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Ok.... bit of a panic here! Can't access valuable family photos and videos after an OS install.
Have been trying to figure out the sudden shutdown problem on my new pc build and since I re-used the old OS and boot drive from my old pc which did the same thing...I figured it was probably an OS issue. I made a slipstream disk and re-installed the OS from scratch to partition C on the old boot drive (installed in the new PC.)
Problem is...now I can't see any partitions on HDD2 my storage drive. The boot drive is a WD 80gb HDD in 3 partitions. The storage drive is a Seagate 250gb and is(was) broken into 5 partitions.
The HFslip disk i made wouldnt boot so I used w2k floppy setup disks to get going. There were errors during the hfslip install so I couldnt use HFslip. Instead I tried again with the Nlite disk I made. It didn't have IE6sp1 or W2kSp4 on it...but booted and loaded windows2000 and all patches perfectly.
For BOTH the HFslip and Nlite install attempts I was shown all my partitions for both hard drives and Western Digital HDD0 partition C (20gb). I was told there was an OS there and instructed it to overwrite the old OS. I formatted ONLY partition C: on that drive. then proceeded to install windows.
After windows loaded and the system booted I could see the 3 Western Ditigal HDD partitions only. They all show and data is there. My 250gb Seagate drive however, only shows as logical drive D instead of 5 partitions. When I click it says drive is not formatted...do you wish to format...which of course I say no.
I just installed the Seagate 250 drive to my backup PC which Im on now...and it doesnt show the partitions in My Computer. Instead it shows as a Removable disk with an unknown file system and 0 bytes. EVEREST does show it as a 127gb physical drive with a 131gb partition length. Sounds like a drive size limitation problem but I've never had a problem with either PC recognizing this drive and have never had to install a jumper.
I know my data isn't gone...but i'm not sure why this happened or how to access data on the drive. All of my personal photos and videos are there. Irreplaceable data. The only reason I didnt back it up was nothing I did should have affected the 2nd drive...and never has in the past with OS installs.
PLEASE HELP!!
If it were me, I'd download a copy of a linux based knoppix CD. Burn it to CD then boot to it and check for my data. If you can't find it with a knoppix disk, then you're in trouble and your drive may have been accidentally formatted or may have crashed.
If that's the case, there are data recovery programs and businesses but they're costly.
If you can see it with the knoppix distro, then I would copy the data to another drive to back it up and redo the system from scratch.
Backups are important and backing up to another HDD in your PC isn't a great solution. It's fine providing nothing ever happens to that drive. But, things do happen, drives do fail.
I backup all important data and files to DVD. I run nightly backups that include the "system state" as well as important files that do change regularly. Once a week, I burn the nightly backup to DVD RW so at the very most, I lose 5 to 6 days of changes in my system should something go wrong. You may want to look at doing the same yourself.
Oh, you may want to try taking your PC to a reputable repair center and explain the problem to them. They might be able to get your data off the drive, or give you access to it, a lot cheaper than a data recovery business.
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"shows as logical drive D instead of 5 partitions"
You can't have 5 partitions on one disk. You can only have 4. Either 4 primary's or 3 primaries and 1 extended with logical drives. Hopefully that is just a typo
I see no mention of going into disk management and allowing the OS to write a signature to the disk.
My suggestion is put the disk back in the pc that doesn't have the drive limit issue and go into disk management.
Whatever you do don't mess with the partitions in the pc that doesn't read the disk right. You will lose everything if you do.
Imagine the power if you knew how to internet search
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If the suggestions wanderer mentioned don't help you may need to edit the registry.
If I understand your post you did apply SP4. Theoretically this should allow the use of harddrives larger than 127GB. However, sometimes it is necessary to insert an entry in the rigistry to Enable LBA. Look at the link below. http://www.48bitlba.com/enablebiglb...
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Someone mentioned knoppix to me a while ago. Said it analyzes just about anything. I'll look into it.
Prior to starting I backed up my setup programs, emails and addresses, favs, desktop...Everything EXCEPT my photos and video clips. I have so many that was next after I built the fast PC. I was going sell an an unwrapped 250gb ide and buy a SATA.
I didnt think formatting C: on a seperate physical drive could cause a problem with a storage drive partition table. I've never had issues like this in the past installing a new OS.
I was thinking since I built HFslip in the i:root on the storage drive maybe it tried to expand during OS install or while I was building it....but I really don't think that's the problem. There were errors with the HFslip final build and I couldnt get it to make a bootable disk so I used 4 w2k setup floppies to get going. HFslip install failed as predicted. I ended up using an N-lite disk I made. It installed ok. Didn't have sp4 or ie6 on it but I included lots of security patches.
I don't think drive limitation is an issue on either PC. It's acting like it...and I thought it was...but thinking more now that it's a partition table thats damaged...though I'm not sure how since I just formatted C: on a seperate physical drive. It shouldn't have affected the storage drive at all.
Yes, I had 5 partions on the storage drive for various things. The largest was media storage i: at 159gb. I made the rest too small though and when photos filled up I began putting them in ALL partitions on that drive so I have roughly 23-30gb of missing photos, home video clips and files lost across 4 partitions that are MIA.
With the storage drive installed to a backup PC and running Seagate file recovery "demo" it shows a 159gb partition with NTFS file system. It also shows an overlapping NTFS partition as if they merged somehow? 3 or 4 other partitions are missing though. It shows "recognized" files in 17 logical drives (which it created after scanning my physical drive) as FAT12... and includes jpgs video files etc. I think FAT12 is how it displays its scan results because there should be no files on my drive.
As an amateur photographer and it would be nice to get it all back but most important on the missing list is photos and video clips of my dogs since I lost one last year.
I'm not ready to hand Seagate $129bux just yet to buy that file recovery program....but it may come to that. Anyone else have ideas based on my new information?
Hoping......
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DAVE, did you look at the link I posted? Updating to SP3 or 4 by itself doesn't set the registry with that entry. If you are convinced it isn't the problem then read the link and check your Registry to see if it entry is in yours.
From your description of what you did you didn't alter the second HDrive.
If modifying the registry manually bothers you, look at the link below for a tool that checks to see if the registry is currently set for big LBA and if not can change it.
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Sorry Hill,
I started typing the last message before you posted at 13:44 Pacific. Yeah...bout an hour before! I kept looking around at the scan trying to see what data was still there and figure out the best to explain things without writing a book.
Looks like my explanation sorta convinced you I hadn't done anything wrong and left you with the most obvious scenario to suggest! GOOD SUGGESTION!
Saw your message and immediately downloaded the tool and checked LBA. FAILED!! YOU NAILED IT!! I set LBA and....
I can see all my partitions Now!! WHEW!
The first thing I did after "First Boot" was install SP4 to overcome the 137gb size limitation with the 200gb (its a 200 not 250 as I said a few times) drive installed. When the drive didnt show after that is when I started gettin worried and second guessing myself...thinkin I did something wrong maybe realated to HFslip or...something...
I had no idea LBA has to be set manually in some instances even after sp4 install. It's never been an issue because I always install svc packs and patches immediately and my largest boot drive has never exceeded 120gb. I always partitioned them too.
HOPEFULLY the new OS install will cure the sudden shutdowns on the new PC. I'm going to test with minimal software installed and probably get a Sata for the boot drive soon.
FIRST thing I'm going to do is BURN DISKS of my photos and videos!!
As you know...I've been beating my head against the wall for months now with the old PC shuttin off suddenly and at random...then the new one using the same drive...then Realtek shafts me (everyone) with their crippled audio mixer and when I try the unwrapped audio card I got for free after rebate a year ago...I find it was free for a reason. Low rec. audio buzzing...JUNK! -----THEN THIS!
I really wasn't in the frame of mind to deal with this. Good think I only own squirt guns. Worst I can do If I really lose it is get people wet! HAHA!!
You did me a major solid here!!
One small detail I wasn't aware of almost cost me huge misery and $ on unecessary software or recovery efforts and I guarantee you if I took it somewhere they Wouldn't have been honest and made it seem like they solved a major drive issue! $$$
Please send me a private message with your e-mail. I've gotta send you a gift certificate or somethin! Seriously!
THANKS A LOT!!
Dave
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That is not necessary. I'm glad it helped. I felt bad that I couldn't help you more with the other thread. Happy computing.
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DAVE440
I'm glad to hear you solved your problem.
wanderer
(or anyone else who isn't aware of this)
You said:
"You can't have 5 partitions on one disk."Not true.
From PM8.pdf, included with Partition Magic 8.02, by PowerQuest:
Page 20 of the pdf.
Supported File Systems
Partition Types
Extended
The Extended partition gets around the arbitrary 4 partition limit for a disk. An extended partition is a container in which you can further divide your disk space by creating logical partitions. An extended partition does not directly hold data. You must create logical partitions within the extended partition to store data. .........Page 34 of the pdf
On a single hard disk you can have up to 4 primary partitions, or 3 primary partitions and an extended partition. Within an extended partition, you can create unlimited additional subdivisions called logical partitions.
................However, there is a limit - the number of logical drive letters you can select.
For Microsoft operating systems:
"....the limit existing since DOS 3.3 (1987) to have a maximum of 23 logical partitions inside an extended partition.....
The limit of 23 was computed as being 26 (letters) - 2 (A: and B: were for floppies) -1 (for C: which had to be primary). "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Talk:D...(you are limited to using the drive letters A to Z)
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Tubes
To get technical about the partition limit. The spaces you create in the Extended partition are called "logical drives", not logical partitions.
Just because PM8 help files label something incorrectly doesn't make it so.
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There are three major types of partitions, not two - primary, extended, and logical (within the extended ones).
All primary and logical partitions normally have logical drive letters assigned to them - they're all logical drives. Techically all primary partitions are logical partitions as well, of another type.Contrary to popular belief, Partition Magic uses pre-existing standard rules to do what it does.
I just quoted the manual because the info was in one place. I also found other web "hits" that said the same thing, put in pieces.Can you make up to 23 logical partitions in Windows 2000 or XP or by using Fdisk? I don't know, but obviously Dave440 made five partitions on one drive.
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Tubes
I am not going to argue the point. However, I am looking at Pg. 155 of my DOS 6.22 manual.
Creating Logical Drives in an Extended DOS Partition
To store information in an extended DOS partition, you must create one or more logical drives. Each logical drive is assigned a drive letter. You can store and retrieve information on a logical drive as though it were a physical disk drive. For example, you can use logical drive D to store files for a particular program, and you can work with those files by specifying drive D rather than a directory.
~ To create or modify a logical drive:1. Create an extended DOS partition.
(See the preceding section for information about how to create an extended DOS partition.)
2. Using the Create Logical Drive(s) menu, type the number of megabytes or the percentage of the partition space you want to use for the first logical drive. If you type a percentage, follow the number with a percent (%) sign. If you want one logical drive to occupy the whole extended DOS partition, press ENTER.
3. Continue specifying the sizes of partitions until you have used up the entire partition or until you have created all the logical drives you want.
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A logical drive is also a logical partition!
I repeat:
All primary and logical partitions normally have logical drive letters assigned to them - they're all logical drives. Techically all primary partitions are logical partitions as well, of another type.
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Good news Hill! No sudden shutdowns so far!! (Edited)- Ooops spoke too soon....
On the partition discussion....now that I can see my logical drives....I actually have
the storage HDD partitioned into 6 drives.I didn't use Fdisk or manually do it in DOS.
I used the tools on the support CD that comes with each new HDD. (WD lifeguard tools and Seagate Seatools)
They each contain a utility to allow you to divide the HDD into logical partitions and format them. Resulting partitions show as logical drives. How many windows can support or other tech details are a gray area for me.
I've picked up a few things in 3 system builds and have enuf info to throw some parts in a case and call it a Computer then load an OS and either get lucky...or GET MYSELF IN TROUBLE! HAHAA! Ahhh...I can laugh now...
BTW...even with ata100 IDE drives...the new PC is flyin now with the fresh W2k install!!
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Tubes
The difference between a Logical drive and a partition is that a partition stands on its own but a Logical drive is contained inside a partition.Just as a folder inside a folder needs a different name (subfolder) a division of a partition also needs a different name.
In practice I agree they function much the same way. However, the reason I jumped in here to start was because you stated wanderer was incorrect, and he is right on.
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Ok, OtheHill, I concede that officially you and wanderer are correct, but it makes a lot more sense logically to call all usable divisions of an extended partition on a drive logical partitions, and a lot of other people think so too.
When I searched on the web for: more than four partitions
about half the "hits" that were relevant that I looked at said you can't have more than four partitions, about half said you can.
Yes, there is only space for 4 partition entries in the disk's boot record (or wherever)- it's a matter of whether you call the divisions you can make of the extended partitions logical drives or logical partitions.
Logical drives within an extended partition are after all divisions of the data on the hard drive, partitions are divisions, and in my book and in others it makes perfect sense to call them partitions, whether it is actually officially correct to call them that or not.
Since all primary and logical partitions (or in your terms logical drives within an extended partition) normally have logical drive letters assigned to them, they're technically all logical drives.
I think Partition Magic's terminology, and that of many others probably including other programs, of all divisions of a hard drive usable for data being either primary or logical partitions makes more logical sense than saying you can have up to only 4 partitions but an extended partition can be further divided into logical drives.
PM does say there are two MAIN types of partitions - their Type being respectively FAT32 (or whatever partition type) for what we otherwise call primary partitions, and Extended, both labelled under Primary/Logical as being Primary partitions.
But they call divisions of the extended partitions logical partitions rather than logical drives (since all logical drive letters are technically assigned to logical drive volumes of data) - any single or multiple division(s) of the data in the extended partition have Type as FAT32 (or whatever partition type) and are labelled Logical under Primary/Logical.When someone has more than four usable divisions of data on a hard drive, it is much more common for them to say they have e.g. five partitions on the drive, whether that is officially correct or not - you rarely see them stating they have e.g. three primary partitions and two logical drives in the extended partition.
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Tubes, while I agree with you about what we see folks stating. I think you will agree that IF they were to state what they really have with accuracy we would be better able to help them.
There was a OP here recently that had a dynamic disk with an assigned letter. They formatted the system disk and lost data on the dynamic disk because they didn't know it was a dynamic disk.
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"...IF they were to state what they really have with accuracy we would be better able to help them. "
Yes, that is always a problem, but in the case of more than four usable division of data on a hard drive, or one or multiple division(s) of data in an extended partition, whether they say they have logical drives or logical partitions or just x partitions we usually get the gist of what they are trying to say in any case, even if it isn't officially correct.
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Tubes you didn't think thru what you read from others, who were also confused about the different between a logical drive and something that does not exist, a logical partition.
"There are three major types of partitions, not two - primary, extended, and logical "
Wrong
"A logical drive is also a logical partition"
Wrong
There are a bunch of partition types when you include Linux, Sun, and Dec into the discussion. There is no such thing as a logical partition in ANY of them.
Logical drives ONLY exist in an Extended partition.
Now maybe you read this on the internet
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Partit...JUST BECAUSE IT EXISTS ON THE INTERNET DOESN'T MAKE IT TRUE. Think about it. How can a partition have two names to describe it - primary and logical? An extended partition is very different than a primary.
*though you will note under Extended it describes logical drives not partitions correctly.Here are two links to the CORRECT defination of primary, extended and logical drives
http://www.theeldergeek.com/hard_dr...
Here is what Microsoft says. Note logical DRIVE
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000Now here is a link like the webpedia one that the author is confused in that the writer calls a logical drive a logical partition
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/file...End the confusion! Understand the concepts so you can reason thru the misinformation. There is tons out there on the internet especially concerning IT that is WRONG. Learn to differenciate between the two!!!
Imagine the power if you knew how to internet search
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