Help-Partition lost after upgrade

[Ahmed M. Mohideen]

After I installed sp3 & all available updates from microsoft website, my w2k
pro system does not see
any partitions in the 2nd hard disk. It reads the hard disk as unformatted.
Is it something to do with the upgrade or a coincident hardware failure?
Please help me.

Thanks in advance,
Ahmed M. Mohideen.

 

[Carrie Garth \(MVP\)]

Hi Ahmed,

Since "w2k pro system does not see any partitions in the 2nd hard disk" I don't
understand how "It reads the hard disk as unformatted"... (specifically, what is
"it"?) But since you have not received any responses...

Perhaps the installation of the SP (or updates) did not update your IDE devices
properly such as described in the following Microsoft Knowledge Base Article on a
similar subject.

KB327805 - Ultra DMA Mode 6 Devices Are Not Enabled on VIA Motherboards After You
Install Windows XP SP1
http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=327805

What message do you get on the "Driver Files Search Results" dialog box when you run
the "Update Driver..." Wizard on your Bus Master IDE Controller and Secondary IDE
Channel? That is:

- Right-click My Computer, and then click Properties.
- Click the Hardware tab, and then click Device Manager.
- Expand IDE ATA/ATAPI controllers.
- Double-click your Bus Master IDE Controller, and then click the Driver tab.
- Click Update Driver..., and then click Next.
- Click to select "Search for a suitable driver for my device (recommended)", and
then click Next.
- In the "Locate Driver Files" dialog box click to clear any selected "Optional
search locations:", and then click Next.
- The "Driver Files Search Results" dialog box will report its findings. Record the
information so that you can post it to the group and then click Cancel.

Note: If it reports that a suitable driver is already installed click Next, click
Finish, click Close, Restart the Computer as prompted and then see if Win2K can see
your 2nd hard disk. If not, repeat the above for your Secondary IDE Channel.

--
Carrie Garth, Microsoft MVP for Windows 2000
-- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- -- c x g

: "Ahmed M. Mohideen" <rafeek AT batelco DOT com DOT bh>
: Wrote in message : Sent: Wednesday, September 10, 2003 5:47 AM
: After I installed sp3 & all available updates from microsoft website, my w2k
: pro system does not see
: any partitions in the 2nd hard disk. It reads the hard disk as unformatted.
: Is it something to do with the upgrade or a coincident hardware failure?
: Please help me.
:
: Thanks in advance,
: Ahmed M. Mohideen.

 

[Ahmed M. Mohideen]

Hi Carrie,

Thank you for your suggestions.

What I meant by "my w2k does not see any partitions in my 2nd HD" was, when
I click the drive in windows explorer it returns the error message "The disk
in drive F is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?"

Computer Mangagement > Disk Management > Right-click F Drive, click Explore
returns the error message "The System cannot find the device specified."

When I ran the "Update Driver..." Wizard both on my Via Bus Master IDE
Controller and Secondary IDE Channel, I got the message that a suitable
driver is already installed and from there I followed your instructions to
complete the wizard but with the same results.

Iam thinking of removing and fixing this drive in another w2k system to
check whether it's readable. I used this drive as a backup for my data files
in HD1 which is working fine. So the matter is only of academic interest to
me now.

Thanks again,
Ahmed M. Mohideen.