In situations like this, the best advice I can offer is don't panic or make things worse.Thank you all for responing. is there a way to explain this or a link i can look up so, I can awnser some of your questons. I'm brand new to RASPBERRY Pi. I have a Pi 3 model b. I went with a sd card in it. I went to the website followed the instructions and this is the outcome. If anyone knows or has any information to send my way to recover and help me fix this issue I would greatly appericate it.
Is it possible you've been plugging and unplugging USB drives in a panic without unmounting them?
Having said this, here's what I'd do in a panic.
Violently unplug all USB storage devices without unmounting them and then fully shut Windows.
After the power is off I'd power back up with no USB storage connected.To fully shut down Windows instead of hibernating, hold down the Shift key while clicking the "Shut down" option in the Start menu.
Finally, I'd fully shut it down again, attach the USB drive that is supposed to appear as D and then power Windows up one more time. If D still doesn't appear I'd take a break and rethink the next step.
Note, during the above procedure keep the SD card for the Pi on the shelf and focus only on getting Windows back to the way it was.
Since others may have better ideas, maybe wait to see what others recommend first.
Statistics: Posted by ejolson — Thu Aug 07, 2025 10:51 pm