Hard Drive Alive, But Windows XP Refuses to See It.

[Ryan]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Hi,

I posted yesterday thinking the second hard drive in my PC had died
and asking for opinions.

Last night, I downloaded diagnostic software to look at the drive.
Sure enough, the drive is alive. The software was able to immediately
look at the drive and show me every folder and file that it is on it
as if nothing had happened. I even previewed some files and it appears
all the info is exactly where I left it.

However, Windows still says the drive is either "no accessable" or
"needs to be formatted" and refuses to use it or access it.

Now that I know the drive is not dead and the data is still there, I
am stumped as to how to proceed. What seems to be wrong? One night the
drive was fine, the next morning Windows claimed it didn't exist and
still refuses to let me use it.

Sorry, I have never had this happen to a drive and have no idea how to
proceed without accidently erasing the data that is there.

 

[Ryan]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

(How did I post ONCE and get FOUR posts?!)

"Disk Mangement" on XP says the disk is "healthy" but does not have
anything under "format" for file format of the drive. How do I give it
the right data so it knows the type of drive it is?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Hi, Ryan.

We don't actually format a whole HDD. We first create one or more
partitions and format each partition separately. Does Disk Management show
ANY partitions on that HD?

Terminology gets confusing here because we often use the terms "disk" and
"drive" as though they are the same thing, but they are not. And "drive"
means quite different things at different times.

A hard disk drive can be divided into as many as four partitions, of which
one may be an extended partition; the others are primary partitions. Each
primary partition can be assigned a "drive" letter and formatted. The
extended partition is not assigned a drive letter and cannot be formatted.
However, we can create any number (until we run out of letters in the
English alphabet) of "logical drives" within the extended partition, each of
which can be assigned a "drive" letter and separately formatted. To reduce
the confusion somewhat, I use the term "volume" to refer to a primary
partition or a logical drive. In other words, anything that can be assigned
a "drive" letter and formatted is a volume.

If your HDD has never been partitioned, then it has never been formatted.
Use Disk Management to create at least one partition, which MAY be as large
as the entire HDD, then assign it a letter and format it.

If that HDD has been partitioned and formatted, but Disk Management does not
recognize that, then you have a different problem. You might be at risk of
losing any files there unless you handle it carefully.

By the way, if your newsreader offers a way to quote the prior messages when
you reply, please use that. Otherwise, we'll have to flip back and forth to
all the prior messages in the thread to keep our thoughts in context.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
rc@corridor.net
Microsoft Windows MVP

"Ryan" <welziak@snet.net> wrote in message
news:189b1c22.0408171723.6154aa9f@posting.google.com...
> (How did I post ONCE and get FOUR posts?!)
>
> "Disk Mangement" on XP says the disk is "healthy" but does not have
> anything under "format" for file format of the drive. How do I give it
> the right data so it knows the type of drive it is?

 

[Guest]

Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

hey which software did u use to see all ur files on ur drive??

"R. C. White" wrote:

> Hi, Ryan.
>
> We don't actually format a whole HDD. We first create one or more
> partitions and format each partition separately. Does Disk Management show
> ANY partitions on that HD?
>
> Terminology gets confusing here because we often use the terms "disk" and
> "drive" as though they are the same thing, but they are not. And "drive"
> means quite different things at different times.
>
> A hard disk drive can be divided into as many as four partitions, of which
> one may be an extended partition; the others are primary partitions. Each
> primary partition can be assigned a "drive" letter and formatted. The
> extended partition is not assigned a drive letter and cannot be formatted.
> However, we can create any number (until we run out of letters in the
> English alphabet) of "logical drives" within the extended partition, each of
> which can be assigned a "drive" letter and separately formatted. To reduce
> the confusion somewhat, I use the term "volume" to refer to a primary
> partition or a logical drive. In other words, anything that can be assigned
> a "drive" letter and formatted is a volume.
>
> If your HDD has never been partitioned, then it has never been formatted.
> Use Disk Management to create at least one partition, which MAY be as large
> as the entire HDD, then assign it a letter and format it.
>
> If that HDD has been partitioned and formatted, but Disk Management does not
> recognize that, then you have a different problem. You might be at risk of
> losing any files there unless you handle it carefully.
>
> By the way, if your newsreader offers a way to quote the prior messages when
> you reply, please use that. Otherwise, we'll have to flip back and forth to
> all the prior messages in the thread to keep our thoughts in context.
>
> RC
> --
> R. C. White, CPA
> San Marcos, TX
> rc@corridor.net
> Microsoft Windows MVP
>
> "Ryan" <welziak@snet.net> wrote in message
> news:189b1c22.0408171723.6154aa9f@posting.google.com...
> > (How did I post ONCE and get FOUR posts?!)
> >
> > "Disk Mangement" on XP says the disk is "healthy" but does not have
> > anything under "format" for file format of the drive. How do I give it
> > the right data so it knows the type of drive it is?
>
>