boot up

[critcher]

when machine boots up the post tells me that i have an 18 gig and 75 gig
hard drives, when in fact I have a 40 gig and 120 gig drives, in the bios
setup screens, both the disks are identified correctly as western digital
drives and their sizes are correct, winxp recognizes both disks correctly
and they both operate ok.
so any ideas what is causing this problem.

dfi nforce 2 mobo
3200 processor
512 ram
40(master) and 120 gig western digital hard drives, both on primary
win xp sp2

could it be anything to do with s.m.a.r.t disk checking ? I had this
operating but have now turned it off.

 

[Grinder]

when machine boots up the post tells me that i have an 18 gig and 75 gig
hard drives, when in fact I have a 40 gig and 120 gig drives, in the bios
setup screens, both the disks are identified correctly as western digital
drives and their sizes are correct, winxp recognizes both disks correctly
and they both operate ok.
so any ideas what is causing this problem.

dfi nforce 2 mobo
3200 processor
512 ram
40(master) and 120 gig western digital hard drives, both on primary
win xp sp2

could it be anything to do with s.m.a.r.t disk checking ? I had this
operating but have now turned it off.

Has your system ever reported a 40 and 120 Gb drives?

If so, describe the events between when it read 40/120 and when it began
to read 18/75.

If you go into Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer
Management > Disk Management what do you see? Putting a screenshot onto
a web page might be helpful if you don't feel confident enough to read
it -- don't forget to resize the window such that nothing is hidden in a
scrolled area.

Specifically, does there appear to be unpartioned areas on the drives?

 

[critcher]

Has your system ever reported a 40 and 120 Gb drives?

yes, as formatted sizes

If so, describe the events between when it read 40/120 and when it began
to read 18/75.

1 used s.m.a.r.t. but then turned it off

2 installed WD Data lifeguard and copied C:/ to D:/
3 tried to boot off D: after making it the master and disconnecting C:
but the comp
wouldn't boot, so put all back together as before, probably have to
format D: as
primary partition and then copy C: using data lifeguard

If you go into Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Computer

Management > Disk Management what do you see? Putting a screenshot onto a
web page might be helpful if you don't feel confident enough to read it --
don't forget to resize the window such that nothing is hidden in a
scrolled area.

C partition basic ntfs 37.27 gb 22.40 free

D partition basic ntfs 111.78 gb 90.67 freeSpecifically, does there appear to be unpartioned areas on the drives?

no, everything is ok

bios setup reports WD40BB and WD1200JB
win xp reports both drives correctly

 

[Grinder]

Grinder:

yes, as formatted sizes

So, as it is the *only* place you feel that improper sizes are being
reported is in the initial boot of the machine where the BIOS reports
the drives it has found?

Your drives are described properly in windows, and you have full access
to their contents?

If you go into BIOS setup and look at the hard drive settings, does the
geometry (cylinders, sectors, etc.) match what is specified for your drive?

I overlooked a question you asked earlier:

could it be anything to do with s.m.a.r.t disk
checking?

No, I don't think so.

 

[critcher]

Grinder:



So, as it is the *only* place you feel that improper sizes are being
reported is in the initial boot of the machine where the BIOS reports the
drives it has found?

yes thats right

Your drives are described properly in windows, and you have full access to
their contents?
yes

If you go into BIOS setup and look at the hard drive settings, does the
geometry (cylinders, sectors, etc.) match what is specified for your
drive?

I'll have to check that out and get back later