How to Fix Disk 0 Unknown not initialized?

Summary: When connecting an external hard drive to your Windows system, you may encounter the ‘Disk 0 Unknown Not Initialized’ problem. The hard drive may show unallocated space in Disk Management and the data becomes inaccessible. You can follow the methods mentioned in this blog to fix the error. But before that, let’s look at the reasons that may lead to such an issue.

Table of Contents

• Reasons behind Disk 0 Unknown not initialized
• Methods to Fix the Disk 0 Unknown Not Initialized Issue
  • Update Device Driver
  • Rebuild MBR Boot
  • Initialize the External Hard Disk on the PC
  • Run CHKDSK Command
  • Run Diskpart Utility
• Ending Note

Reasons behind Disk 0 Unknown not initialized

Below we have mentioned some common reasons that may result in the ‘Disk 0 Unknown Not Initialized’ issue:

• Corrupt/Incompatible/Outdated device driver
• MBR Corruption
• Missing or lost partition
• Bad Sectors
• Corrupt File System

Methods to Fix the Disk 0 Unknown Not Initialized Issue

Proceed with the below-mentioned methods to resolve the Disk 0 Unknown not initialized issue.

Note: Sometimes, the device BIOS fails to read the drive. In that case, you can turn off the PC and start it again. Restarting the PC may help fix the problem.

Read: How to Fix ATA/SATA hard drive not detected in BIOS?

Method 1: Update the Device Driver

The Disk 0 Unknown not initialized issue may occur due to an outdated, corrupt, or incompatible device driver. In such a case, you can update the device driver. To do so, proceed with the below-given steps:

• Press Windows + X keys simultaneously and click on Device Manager.
• From there, select the category of the devices and double-click on the one you want to update driver for.
• Right-click the driver and select the Update driver option.
• After that, select the ‘Search automatically for updated driver software’ option. Windows will find the latest one.

If you couldn’t find the latest driver software for your device, then uninstall the current one and re-install a compatible driver.

Method 2: Rebuild MBR Boot

MBR or Master Boot Record is susceptible to boot sector viruses that can corrupt or remove the MBR on your external hard drive, resulting in the “Disk not Initialized and Unallocated” issue. You may fix the issue by rebuilding the MBR by using the Windows Command Prompt utility. Here are the steps:

• Open Command Prompt and enter the following commands:

1. exe /fixmbr
2. exe /fixboot
3. exe /rebuildbcd

• Press the Enter key and then close the Command Prompt window. Check if the issue persists.

Read: How much does data recovery cost in India?

Method 3: Initialize the External Hard Disk on the PC

If you find unallocated space while checking the status of the drive through the Disk Management utility, then perform the initialization process on the device by following the below-given steps:

• Open Disk Management and find the drive that isn’t initialized. It will be displayed as unallocated.
• Right-click the unallocated disk and select the Initialize Disk option.
• Further, select the partition style of the disk (MBR or GPT) and click OK.
• Once done, it will take you to the main window where the drive will be listed as Online and Basic.
• Lastly, go to This PC and check if you’re able to access the drive or not.

Method 4: Run CHKDSK Command

The CHKDSK utility scans the integrity of the hard disk and can fix various file system errors. Proceed with the below-given steps to run the CHKDSK command on the Windows cmd utility.

• Simultaneously press Windows + X keys and open Command Prompt.
• Type chkdsk/f/rd: in the command prompt window and press the Enter

Read: How to Recover Data from Hard Drive?

Method 5: Run Diskpart Utility

Diskpart utility can also help you fix the ‘Disk 0 Unknown Not Initialized’ issue. The tool formats the drive partition or change the disk partition to NTFS or FAT32.

Note: Running Diskpart will format the partition and result in data loss. Thus, create a backup of your data.

Proceed with the below-given steps to fix the issue using Diskpart utility:

• Press Windows + R keys to open the Run dialog box. Further, type cmd in the text field to open the Command Prompt.
• Type diskpart, followed by list disk in the command prompt window, and then press the Enter key.
• Further, type Select Disk 0 (Where disk 0 is the disk showing error) and press the Enter key.
• Type clean and press the Enter key.
• Then, type creates partition primary and hit the Enter key.
• After that, type format fs=fat32 quick or fs=ntfs quick and press the Enter key to proceed further.
• Wait for the process to complete. Then, type exit and hit Enter.
• At last, reboot the system and check if the issue is resolved.

Summing It Up

In this blog, we have mentioned the methods that can help you fix the ‘Disk 0 Unknown Not Initialized’ issue. However, some methods such as diskpart utility or fixing unallocated space, may lead to data loss. Thus, you’re advised to create backup of your data before implementing these methods.

In case the above methods fail to fix the hard drive uninitialized issue, you can take the help of a reliable and professional data recovery service provider to recover data from the hard drive.