Slave disk "missing" in Windows

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I just rebuilt my computer and installed a new HD. As is typical, I moved my
old HD (Hitachi 120GB) over to the new machine and set it as slave. Both HDs
are IDE. However, after installing XP Home, this disk does not show up in
Windows Explorer.

I was able to pull my information off of it using a data recovery tool, but
chkdsk and fdisk don't know the disk exists. The partition is definitely
there, as I can see it in the Disk Manager. The DM says that the disk is
healthy.

What is going on here? Is there any way to recover the disk without using
the Disk Manager to delete the partition? I'd like to salvage the data on
there if possible, as my data recovery software damaged a few files in the
process. However, I will kill the partition if necessary to get my other HD
back.
 
Kinglyam said:
I just rebuilt my computer and installed a new HD. As is typical, I moved
my
old HD (Hitachi 120GB) over to the new machine and set it as slave. Both
HDs
are IDE. However, after installing XP Home, this disk does not show up in
Windows Explorer.

I was able to pull my information off of it using a data recovery tool,
but
chkdsk and fdisk don't know the disk exists. The partition is definitely
there, as I can see it in the Disk Manager. The DM says that the disk is
healthy.

What is going on here? Is there any way to recover the disk without using
the Disk Manager to delete the partition? I'd like to salvage the data on
there if possible, as my data recovery software damaged a few files in the
process. However, I will kill the partition if necessary to get my other
HD
back.
Click to expand...


Kinglyam:
First of all, notwithstanding the problem you're encountering with the 120
GB Hitachi secondary HDD - we'll assume there's no problem with your system
booting to a Desktop and functioning without any problems. That's right,
isn't it?

We're also assuming your 120 GB Hitachi is non-defective; it was working
just fine in your old machine and you have no reason to think there's any
problem with it, right?

You say that the drive is detected in Disk Management (what you called "Disk
Manager"). Is a drive letter assigned to that HDD in DM? If there wasn't,
were you able to assign a drive letter to it? Does it show the correct disk
capacity and the correct partitioning information re that drive.

What do you mean when you say "I will kill the partition if necessary to get
my other HD back." What partition? Are you referring to multi-partitions on
that secondary HDD? What "other HD" are you talking about? Are you referring
to your boot HDD - the new HDD? But that's working just fine, isn't it? Or
am I completely misunderstanding your problem?

Anyway...

You're sure you've properly connected/configured (jumpered) your HDDs?
They're securely connected and you've no reason to believe there might be a
problem with their data (ribbon) cable(s)?
Anna
 
Gerry: No joy with TweakUi. It has a red question mark beside the C:Drive.

RalfG: No luck there, either. It's not that I can see the drive but can't
access it. The drive letter doesn't even show up anywhere but in the Disk
Management program.

Anna: I'm sure the HD is physically ok, as are the cables. Like I said, I
accessed the drive using data recovery software and copied all the files
over, so there is a good data connection and no hardware issues. SMART and
Disk Management both say the drive is A-ok. I am pretty sure the jumpers are
set correctly, because when I boot up, the motherboard BIOS recognizes the
old disk as a slave. I have experimented with changing the jumpers to make
the old disk the master, and the BIOS did recognize it as the master, but it
wouldn't boot from that disk.

When I loaded Windows onto my new computer with my new HD as the boot disk,
it asked me if I wanted to load onto the unpartitioned new disk, or the
already-partitioned old disk. I loaded it onto the new disk. When it was
done, my DVD-RAM was assigned drive D:, and my new HD/boot drive was assigned
E: I currently have no C: drive.

When I say I will kill the partition, I mean I will use Disk Management to
delete the partition on the old HD that does not show up in Windows Explorer.
Then I will use it to (hopefully) repartition the drive, under the theory
that the problem is with the partition.

However, I just looked more closely at Disk Management. While it sees the
partition, I noticed that it does not, in fact, have a drive letter assigned
to the partition. I can do nothing but delete the partition from there.
That makes me wonder if I can even repartition it after I delete the existing
one.
 
Anna said:
Kinglyam:
First of all, notwithstanding the problem you're encountering with the 120
GB Hitachi secondary HDD - we'll assume there's no problem with your
system > booting to a Desktop and functioning without any problems. That's
right, isn't it?

We're also assuming your 120 GB Hitachi is non-defective; it was working
just fine in your old machine and you have no reason to think there's any
problem with it, right?

You say that the drive is detected in Disk Management (what you called
"Disk Manager"). Is a drive letter assigned to that HDD in DM? If there
wasn't, were you able to assign a drive letter to it? Does it show the
correct disk capacity and the correct partitioning information re that
drive.

What do you mean when you say "I will kill the partition if necessary to
get my other HD back." What partition? Are you referring to
multi-partitions on that secondary HDD? What "other HD" are you talking
about? Are you referring to your boot HDD - the new HDD? But that's
working just fine, isn't it? Or am I completely misunderstanding your
problem?

Anyway...

You're sure you've properly connected/configured (jumpered) your HDDs?
They're securely connected and you've no reason to believe there might be
a problem with their data (ribbon) cable(s)?
Anna
Click to expand...


Kinglyam said:
Gerry: No joy with TweakUi. It has a red question mark beside the
C:Drive.

RalfG: No luck there, either. It's not that I can see the drive but can't
access it. The drive letter doesn't even show up anywhere but in the Disk
Management program.

Anna: I'm sure the HD is physically ok, as are the cables. Like I said, I
accessed the drive using data recovery software and copied all the files
over, so there is a good data connection and no hardware issues. SMART
and Disk Management both say the drive is A-ok. I am pretty sure the
jumpers are set correctly, because when I boot up, the motherboard BIOS
recognizes the old disk as a slave. I have experimented with changing the
jumpers to make the old disk the master, and the BIOS did recognize it as
the master, but it wouldn't boot from that disk.

When I loaded Windows onto my new computer with my new HD as the boot
disk, it asked me if I wanted to load onto the unpartitioned new disk, or
the already-partitioned old disk. I loaded it onto the new disk. When it
was done, my DVD-RAM was assigned drive D:, and my new HD/boot drive was
assigned E: I currently have no C: drive.

When I say I will kill the partition, I mean I will use Disk Management to
delete the partition on the old HD that does not show up in Windows
Explorer. Then I will use it to (hopefully) repartition the drive, under
the theory that the problem is with the partition.

However, I just looked more closely at Disk Management. While it sees the
partition, I noticed that it does not, in fact, have a drive letter
assigned to the partition. I can do nothing but delete the partition from
there. That makes me wonder if I can even repartition it after I delete
the existing one.
Click to expand...


Kinglyam:
Well, since you've been able to copy over all the files you wanted or needed
from that 120 GB HDD, I assume you have no further need of that disk for
purposes of accessing any more data from it. Should that be so, why don't
you simply go ahead and delete the partition(s) on that drive and be done
with it?

Then, I would strongly suggest that you uninstall the 120 GB HDD from your
system and make a fresh install of the XP OS onto your new HDD. Before you
undertake that fresh install of the OS, ensure that your new HDD is the only
storage device connected to the system. It's OK to have any optical drives
connected at that time.

By doing this your new HDD - the boot drive - will be assigned a drive
letter of C: - as it should. I assume what I'm suggesting will not be a
problem for you depending, of course, on the data already on that new HDD.
As I'm sure you know a fresh install of the OS will wipe out all data on the
disk. It is *always* best to have your boot drive be designated with a drive
letter of C:.

Following the successful installation of the OS, you can reconnect your 120
GB Hitachi HDD and use it as a secondary HDD. We're assuming, as you've led
us to believe, that this disk is non-defective & potentially functional.

As far as I can tell, based on the info you're already provided, I believe
what I'm suggesting is the most sensible course of action for you to take at
this point.
Anna
 
I presently have exactly the same issue.

Took my old IDE HDD out of the old computer - works fine in the old computer. Put it on as a slave drive in my new system running XP and it doesn't show up in explorer or my computer, so I can't seem to use for storage.

It does however show up in device manager as functioning correctly and shows up in the start-up protocol's etc.

There is nothing wrong with connection cables or the HDD itself. The old HDD has two partitions on it.

When I have installed a slave under Windows 2000, it recognised them fine and assigned a drive letter.
Any known fixes out there?

EggHeadCafe.com - .NET Developer Portal of Choice
http://www.eggheadcafe.com
 
It is most likely a ownership/permissions issue due to the drive being swapped to the new system.
Do a google for taking ownership of a drive and you will find several references to help you.
 
Pete

Is it recognised in the BIOS and Disk Management?

Start, Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk
Management. Check the BIOS before Disk Management.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
 
I presently have exactly the same issue.

Took my old IDE HDD out of the old computer - works fine in the old computer. Put it on as a slave drive in my new system running
XP and it doesn't show up in explorer or my computer, so I can't seem to use for storage.

It does however show up in device manager as functioning correctly and shows up in the start-up protocol's etc.

There is nothing wrong with connection cables or the HDD itself. The old HDD has two partitions on it.

When I have installed a slave under Windows 2000, it recognised them fine and assigned a drive letter.
Any known fixes out there?
Click to expand...

If the old system had GoBack, and the new does not, you would need to unhook Goback from the drive.

The same could be said for other drive manager type software.
 
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