Where is my J drive?
Oct 12, 2022 10:37:43 #
I came home from a weekend away and was going to load pictures on my J drive as I usually do. I put my memory card into a reader to transfer and realized my J drive did not show up on my computer. Before I go any farther, I should add I have very little knowledge of how computers work. I frankly can’t remember if the J drive is an external drive or not.
I probably need to take the computer to a repair shop to get it resolved. I don’t know if it is a sign that the J drive failed or what. I am writing this in hopes of maybe there is a simple solution that maybe I can pull off.
I included this in main photography section since I keep a lot of my photos on the J drive. If it needs to be moved feel free to do so.
I probably need to take the computer to a repair shop to get it resolved. I don’t know if it is a sign that the J drive failed or what. I am writing this in hopes of maybe there is a simple solution that maybe I can pull off.
I included this in main photography section since I keep a lot of my photos on the J drive. If it needs to be moved feel free to do so.
Oct 12, 2022 10:43:08 #
Oct 12, 2022 10:46:19 #
More than likely a Windoze system.
--Bob
--Bob
cjc2 wrote:
How about some more info. Computer, Specs, Operating System??
Oct 12, 2022 11:02:51 #
Mi630 wrote:
I came home from a weekend away and was going to l... (show quote)
Hard to make sense of this, but, it sounds like you're J drive was just for photos? If so, did you reboot your computer? Use the computer file viewing system and look at the directory. Do you see the files anywhere?
You say you do not know if it was an external drive or internal. My guess is it is external. So make sure it is plugged in when you look at the directory structure. Your may have had a FAST power surge or outage that caused the computer to reboot. If so, the drive letter could have changed if you had not assigned a permanent drive letter (which from your question I doubt your did).
Oct 12, 2022 11:09:04 #
Some software simply assigns a newly attached drive as the next available letter.
MOST of the time it may be the same letter.
On occasion, I have had it not be.
Confusing is that my external two bay drive dock gets assigned a drive letter,
but it is not a usable drive.
So, depending what is already mounted as an external device, in what sequence, drive letters change.
I gave all my external storage devices their own name, which is what I go by.
MOST of the time it may be the same letter.
On occasion, I have had it not be.
Confusing is that my external two bay drive dock gets assigned a drive letter,
but it is not a usable drive.
So, depending what is already mounted as an external device, in what sequence, drive letters change.
I gave all my external storage devices their own name, which is what I go by.
Oct 12, 2022 11:12:34 #
You're probably going have to start paying closer attention to some of the technical details. Your images are likely on a connected USB drive, assigned letter J. But, you're the person there with physical access to the equipment, so you're the one that will have to review and make sure.
Start by disconnecting all the USB-connected drives and remove the camera card from any slots. Reboot the Windows computer.
While the computer reboots, consider your USB-connected devices and which is the 'home' of your images. When the computer comes back to operation, reconnect this device first. Does Windows assign the drive J or some other name? Look through the contents of the drive with Windows File Explorer and confirm the contents at least look like what you expect to find as "J".
If the USB device is the 'pictures' drive, but it does not pick up 'J', do the following:
(Assuming Windows 10 / 11)
a, Right-click the Windows Start icon in the lower left of the desktop.
b, Find 'Disk Management' in the menu and select that option.
c, Maximize the next window and find the connected 'disk' by its letter in the bottom portion of the window.
d, Right-click that lettered disk, remember this is important only if not assigned the letter J, and select 'Change Drive Letter and Paths' from the resulting menu.
e, Change the assigned letter to 'J' and <OK> the change.
Typically, Windows assigns the available letter(s) to USB devices in the numerical order of attachment and available letters. If your system starts assigning from J, attached-disk-1 is J, attached-disk-2 is K, attached-disk-3 is L and so forth. Your situation was likely caused by the device being removed and not re-attached in the same order so it received J as attached-disk-1.
Start by disconnecting all the USB-connected drives and remove the camera card from any slots. Reboot the Windows computer.
While the computer reboots, consider your USB-connected devices and which is the 'home' of your images. When the computer comes back to operation, reconnect this device first. Does Windows assign the drive J or some other name? Look through the contents of the drive with Windows File Explorer and confirm the contents at least look like what you expect to find as "J".
If the USB device is the 'pictures' drive, but it does not pick up 'J', do the following:
(Assuming Windows 10 / 11)
a, Right-click the Windows Start icon in the lower left of the desktop.
b, Find 'Disk Management' in the menu and select that option.
c, Maximize the next window and find the connected 'disk' by its letter in the bottom portion of the window.
d, Right-click that lettered disk, remember this is important only if not assigned the letter J, and select 'Change Drive Letter and Paths' from the resulting menu.
e, Change the assigned letter to 'J' and <OK> the change.
Typically, Windows assigns the available letter(s) to USB devices in the numerical order of attachment and available letters. If your system starts assigning from J, attached-disk-1 is J, attached-disk-2 is K, attached-disk-3 is L and so forth. Your situation was likely caused by the device being removed and not re-attached in the same order so it received J as attached-disk-1.
Oct 12, 2022 11:20:30 #
rmalarz wrote:
More than likely a Windoze system.
--Bob
--Bob
There is no other current operating system that uses drive letters.
Your J: drive is an external drive. External, as your C: drive is the default initial hard disk (this is a holdover from when floppy disks were in use. The A: and B: drives specified floppy disk drives and the C: drive was the first hard drive). Every other hard drive is "external," even if it "lives" inside your computer cabinet.
The first thing I would do is check your connections. Maybe a cable has come loose. Also, if your computer hasn't been restarted in a while, that might just solve the issue.
Oct 12, 2022 11:20:58 #
I frankly can’t remember if the J drive is an external drive or not.
But you can look!
If it is in fact a standalone external drive, with its own power supply, first check that power supply. (Some older/larger drives have their own power supply, others are powered by the computer through the USB cable.) The drive might be connected to the computer with the USB cable, but if the power supply to the drive is disconnected or defective the drive will not show up in the network.
But you can look!
If it is in fact a standalone external drive, with its own power supply, first check that power supply. (Some older/larger drives have their own power supply, others are powered by the computer through the USB cable.) The drive might be connected to the computer with the USB cable, but if the power supply to the drive is disconnected or defective the drive will not show up in the network.
Oct 12, 2022 11:27:59 #
alvin3232
Loc: Houston, TX
Hello
Few have not provided enough information in your first post and as mentioned most members have provided you with the information that you need. It's a good chance it's an external device and as one mentioned check your connections as one user mentioned rebooting also. OS type Windows 10 or 11.
Alvin
Few have not provided enough information in your first post and as mentioned most members have provided you with the information that you need. It's a good chance it's an external device and as one mentioned check your connections as one user mentioned rebooting also. OS type Windows 10 or 11.
Alvin
Oct 12, 2022 11:45:30 #
r1ch
Loc: Colorado
It is right next to your I drive. kidding..
If you get it figured out please write this information and all your drive information, which devices are plugged into which ports on a sticky note and stick it on your computer so you do not forget.
If you get it figured out please write this information and all your drive information, which devices are plugged into which ports on a sticky note and stick it on your computer so you do not forget.
Oct 12, 2022 11:55:24 #
One thing that could have happened would be that you plugged in a thumb drive, or some other USB-connected device, and Windows decided to change the drive letter of your photo storage drive. I've had that happen before.
So, it could be as simple as your photos are right where you left them, but the drive's letter designation has changed.
So, it could be as simple as your photos are right where you left them, but the drive's letter designation has changed.
Oct 12, 2022 11:57:15 #
r1ch wrote:
It is right next to your I drive. kidding..
If you get it figured out please write this information and all your drive information, which devices are plugged into which ports on a sticky note and stick it on your computer so you do not forget.
If you get it figured out please write this information and all your drive information, which devices are plugged into which ports on a sticky note and stick it on your computer so you do not forget.
And a new note when they change......
Oct 12, 2022 13:07:19 #
Oct 12, 2022 13:28:43 #
Oct 12, 2022 13:44:16 #
r1ch wrote:
It is right next to your I drive. kidding..
If you get it figured out please write this information and all your drive information, which devices are plugged into which ports on a sticky note and stick it on your computer so you do not forget.
If you get it figured out please write this information and all your drive information, which devices are plugged into which ports on a sticky note and stick it on your computer so you do not forget.
That won't work either, as it will/can be reassigned again. The permanent fix is to assign a permanent drive letter. I use stick notes, for my memory jogger, to tell me what is on that drive. I not only put the drive letter, but what is on it, the photos, data, etc. So I know when I plug it in what is on it.
The purpose of a permanent drive letter is so when a program that has things logged as to where the data is, it will find it, and not get confused.
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