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Will initializing a hard disk erase all the data?

Will initializing a hard disk erase all the data?

I have a hard disk that I have removed from a Windows 7 laptop.

The hard drive on the laptop boots just fine.

However, whenever I connect it to any of my USB adapters and plug it into any computer running any Windows OS, I am always prompted within the Disk Management console of Computer Management to initialize the disk.

It appears that I won't be able to copy any data off of the disk unless I initialize it.

I need to copy data from this hard disk and I would prefer to do it while it is plugged into another computer using a laptop hard drive adapter attached to a USB cable.

If I initialize this hard disk, will that destroy the partition and erase all of the data on the disk?
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That's the thing.

I have initialized several SATA and IDE hard disks while they have been connected inside of a computer under all of the different Windows workstation and server operating systems and don't remember ever having a problem with losing data.

However, I don't have any experience with initializing a SATA hard disk while it is connected to a SATA adapter at the end of a USB cable.

That is why I am wondering whether or not I will lose data by doing this.

Does anyone have any experience doing this?

What URLs or other online articles discuss this issue?
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This hard drive is connected to a power source.

I have already tried moving it to all of the available USB ports, have rebooted the computer, tried to update the drivers, etc.
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Does anyone have any further information, comments, or suggestions?
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dlethe,

Please provide me with URL addresses of where I can download these binary editors from.
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Thank you for the detailed discussion.