My data drive is possessed by a formerly connected drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter bavarianilluminati
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bavarianilluminati

Yesterday I wanted to move some files to an old 1.2 GB hard drive.

I disconnected my DVD-drive from my secondary master, connected the old
there, and moved the files. I then disconnected the 1.2 GB drive and
reconnected my DVD-drive.

After that something odd happened. My 250 GB data drive, which is
connected as secondary slave, now thinks that it is a nearly empty
drive with a capacity of 1.2 GB.

I didn't touch any jumpers.

I've tried to dis- and reconnect the drive. Both physically and in BIOS
and I've tried to remove all drives in the device manager in XP (except
my system drive), and let XP find them again on startup.

But XP keeps insisting, that I now have an empty 1.2 GB drive, where I
used to have a 250 GB drive with lots of data on it.

Where is the information stored, that makes my PC believe, that it has
a 1.2. GB drive connected?

Has anyone had similar experiences?

Any help would be highly appreciated.
 
Yesterday I wanted to move some files to an old 1.2 GB hard drive.

I disconnected my DVD-drive from my secondary master, connected the old
there, and moved the files. I then disconnected the 1.2 GB drive and
reconnected my DVD-drive.

After that something odd happened. My 250 GB data drive, which is
connected as secondary slave, now thinks that it is a nearly empty
drive with a capacity of 1.2 GB.

I didn't touch any jumpers.

I've tried to dis- and reconnect the drive. Both physically and in BIOS
and I've tried to remove all drives in the device manager in XP (except
my system drive), and let XP find them again on startup.

But XP keeps insisting, that I now have an empty 1.2 GB drive, where I
used to have a 250 GB drive with lots of data on it.

Where is the information stored, that makes my PC believe, that it has
a 1.2. GB drive connected?
Click to expand...


the bios has probably reset to the 1.2gig drive and stayed there...
go back into the bios and reset it...
normally you can put all channels on "auto"
 
Thanks for your idea.

But my BIOS was already set to auto and it does recognize the drive as
being there and being 250GB (I just realized that, when I rechecked if
it was set to auto).

XP however, insists that it's 1.2GB even after it has been physically
disconnected and deleted in device manager.
 
"XP however, insists that it's 1.2GB even after it has been physically
disconnected and deleted in device manager."

i.e. after it has been reconnected.
 
"XP however, insists that it's 1.2GB even after it has been physically
disconnected and deleted in device manager."

i.e. after it has been reconnected.
Click to expand...


have a look in disk management...
how does it see the drive?
 
Thanks for your idea.

But my BIOS was already set to auto and it does recognize the drive as
being there and being 250GB (I just realized that, when I rechecked if
it was set to auto).

XP however, insists that it's 1.2GB even after it has been physically
disconnected and deleted in device manager.
Click to expand...

What happens when XP tries to access the missing drive?

Delete the drive from device manager, disconnect the drive and
set the BIOS to 'none', then crank up XP again and ensure that
the drive's not there.

After that, reconnect the drive and run the BIOS 'drive id'
instead of leaving it configured as 'auto'. With the drive
properly identified XP is likely to pay attention.
--
-- Marten Kemp
(Fix name and ISP to reply)
-=-=-
.... Never argue with a man who uses sharp knives for a living.;)
* TagZilla 0.059 * http://tagzilla.mozdev.org
 
Thank you for your suggestions.

Marten said:
What happens when XP tries to access the missing drive?
Click to expand...

I can open the non-present 1.2GB drive from Explorer. It has a single
folder named FOUND.000 which contains 10,000 files (exactly) named
FILE0000.CHK to FILE9999.CHK
Delete the drive from device manager, disconnect the drive and
set the BIOS to 'none', then crank up XP again and ensure that
the drive's not there.
Click to expand...

I tried to follow your directions in this way:
I removed the hard drive in device manager. Then I disconnected the
DVD-drive (secondary master ) and the 250GB hard drive (secondary
slave) physically. Then I set the secondary slave to NONE in BIOS.I
left secondary master at AUTO. Then I started up XP. Result: Only my
system hard drive (primary master) was present in XP (Explorer and
device manager).

Then I shut down and physically reconnected the DVD and the hard drive,
to the same positions. Leaving BIOS untouched, I let XP start up.
Result: The DVD-drive and the non-present 1.2GB drive became available
in Explorer and device manager?

No changes, when I restarted and set BIOS back to auto on the secondary
slave. Which I just now realize was contrary to your advice.
After that, reconnect the drive and run the BIOS 'drive id'
instead of leaving it configured as 'auto'. With the drive
properly identified XP is likely to pay attention.
Click to expand...

I will retry and remember that, but isn't it strange, that the problem
was recreated before the 250GB was reactivated in BIOS? It seems to me,
that the problem must be something else?
 
Thank you for your suggestions.

Marten Kemp wrote:




I can open the non-present 1.2GB drive from Explorer. It has a single
folder named FOUND.000 which contains 10,000 files (exactly) named
FILE0000.CHK to FILE9999.CHK




I tried to follow your directions in this way:
I removed the hard drive in device manager. Then I disconnected the
DVD-drive (secondary master ) and the 250GB hard drive (secondary
slave) physically. Then I set the secondary slave to NONE in BIOS.I
left secondary master at AUTO. Then I started up XP. Result: Only my
system hard drive (primary master) was present in XP (Explorer and
device manager).

Then I shut down and physically reconnected the DVD and the hard drive,
to the same positions. Leaving BIOS untouched, I let XP start up.
Result: The DVD-drive and the non-present 1.2GB drive became available
in Explorer and device manager?

No changes, when I restarted and set BIOS back to auto on the secondary
slave. Which I just now realize was contrary to your advice.


I will retry and remember that, but isn't it strange, that the problem
was recreated before the 250GB was reactivated in BIOS? It seems to me,
that the problem must be something else?
Click to expand...

Yes, it really sounds that way but I'm perplexed
as to what it could be. Somebody'll probably post
something extremely simple and we'll slap our heads
and exclaim, "Now, why didn't *I* think of that?"

Oh, well. Life's a learning experience.

--
-- Marten Kemp
(Fix name and ISP to reply)
-=-=-
.... It has been said that man is a rational animal. All my life I have
been searching for evidence which could support this.
-- Bertrand Russell
* TagZilla 0.059 * http://tagzilla.mozdev.org
 
Hi

Disk management sees it as a 1.2GB drive.
Click to expand...


that does not sound good...
since this happened after you disconnected then reconnected the drive...
check your data cables (or replace them)
one of the fine wires may have broken.
also have a good look at the HD itself and see if a pin may be missing or
loose
 
Well thanks for trying to help me.
Click to expand...

You might have had more help if you had included adequate context.
See my sig. below, especially the referenced URLs, for how and
why.

In addition many usenet users simply ignore any postings made from
google, because they tend to totally ignore the normal usenet
conventions and are extremely irritating. The way to avoid this is
to get a proper newsreader and connect to a proper newsserver.
Your ISP probably has a suitable newsserver. If not they are not
giving you full access.

--
"If you want to post a followup via groups.google.com, don't use
the broken "Reply" link at the bottom of the article. Click on
"show options" at the top of the article, then click on the
"Reply" at the bottom of the article headers." - Keith Thompson
More details at: <http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/>
Also see <http://www.safalra.com/special/googlegroupsreply/>
 
Well thanks for trying to help me.

:)
Click to expand...

Hello Bavarian, Have you tried putting the drive in an externat
enclosure - and plugging it into the computer's Firewire or USB2
connector??????

Might be worthwhile as you could then see if your DATA is intact..!

Starz_Kid...
 
philo skrev:
that does not sound good...
since this happened after you disconnected then reconnected the drive...
check your data cables (or replace them)
one of the fine wires may have broken.
also have a good look at the HD itself and see if a pin may be missing or
loose
Click to expand...

BIOS does recognize, that I have a 250GB drive connected.

And now it gets even more odd:

I just noticed that Disk Management sees the drive as being both 1.2GB
AND 250GB!

In the top window it's 1.2GB and beneath (the bars) it's 232GB

I begin to supspect that i have messed something up a while back, when
I tried out Daemon Tools. But I have no idea what to do about it. The
only solutions I could find expected me to know the names of some
files, to which I have no clue. (the very buttom of this page:
http://club.cdfreaks.com/showthread.php?t=94308 )
 
Starz_Kid said:
Hello Bavarian, Have you tried putting the drive in an externat
enclosure - and plugging it into the computer's Firewire or USB2
connector??????

Might be worthwhile as you could then see if your DATA is intact..!

Starz_Kid...
Click to expand...

Hi
Thank you for your concern. I might take the drive over to a friend a
try it. I must admit that I serioulsly believe, that my data is intact.
I don't think that I base this solely on my desperate hope that it is
so. BIOS recognize that it is there, and Disk Manager somewhat
recognizes it.
(
http://groups.google.dk/group/alt.c...3cbf1/ac22dc83358ff504?hl=da#ac22dc83358ff504
)
 
CBFalconer skrev:

[...]
In addition many usenet users simply ignore any postings made from
google, because they tend to totally ignore the normal usenet
conventions and are extremely irritating. The way to avoid this is
to get a proper newsreader and connect to a proper newsserver.
Your ISP probably has a suitable newsserver. If not they are not
giving you full access.

--
"If you want to post a followup via groups.google.com, don't use
the broken "Reply" link at the bottom of the article. Click on
"show options" at the top of the article, then click on the
"Reply" at the bottom of the article headers." - Keith Thompson
More details at: <http://cfaj.freeshell.org/google/>
Also see <http://www.safalra.com/special/googlegroupsreply/>
Click to expand...

Thank you for your advise. I didn't realise that posting via Google was
such a problem. I might start to use a dedicated newsreader.
 
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