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Cannot assign drive letter

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Name: Roberta47
Date: September 16, 2009 at 14:32:40 Pacific
OS: Windows XP
Product: Microsoft Windows xp professional w/service pack 3
Subcategory: Hard Drives
Comment:

Hi, I'm running WinXP Pro SP3. I keep my My Documents folder on a second, slaved HD. After a quick electrical glitch the drive lost its letter and I can no longer see it in explorer. I can see it still in both Disk Manager and Device Manager. Here is the info I can get from those 2 places:

Device Manager
Disk: Disk1
Type: Basic
Status: Online
Partition Style: Master Boot Record (MBR)
Capacity: 305243 MB
Unallocated Space: 0 M
Reserved Space: 0 M
Volume: Documents

From Disk Mgr.
Disk1
Basic
298.09 GB
Online
Primary Partition
Healthy (EISA Configuration)

When I right-click on the drive in Disk Mgr. the only option is Help, which is of no help.

I'm kind of stumped here. I do back up every couple of nights but I would really rather not start reformatting, etc.

Any ideas out there?



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Response Number 1
Name: jefro
Date: September 16, 2009 at 17:10:50 Pacific
Reply:

And you have admin privileges?

Playing to the angels
Les Paul (1915-2009)


-1

Response Number 2
Name: Roberta47
Date: September 17, 2009 at 12:35:35 Pacific
Reply:

Yes, I do have administrative rights.


0

Response Number 3
Name: jefro
Date: September 17, 2009 at 15:23:44 Pacific
Reply:

Check that you still have permissions to do that task.

Playing to the angels
Les Paul (1915-2009)


-1

Response Number 4
Name: Roberta47
Date: September 17, 2009 at 17:50:16 Pacific
Reply:

Are you playing with me or do you have something to contribute? I responded in good faith to your question and you just asked it again.


0

Response Number 5
Name: TopFarmer
Date: September 17, 2009 at 18:31:59 Pacific
Reply:

A 'EISA Configuration' is normaly the recovery partition on name brand comps. It would seem that the Master Partition Table is now corrupt. Can try 'testdisk' (do a web search) to fix problem, be sure to read the How-To use first. Or if you have a hdd editor program, you can manually edit MPT.

http://www.roadkil.net/listing.php?... Sector Editor

MS's Dskprobe part of W2k/XP resource kit.


If you have a live linux cd and know how to use it, that can be used.

Did the hdd have only 1 partition ? That would make it easier.


1

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Response Number 6
Name: Roberta47
Date: September 17, 2009 at 18:53:21 Pacific
Reply:


Thank you for your answer. Strange that it got that EISA config as it was just an internal hdd that I bought and threw into an enclosure and connected by firewire. It worked properly for about 2 years and, as I mentioned, suddenly went *blip* when the lights went out for a second. I have a surge surpressor that is attached to the main electric panel in my house, which is far more sensitive than anything you can buy that plugs into the wall, and which protects the entire house from surges. I guess, though, it's time for a battery backup system prevent the scrambling that sometimes happens with a sudden loss of power.

I'll give your suggestion a whirl and will let you know how things go.

Thanks again.

---R


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Response Number 7
Name: OtheHill
Date: September 17, 2009 at 19:12:56 Pacific
Reply:

How did you get the information you state came from Device Manager?

http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/Test...


0

Response Number 8
Name: Roberta47
Date: September 17, 2009 at 20:28:24 Pacific
Reply:

Hi OtheHill.

No problem.

1. Click Start-->Run
2. Type compmgmt.msc in the box and then click the OK button
3. In the window that opens, along the left side, find and click on Device Manager
4. In the right-hand pane find Disk Drives and click on the little plus sign to the left of it
5. Locate the drive you want info on and double-click on it
6. In the new window that opens find and click on the tab along the top that says Volumes
7. Find and click on the Populate button near the bottom of the window

That's all there is to it.

Note: If, for some reason the management snap-in is not set up on your computer you can substitute the following for steps 1 - 3: Go to Start then right click My Computer and left click properties. Click the Hardware tab then click the Device Manager button

Hope this is helpful to you.


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Response Number 9
Name: OtheHill
Date: September 17, 2009 at 20:56:54 Pacific
Reply:

I can't believe I never noticed the populate button. Guess you are never too old to learn.

As TopFarmer stated, testdisk MAY correct the glitch.


0

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