A GHOST is in my computer...??

[wuzww]

Howdy..

1. My MSI board computer's "C" drive is a 400GB Western Digital harddrive.

2. Additionally, I had a 4-month-old Samsung 2-TB Internal "Z" harddrive in the computer.

3. And there is a USB docking station hooked up...

When I put a harddrive in it, another letter is assigned to the drive, such as "J".

(or it uses the drive letter assigned the drive when formatted, like my Seagate "U" drive.

For several weeks, I noticed (& wondered..?) about another drive (designated as "H") in windows explorer..,

but I thought it was probably a drive that I might have installed awhile back,..

(I didn't remember installing it, but I do such things from time to time if I don't use the docking station.)

The drive was empty, so one day I used it to store an extra copy of a backup folder with some memo's...

Yesterdaty, when I was trying to figure out this "mystery" drive. I copied a backup Macrium Reflect image to it,

Then... around Jan. 11, 2011, my 4-month-old 2-TB Samsung containing several (all of my most recent) Macrium Reflect backup files... just TURNED UP DEAD..!

My computer couldn't even see my Samsung drive.

So I shipped the drive to Samsung, and yesterday, UPS delivered a new unformated Samsung drive.

My thought was to install this new drive inside the MSI board computer, so I took the side off... and it was then I discovered only ONE drive (the "C") drive was inside the computer case...

There was NO 120GB drive inside the computer case... WHERE was the 120GB drive..?

My Seagate 2-TB drive was in the docking station.

When I turned off the docking station, planning to use it to format the new Samsung drive,...

... I noticed that Windows Explorer showed that the Seagate "Z" drive AND the mystery "H" drive were both gone...??

The "Z" drive was gone as expected, ...but what happened to the mysterious "H" drive?

I put the NEW unformatted SAMSUNG 2-TB drive in the docking station & turned it on...

...Lo & Behold, the "H" (mystery) Ghost drive RE-APPEARED..!, as well as the unformatted NEW SAMSUNG drive.

Now I'm getting very confused...! whooooooo ....spooooky ??

I Turned off the docking station, and again ...both the "H" (mistery) drive and the Samsung unformatted drive disappeared from Windows Explorer.

As these strange things were transpiring, I started making several screen shots, ...since I felt no one would believe it...

Heck, I was watching it happen and I could hardly believe it myself..!

The screenshots are posted so you can see what I saw,... if you take a notion to do so..

My ASUS computer is nearby, so using an extra USB cord, I hooked the docking station to the ASUS computer, and guess what...

...Suddenly when the docking station was turned on ...The "H" drive showed up in Windows Explorer... ON THE ASUS computer screen..!

Next,.. I removed the unformatted Samsung drive from the docking station. ,...it was gone, like it's supposed to be..! ...BUT the "H" drive was STILL THERE...! ??

My thinking now was that the only thing making any sense at all (if you can call it making sense) is that this mystery "H" drive was somehow inside the docking station...! ...But THAT MADE NO SENSE at all..!

I decided to call StarTech, the maker of the docking station... to get an explaination, and find out what was inside the docking station... !

Believe it or not, StarTech ANSWERS the phone, and gives great customer service..!

I knew I needed the model number, so I first raised the docking station up, so I could see the model # on the bottom.

It was then that I had the EUREKA MOMENT..!

TO EXPLAIN... You probably need to know that the docking station on my desk is situated, so that the right side is where the power & USB cords are located.AND on the left side of the docking station there's a ribbon cable and a 4-pin Molex power cable, (for attaching any older ide harddrives to the station.)

Looking for the model#, I noticed the mysterious "H" drive...! I found it HIDING under some papers...! ...I think it was grinning at me..!

You know... for a while I was thinking I might need to hire a person skilled in EXORCISMS to get rid of that "mysterious DEVIL hard drive..!

cheers.. wuzww

P.S. Now I just feel a little stupid..!

[lelenina]

Looking for the model#, I noticed the mysterious "H" drive...! I found it HIDING under some papers...! ...I think it was grinning at me..!

So, it was plugged into the docking station all along and you never noticed it until then?

[wuzww]

So, it was plugged into the docking station all along and you never noticed it until then?

Yea... haha..

I might'a been able to see it if I'd have cleaned my desk off.

Those papers were on top of that "H" drive & had been there for probabily a couple of months..

wuzww