Repeatedly unallocated drive

[Guest]

I installed a second IDE HDD in a PC running WinXP with SP3.

It did not appear in the Windows Explorer but did appear in Disk Management as "Unallocated". That wasn't correct but I still created a new partition on it and allocated a drive letter.

Then it appeared in the Explorer, I could read and write without problem. Later, I switched off the PC. When I switched the PC back on again...

It did not appear in the Windows Explorer but did appear in Disk Management as "Unallocated". That wasn't correct but I still created a new partition on it and allocated a drive letter.

Then it appeared in the Explorer, I could read and write without problem. Later, I switched off the PC. When I switched the PC back on again...

...well, you get the picture!!

I have tried the drive in another PC and it works fine. I have tried other drives in this PC and always get the same problem. I have tried both the Primary and Secondary controllers with the same result. The other devices on those controllers work fine.

Can anyone tell my why the drive is repeatedly becoming unallocated?

Grateful for any suggestions.

Pete

 

[evongugg]

Try replacing the cable.
The motherboard may be defective if that doesn't work.
I have been in a similar situation.
Is it always showing correctly in the bios?

 

[Guest]

Many thanks Evongugg.

I was wondering whether it was worth replacing the cable but thought it unlikely that they were both faulty. If the fault is with the mobo, then it affects both controllers.

It's good to know someone else has been in the same situation. Before today, I had not found anyone who had hit this problem!

Yes, the new drive always shows correctly in BIOS.

I'll try your cable suggestion this evening (at the moment I'm at work and the PC is at home) and let you know.

Thanks again!

 

[Guest]

OK, I am back home now and have tried another controller cable. I still get the same problem. I have also tried the "new" HDD alone on the controller. The DVD drive which was previously on its own there, worked fine.

I find it so strange that, after re-allocating the drive, it works correctly (but only until I shut down the PC). Can that really be a mobo fault?

As always, I would be very grateful for any further suggestions.

 

[evongugg]

Run hard drive diagnostics.
Your controller seems to be running fine.
How old is your Windows installation?

 

[evongugg]

Check the jumpers on the hard drive.

 

[Guest]

1) Run hard drive diagnostics.
2) Your controller seems to be running fine.
3) How old is your Windows installation?

1) Maybe I'm being thick. What do you mean? I've run Scan Disk. Please point me towards something else I can try.
2) That's one good thing!
3) The installation itself? I installed it last August but the PC and the installation CD are both much older.

 

[Guest]

Check the jumpers on the hard drive.

Yes, I've tried this drive (and the others I've been trying) as both Master and Slave. Makes no difference.

But, if that was the problem, the drive wouldn't function normally between reallocating (recreating the partition) and shutting down, would it? (I'm not sure; I'm afraid I'm not so much of an expert when it comes to harware!)

 

[evongugg]

Go to the hard disk manufacturer's site and download their diagnostic tools.
Run them and report the results back.
For Seagate and Maxtor, it's called Seatools.
For Western Digital it's called Data Lifeguard Tools.

 

[Guest]

Go to the hard disk manufacturer's site and download their diagnostic tools.
Run them and report the results back.
For Seagate and Maxtor, it's called Seatools.
For Western Digital it's called Data Lifeguard Tools.

Ah, I see what you mean! (I said I was being thick!)

OK, I downloaded Seatools and the Micrisoft Net-thingy which it needs.

Tried to run the Seatools and got the following error message:

"Could not find any recognizable digits. Int32 StringToInt(System.String, Int32, Int, Int32*)"

Now that's a really useful error message!!!!!!!!