Fresh XP install cant read other drives

[Carquip]

Did a clean install of XP Pro on 80gig WD/NTFS.

XP thinks my other 3 drives arn`t formatted.

1 WD/320gig + 1 WD/300gig, both full with movies + 1 WD/160gig with all my software & backups, All NTFS.

XP tells me they are unallocated.

No service packs or software installed as yet.

Any thoughts PPL.

[nmX.Memnoch]

Post a screenshot from Disk Management please. It may be that you just need to assign a drive letter to each one, but I'd like to see exactly what it's showing first.

[Carquip]

I don`t have the option of setting a drive letter. The only options I have is either, partition the drive or make the drive a dynamic volume. I notice the size reported here is 128gb, when this drive is 160gb.

The size should be closer to 145gb - 148gb.

Edit:- Gee thats s***ty. Tried to post it as a bitmap but the system refused the file size.

The top drive is my boot drive which shows OK.

The bottom drive is the one in question. It states:- the drive is online in the left pane and in the right pane it states the drive is unallocated, which means, it is not formatted.

Edited March 25, 2006 by Carquip

[LLXX]

Can you plug these drives into another computer to see if their contents are still intact?

[Carquip]

Havn`t got a PC close to try that. They were intact yesterday, before I Fdisked & re-installed.

Just run SFC, to no avail. Cant load any programs or drivers as they are all on the 160gig I cant get to.

Looks like Fdisk again!!. Something funny going on. Had trouble with Explorer with the previous install if U remember. Something is writing to the hardrive as I`m typing this.

[nmX.Memnoch]

Wait...

Did you change the controller these drives are attached to? Because it looks like the controller they're attached to either doesn't support 48-bit LBA or the support is disabled somewhere. Your data is likely still there but it looks like the controller isn't telling Windows all the information it needs.

Looks like Fdisk again!!

Err...have you already used FDISK on these drives (prior to the install)? You should never, ever use FDISK on NTFS parititons. FDISK doesn't understand NTFS master boot records or master file tables. If you used FDISK then that's part your problem.

You should be creating all partitions during XP installation (but don't touch any already existing partitions). Post installation you use Disk Management to manage your partitions.

Edited March 25, 2006 by nmX.Memnoch

[SomeoneElse]

Before you used fdisk and did a clean install, did you have a service pack installed with WinXP Pro?

So, you did an install using WinXP Pro without Service Packs correct?

If I remember corretly, WinXP Pro (No Service Packs) has a hdd limit of 137 GB. Your drives are much bigger than that. You need WinXP Pro with SP1 to over come the hdd limit.

Do you happen to have a WinXP Pro disc with SP1 or SP2? If so, you can try making a BartPE disc to see if that can read the drives.

Hope this helps,

SomeoneElse

[nmX.Memnoch]

Doh...I really thought they were already past that limit with XP Gold but I guess you're right. Windows 2000 didn't get that support until Service Pack 4...which was released after Windows XP Gold.

If you have XP Gold (no SP1 or SP2) then that's all you should have to do...download Service Pack 2 from Microsoft's site, apply it, and you should get access to your drives back.

Edited March 25, 2006 by nmX.Memnoch

[Carquip]

In reply to "Memnoch", The 80gig drive that Blindows is on is a drive that was originally set up with Fdisk & Fat32. As to the controller:- it`s the same, other than in frustration, I loaded a later driver version from the Motherboards website, which didn`t work either.

"Someone else" has hit the nail on the head I think. NO S/P1a or 2.

I shall try that before I go & find the gun.

[Carquip]

S/P1a installed & report on 160gb drive is 149gb instead of 128gb previously reported. Still no contact with the drive though. Installed S/P2 & no change to the drives attitude.

Memory has been checked overnite & no probs found.

S/Packs were not the same files as were installed on the previous installation as they are on the drive I still can`t get to. BANG!!!!!!.

[nmX.Memnoch]

In reply to "Memnoch", The 80gig drive that Blindows is on is a drive that was originally set up with Fdisk & Fat32.

Yes, but you reformatted it with NTFS during the install. Using FDISK is an unnecessary step that you're taking. It can all be done during XP Setup.

S/P1a installed & report on 160gb drive is 149gb instead of 128gb previously reported. Still no contact with the drive though. Installed S/P2 & no change to the drives attitude.

I fear that you messed up your NTFS MFT with FDISK. Can you post another screenshot of Disk Manager post SP2 installation?

BTW, Service Packs are cumulative so you didn't need to install SP1a...just SP2.

[LLXX]

FDISK will leave NTFS and other unrecognised filesystem partitions alone. All you can do is delete them (which I hope u didn't do!)

[Carquip]

In reply to "Memtech", the only difference in disk management compared to the screenshot I posted is, the 160gig drive shows as 149.05gig, compared to 128gig in the screenshot without S/Packs. 149.05gig should be an accurate estimation of the drives capacity.

In reply to "LLXX", yes, I did delete all partitions on my 80gig Boot drive useing Fdisk, but left it as unpartitioned & unformatted, then booted from the XP CD to run setup. During setup I had the drive formatted with NTFS.

None of the other drives have been altered in any way.

My bios only recognizes drives to 137gb, but this has never been a problem before, as I partition or format my large drives useing Windows. The 3 drives Windows cannot recognize properly were never partitioned but were formatted to NTFS useing Windows XP with S/P1a.

[nmX.Memnoch]

All you can do is delete them (which I hope u didn't do!)

That's exactly what I meant...I hope he didn't delete them, either!

In reply to "Memtech", the only difference in disk management compared to the screenshot I posted is, the 160gig drive shows as 149.05gig, compared to 128gig in the screenshot without S/Packs. 149.05gig should be an accurate estimation of the drives capacity.

149.05 is correct because the hard drive manufacturers count "1GB" wrong (that's a whole other discussion).

In reply to "LLXX", yes, I did delete all partitions on my 80gig Boot drive useing Fdisk, but left it as unpartitioned & unformatted

Again, this is an unnecessary step. It's something you can do during Windows XP Setup. I just hope you really were on the 80GB drive and not mistakenly on one of the other drives.

There is a way to get your data back, but you'll need another hard drive of at least 160GB (or the maximum amount of data you had stored on one of the drives). If you're interested and have another drive let me know and I'll outline the steps for you.

[Carquip]

"Memnoch", I was definately on the 80gig drive. Yes, I do have a 300gig WD still packed, sitting here.

I run 2 rack drawers in this machine, which enables me to load any readable drive via the bios.

I was given a copy of "gold" today, which should be the same as I have installed now, WinXP/Pro-OEM.

I noticed another prob yesterday while on this forum, ( IE has a problem & must close).

To Me, it points to memory, but "Memtest" or Micosofts test can`t find a problem. The CPU is cool & never been overheated to my knowledge. Tried runnig only 1 ram stick (512) at a time also.

I have never asked for help reguarding computers in my life till now. 60 years old & HELP!!!!!!.

" Being self taught doesn`t mean you know it all", even if you think you do. Learning STILL!!.

Thanks PPL for your input. Much appreciated.

Regards to all,

Carquip.