this without payment. With this software, you can follow the steps listed below to resolve the problem.
Step 1. Connect an external hard drive to your Windows 10 computer, download and install Qiling Disk Master, then launch it to view your computer's main hard drives and identify the external hard drive as unknown or not initialized.
The Best Windows Disk Partition Manager and PC Optimizer
Step 2. Right-click the hard drive, select Rebuild MBR.
Step 3. You can set the type of Master Boot Record (MBR) for the current operating system in the pop-up dialog box.
Step 4.After clicking "Finish", you'll be taken back to the main interface, where you can then click the "Proceed" button to initiate the progress.
Summary
Qiling Disk Master is a partition manager that helps manage hard disks by creating, deleting, resizing partitions, and initializing disks, which can solve issues like "Disk 1 unknown not initialized Windows 10".
You can upgrade to Qiling Partition Professional to get more advanced features, such as testing hard drive speed, migrating OS to SSD, converting MBR and GPT without deleting partitions, ecovering lost partitions, and more.recovering lost partitions, and more.
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