Removable HDD question.

[Lydokane]

I am running Windows XP Pro. My original setup was:

Primary Master: 200 GB Magnetic Data Technologies (C
Primary Slave: 120 GB Western Digital hard drive in a removeable caddy (E

Secondary Master: Memorex DVD Burner (D
Secondary Slave: Pioneer DVD Burner (F

The 200 GB Magnetic Data Technologies had my operating system and files on it. The 120 GB WD was a backup drive that has about 115 GB of MP3 files and some back up data on it.

The 200 Gig drive took a dump and I replaced it with a Seagate 80 GB drive and reinstalled Windows XP Pro with SP2 and all the necessary updates and hotfixes.

Before I did the format/install on the Seagate I removed the WD 120 GB and set it aside. I got Windows up and running then I put the 120 back in the caddy so that I could retrieve some of my backed up data.

The drive is a removable drive that goes into a caddy and the caddy slides into a bay that is plugged into the PC as though it were a Primary Slave. To put the drive in I have to power down then install the drive and reboot. When the system rebooted I opened the Windows Explorer and I could see my drive. The volume label was MP3 Jukebox (E. I started to navigate to where my backup data was when the computer 'found new hardware' and the Explorer closed down. The system installed the 'new hardware' and told me so. I reopened the explorer and my MP3 Jukebox (E was no longer there. All I had was an Local Disk (F drive (as well as the two DVD burners). When I clicked on the F: drive in the tree in the left pane of the explorer, I was told that 'The disk in drive F is not formated. Do you want to format it now?' I clicked no. Now I can't get into the drive. I went to Start/Settings/Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management and changed the drive letter to E: but I still ca
Is there any way to get to my files. The drive has NOT been formated. All the files should be there... right? What can I do?

Thanks,

-Lydokane-

 

[Anna]

I am running Windows XP Pro. My original setup was:

Primary Master: 200 GB Magnetic Data Technologies (C
Primary Slave: 120 GB Western Digital hard drive in a removeable caddy
(E

Secondary Master: Memorex DVD Burner (D
Secondary Slave: Pioneer DVD Burner (F

The 200 GB Magnetic Data Technologies had my operating system and files on
it. The 120 GB WD was a backup drive that has about 115 GB of MP3 files
and some back up data on it.

The 200 Gig drive took a dump and I replaced it with a Seagate 80 GB drive
and reinstalled Windows XP Pro with SP2 and all the necessary updates and
hotfixes.

Before I did the format/install on the Seagate I removed the WD 120 GB and
set it aside. I got Windows up and running then I put the 120 back in the
caddy so that I could retrieve some of my backed up data.

The drive is a removable drive that goes into a caddy and the caddy slides
into a bay that is plugged into the PC as though it were a Primary Slave.
To put the drive in I have to power down then install the drive and
reboot. When the system rebooted I opened the Windows Explorer and I could
see my drive. The volume label was MP3 Jukebox (E. I started to navigate
to where my backup data was when the computer 'found new hardware' and the
Explorer closed down. The system installed the 'new hardware' and told me
so. I reopened the explorer and my MP3 Jukebox (E was no longer there.
All I had was an Local Disk (F drive (as well as the two DVD burners).
When I clicked on the F: drive in the tree in the left pane of the
explorer, I was told that 'The disk in drive F is not formated. Do you
want to format it now?' I clicked no. Now I can't get into the drive. I
went to Start/Settings/Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer
Management and changed the drive letter to E: but I still ca
Is there any way to get to my files. The drive has NOT been formated. All
the files should be there... right? What can I do?

Thanks,

-Lydokane-

Lydokane:
After you installed XP on the new drive and it booted up OK with the 120 GB
secondary drive connected at that point...
1. You say Windows Explorer recognized the secondary drive and correctly
displayed the contents of that drive, right?
2. But as you were accessing its contents, the "Found new hardware" message
box appeared and "Explorer closed down". Did the "Found new hardware"
message refer to the new boot drive or to the secondary drive? And when you
say "Explorer closed down", it did so without your intervention when the
"Found new hardware" message appeared? It did this automatically?
3. We're assuming that you've no reason to believe that 120 GB is defective,
right? And that it's properly connected & configured, right? You have
re:checked that its data cable is properly connected & secure, haven't you?
And jumpered correctly. And that it's seated/connected properly in its
removable caddy (tray), yes? And that your computer is malware-free, right?
And that the 80 GB boot drive functions without any problem, right?
4. Try removing the 120 GB drive from its caddy and install it as PS.
5. Try installing the 120 GB drive on the Secondary IDE channel, either as
Master or Slave. Is there any chance that you can install that problem drive
in another machine to determine if you can access its contents?
Anna

 

[Lydokane]

-Lydokane-

Anna,

1. Yes for just a second or two.

2. The 'Found New Hardware' referred to the secondary drive (backup drive). Yes the Windows Explorer closed on its own without any intervention from me. Just like IF I HAD clicked the red 'X' in the upper-right-hand corner of the window.

3. Yes all cables/plugs are seated correctly. The jumper settings are correct. The caddy is properly seated in the bay. Computer is free of all malware/adware/spyware. I have not been anywhere on the internet aside from Microsoft's site to update my Win XP Pro OS. There are NO PROBLEMS with the Seagate 80 GB boot drive.

4. I have tried that.

5. I have tried that also.

I think that Windows somehow has over-written the MFT (or bootsector or whatever it is referred to). If this is the case, is it possible to restore the original MFT and make the drive accessible?

Thanks,

-Lydokane-

 

[Anna]

Lydokane:
After you installed XP on the new drive and it booted up OK with the 120
GB secondary drive connected at that point...
1. You say Windows Explorer recognized the secondary drive and correctly
displayed the contents of that drive, right?

Lydokane responds...
1. Yes for just a second or two.

2. But as you were accessing its contents, the "Found new hardware"
message box appeared and "Explorer closed down". Did the "Found new
hardware" message refer to the new boot drive or to the secondary drive?
And when you say "Explorer closed down", it did so without your
intervention when the "Found new hardware" message appeared? It did this
automatically?

Lydokane responds...
2. The 'Found New Hardware' referred to the secondary drive (backup drive).
Yes the Windows Explorer closed on its own without any intervention from me.
Just like IF I HAD clicked the red 'X' in the upper-right-hand corner of the
window.

3. We're assuming that you've no reason to believe that 120 GB is
defective, right? And that it's properly connected & configured, right?
You have re:checked that its data cable is properly connected & secure,
haven't you? And jumpered correctly. And that it's seated/connected
properly in its removable caddy (tray), yes? And that your computer is
malware-free, right? And that the 80 GB boot drive functions without any
problem, right?

Lydokane responds...
3. Yes all cables/plugs are seated correctly. The jumper settings are
correct. The caddy is properly seated in the bay. Computer is free of all
malware/adware/spyware. I have not been anywhere on the internet aside from
Microsoft's site to update my Win XP Pro OS. There are NO PROBLEMS with the
Seagate 80 GB boot drive.

4. Try removing the 120 GB drive from its caddy and install it as PS.

Lydokane responds...
4. I have tried that.

5. Try installing the 120 GB drive on the Secondary IDE channel, either as
Master or Slave. Is there any chance that you can install that problem
drive in another machine to determine if you can access its contents?

Lydokane responds...
5. I have tried that also.

I think that Windows somehow has over-written the MFT (or bootsector or
whatever it is referred to). If this is the case, is it possible to restore
the original MFT and make the drive accessible?


Lydokane:
First of all, when you respond to a posting - mine or anyone else's, PLEASE
include the pertinent portions of the posting you're responding to. Just
don't respond out of context without giving sufficient background
information so that others perusing this newsgroup can understand the issue
involved. Please understand that this and similar newsgroups are not merely
"chatlines" between two individuals, but a forum where a broad audience can
read about the various issues & problems raised by users and learn about
suggested courses of action to (hopefully!) remedy these problems, thereby
profiting from the discussion.

In the above I've interspersed your responses to the questions I raised.

It's really a puzzle. Re your response to 5. Are you saying that you did
install the problem drive in another machine and the identical problem
exists, i.e., you are unable to access its contents? Or are you just
indicating the problem persists when the drive is installed anywhere on the
Secondary IDE channel of *your* machine?

And you have used a diagnostic utility to check the drive, right?

Assuming there's some file corruption affecting that drive which is causing
the problem I don't think XP's Recovery console or Repair process would be
useful with that secondary non-bootable drive. It's just hard to see how
that drive became corrupted based on the steps you took and the information
you furnished. But you may have to resort to data recovery software - see
http://free-backup.info/data-recovery-software.htm. And you can use a Google
search for other data recovery programs.
Anna

 

[Guest]

You might try this, in device manager unistall the two DVD-RW drives on the
secondary IDE channel and do the same for the primary slave HD, do a cold
boot and let XP install all three devices. This may allow windows to assign
non conflicting drive letters in the proper order..Just a thought.
Just trying to help..
j;-j