View Full Version : cloaking hard drive
ok i installed a new 40gb maxtor hdd in my comp, i already had an 18gb in there. I copied everything from the old 18 to the new one, oh yeah the new one i divided into two sectors. so if i run the old drive as master and the new one as slave, everything is just peachy, but i want to run the new drive as master because its higher rpm. the problem is if i hook up the new drive as master and the old one as slave, everything loads just find, but the old drive will not show up in explorer. both sectors of the new one are there no problem at all. the wierd part is i get both drives showing up in bios. help!
Can you see both drives in device manager?
If the new drive is partitioned as one primary and one extended and the old is partitioned as one primary then when the new one is master windows should map they as:
C:Primary partition on new drive.
D:Primary partition on old drive.
E:Logical partition inside extended partition on new drive.
Did you create the logical partition inside the extended partition? Did you format it?
Are you sure what you are seeing as a logical partition on the new drive is not the primary partition on the old drive? If the second partition on the new drive is also a primary partition it would not be visible as only one primary partition can be visible and active at a time in each drive.
There are many pieces of information missing. If you could be more explicit about what did you exactly do, it would be easier to find help. How is the new drive partitioned? One primary and one extended or two primaries? Are both drives in the same IDE channel? Are there other devices sharing the IDE channels?
heh wow, i did leave off a lot of info. first i get two hdd in device manager that says "generic ide disk type 47" there's two of these and as far as the info it gives me in there they are both the same, i don't know if they're partitions or the two hard drives. Ok here's the big problem i have no idea how the drive is partitioned. its a maxtor, and the program that comes with it for installation has the option of splitting it into sectors, i just wanted to make two equal ones, and i don't know how it did it. both drives are on the same ide, i've tried placeing the both drives in different orders from the mobo on the cable but it makes no difference. i am sure that what i am seeing is the second partition on the new hard drive not the primary on the old because it is empty and the old drive is almost full.
The term "sector" has a specific meaning when used for HDs and storage in general and it is not the same as partition.
As a first measure I would run that program until the point where it asks about your preferences and check if there is an automatic option for sector size and if it asks about number and kind of partitions. Do not go beyond unless you are sure you made a mistake and don't bother loosing the data already there.
Keep posting.
oops sorry about the misuse of terms, i believe i mean sectors. i'm going to run that program and find out now what is up
alright it gives the option to format or to format and make partition, so what i did was make two equal partitions. when i looked at the program it also showed two hdds avaliable to format.
Looks like it is OK.
Now you could try this at your own risk:
Boot in safe mode (edited: with the new drive as master). Go to Device Manager. Remove all HDs and respective controllers and all devices (CDs, DVDs, whatever) in IDE channels and their controllers. Reboot.
BTW, what is the OS you are running?
Forgot to ask something: If you boot to DOS do you see all three partitions? If not then it is not a Windows issue and the above procedure shouldn't help.
ok i'll try dos, i'm running win me :(
nothing showing up in dos, it just gives me what i have in windows. i'll try the other method now, nothing else seems to be working
You could also use Fdisk to see what it says about your partitions. But use with care. It can destroy all your data.
It looks very much like your have two primary partitions on the new drive...
ok i tried that and it didn't change the drives showing up. it does start up with a message that says "windows me emergency startup" doesn't sound good but the only thing that is different when i am in windows is that i cannon access hotmail, but i can go everywhere else on the internet. very odd. i haven't used fdisk recently an i have forgotten how to get to it
I use 98SE and this is how I do. Copy fdisk.exe from c:\windows\command to a boot floppy. Boot from the floppy and run fdisk. Follow menus and check what it informs about your partitions.
i figured out what was wrong with everything else. somhow it reverted to old settings, so i had to re-update internet explorer. thats why it wasn't working. it also reverted all my color schemes and the picture on the desktop, very odd, i shall try a boot disk now
ok fdisk says that its not a dos partition, and that i must have used 3rd party software to create it, which i did. so i can use fdisk to create a partition, but won't that erase the disk? i have essentially nothing on the second partition now, but the first is full of stuff i want. can i partition without erasing, or do i need to back everything up, partition, then return info. i'm guessing the partition requires reformat? :confused:
If you use fdisk to repartition the whole disk you will lose all your data, unless fdisk can see the second partition (can it?) in which case you could erase it (the second) and create a extended one and then a logical one inside it. A format of the created partition would be necessary. I don't know if it would fix the problem.
M@€$†®Ö™
05-12-02, 09:32 AM
Originally posted by 550M
ok i'll try dos, i'm running win me :(
Winme a big problem there !
Maestro
TRANCER24
05-13-02, 01:26 AM
Originally posted by Kakao
If you use fdisk to repartition the whole disk you will lose all your data, unless fdisk can see the second partition (can it?) in which case you could erase it (the second) and create a extended one and then a logical one inside it. A format of the created partition would be necessary. I don't know if it would fix the problem.
by using fdisk you will not lose your data how can that be?? in fact even if you format it you still won't lose your data.
by using fdisk you will not lose your data how can that be?? in fact even if you format it you still won't lose your data.
Trancer,
Yes, you are right, the data will still be there. "Only" the structural information will be lost.
You probably know a number of tools to recover data. However it could be a problem to recover it and not a good administrative option to partition and format if the data is important.
The warning "you will lose all your data" is to make it clear that real problems could arise if the action is taken.
If you tell someone to partition and format and your data will still be there..., well, you are not his best friend and as a support professional you would lose your job very fast.
vBulletin® v3.8.7, Copyright ©2000-2013, vBulletin Solutions, Inc.