Can't see disks in Disk Management

[Corey_23]

I have an Asus K55N and have had this issue since I upgraded a few months ago. I recently did a refresh and removed all my files, but the issue persists. When I open Disk Management, I'm met with a blank screen that says, "Connecting to Virtual Disk Service." I have ran SFC with no issue, I have restarted the Virtual Disk service, disabled Remote Access, but nothing seems to work. I have a Thinkpad running the same install of Windows 10 without the issue.

I'm really hoping someone can help me.

 

[Colif]

do you have anything in the card reader? try ejecting it if you do and retry disk management

http://dfarq.homeip.net/connecting-virtual-disk-service-message-disk-manager/

 

[Corey_23]

No externals disks, cards, or USB storage devices are connected; just a wireless mouse. I'm thinking I may need to do a complete reinstall as I am also unable to search for updates.

 

[Colif]

so you running off the drive it can't see? that is pretty tricky. I would run http://www.hdtune.com/ trial version on the drive and see what their health score is

 

[Corey_23]

Yes, this is my C drive. I ran the program and the Health Check says everything is OK. I'm truly at a loss on how to fix this issue.

 

[Colif]

what is the issue you trying to fix by going into disk management? there are other tools you might be able to use, depends what you want to do?

 

[Corey_23]

I'm trying to work my way through current issues to see if one is affecting the rest. If I restart the computer it hangs indefinitely and I have to hold down the power button to turn off. Windows update and driver update also hangs and never completes so I have to use Task Manager to close the window. Trying to use enable File History hangs, I'm sure because of not being able to access the SSD. SFC doesn't populate any issues with the PC. Just a lot of issues in general. I re-installed Windows a few weeks ago, but kept my files, so I think I just need to do a clean install and see if that fixes the issues.

 

[Colif]

Sounds like a fresh install would be best idea. Have you got the latest version of win 10?
right click start
chose run...
type winver and press enter
If it reads Build 1607 you have the latest
if you are on a previous version, you can either go here and click download tool now. This will download the windows 10 media creation tool that will let you make an installer on USB or DVD. Once its created, I would open explorer and navigate to dvd/USB and run the setup.exe file and use it to upgrade your win 10 top latest build - it would most likely fix all these things as it installs a brand new copy of win 10 on PC.

If you already on 1607, you could try this in command prompt (admin) - copy/paste it as it needs to be exact
DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth

its an op version of SFC, it cleans the image reset uses to fix windows.

if it comes back with an error asking about source, and you are on build 1607, you can try the following:
Download a copy of the win 10 iso from Here - create ISO by telling it you want to make DVD - and then mount that ISO in file explorer (see Here) and then copy paste the below command into command prompt (admin)

DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth /source:WIM:X:\Sources\Install.wim:1 /LimitAccess
Where "X" is the drive letter where the ISO is located. Simply change the "X" to the correct drive letter

 

[Corey_23]

"DISM /Online /Cleanup-Image /RestoreHealth"

I do have the current version. I ran this command with no errors. I'm thinking I just need to clean install. It sucks because it took over 24 hours last time.

 

[Colif]

24 hours just to install win 10 or to get it back to how you like it? If first, um... i would question the hard drive again. it should only take an hour max to install win 10 even on a slower computer.

 

[Corey_23]

What's the best way to test the drive? I tried to do a USB recovery from my good laptop, but it came back with an error. No code or description. Could all this be related to the SSD?

The 24 hours was installing Windows 10, both times.

 

[Colif]

what drives are in it? if its only got 1 ssd and it takes 24 hours to install, thats even worse. ssd should take 25 minutes to install win 10

try running this on the ssd: http://www.techspot.com/downloads/6014-as-ssd-benchmark.html though it only shows speed. You should also run hdtune trial on the drive: http://www.hdtune.com/

 

[Corey_23]

It's one SSD and it's a couple years old. After trying to use that recovery drive, the laptop won't boot at all now. It boots to BIOS and no longer lists any drives to boot from. I loaded a Windows 10 boot disk, but it won't boot from the disk. I'm so lost as to what to do now. I tried to make a Windows 10 bootable USB, but that would return with an error just before it finished. I'm at a total loss.

 

[Colif]

Its possible the ssd was on its last legs and might explain why it never answered in disk management or now not showing in the BIOS

I would take it to a store and ask them for assistance as I assume its not easy to remove ssd? They can look at it and confirm it is the ssd anyway.

 

[Corey_23]

I got it!

I had to disable my anti-virus to create the USB tool. Once I did that, I plugged it into the other laptop but when I tried to do a clean install I discovered the partitions weren't GPT so opened Repair My Computer and used a command prompt to convert the disks. After that, I was able to install Windows 10 and it only took about 20 mins. I'm able to access Disk Management and search updates again. Now to restore all the files I needed. Thanks for helping me brainstorm over this!

 

[Colif]

NO problem, glad to help