• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

HUUUUUUUUUGE Hard Drive Problem!!!!!!!!

R

Roshan

Member
I have a huge hard drive problem. I bought a Western Digital 80GB hard drive a year ago and it has worked great. I have had no porblems with it at all. I recently bought a Lite-On DVD Burner, the one from Best Buy for BF. I installed it, and Windows XP screwed up somewhere. I called a few places to get it fixed and they all recommended me to re-install Windows XP, so I did. However, whenever I go to the Windows SP setup screen it asks me to install XP, I say Yes, and then comes a license agreement, and I press F8, to accept, then it wants me to choose which partition I should install XP on. On the list there is only one partition, and it say unpartitioned space and to the right it says 32000 MB. Before I even bought the burner, for the past year I have had two partitions, a C drive and an F drive. The C drive is where I installed XP and the F drive is where I put all my data files, games, music, etc. Back to the setup screen, where are my other 50GB. Also, why does it not show my F drive or C drive, the list only says unpartitioned space of 32GB. Did my hard drive just fail and ruin. Do I have to get a new one, or is there a way to solve this. Also, The other F drive partition, is that hidden somewhere or did that also get fully deleted. I just want to start all over again. Is the F drive partition still available somewhere, but its hidden, and also is my hard drive screwed up. Please help me out. This is a serious situation. Thanks.
 
I am sure your HD is fine.

Whether your data is recoverable depends on what you may have done to it (how far you got on XP install).

Instead of reinstalling XP, I would either do a Repair or a System Restore.

Repair is an option that appears when you boot to the WinXp disc as you proceed through to the install options.

If you can still boot into XP try System REstore whichis accessible in Start/Help and Support
 
Did you try the two things I said?

People can't help you here if you don't state more specifically what you have tried so far, step by step.
 
Sorry about that, I tried the system restore and it won't let me go back to previous days, I even checked my system information and all it says is Free Disk Space:32GB. Tha other 50GB are still missing. Is it possible that this partition is hidden somewhere, and I just don't know how to access it. Everything in my system points to signs that I have lost 50GB on my hard drive and I can't retrieve those 50GB. Pleas I still need more help. Thanks
 
It looks like you were given some bad advice. Reinstallation is generally used when all else fails. After a computer crash, there are four other options to try before reinstallation. They are Safe Mode, Last Known Good Configuration, System Restore and Recovery Console. I won't go into details at this time. You said you tried System Restore unsuccessfully. To have tried this, you must have started Windows normally or in Safe Mode. You appear to have already opted for the recovery method as a last resort, so I suggest you continue with it. Based on what you have said, the new DVD burner is likely to blame. If Windows XP did not have the driver for this device, you may have needed to hit the F6 key at just the right moment to load it from a diskette. The DVD installation manual may have had something about this. I cannot explain why you are unable to see all of your hard drive, however Windows XP includes a utility called Disk Management that provides virtually every tool you'll need to manage disks, partitions, volumes and logical drives. If you can get to any command prompt, enter diskmgmt.msc. In Windows, this is accessible via the Control Panel|Performance & Maintenance|Administrative Tools. This should tell you if all 80 GB are still there. Now, before you start that reinstallation, uninstall the DVD player because it is highly suspect as to blame. If it is not too late, you can do a repair rather than a reinstall. To repair, start the Windows CD as if you were going to do a clean install. It's easy to become confused during the process because the word "repair" appears in two different places when you start your computer using the Windows CD. On the "Welcome to Setup" screen, do not choose the option to repair your installation using the Recovery Console. Instead, press Enter, which starts the Windows Setup program. After you accept the license agreement, Windows searches your system for existing Windows installations. When you reach the screen that lists your current Windows installation, select it from the list and press R to start the repair process. If there is severe damage to your hard drive or file corruption, a repair installation will not be effective; the only alternative is to reformat the disk and install a clean copy of Windows. I pray you have a backup of your F drive. Let us know how it goes. Good luck. 😎
 
I tried everything you said and my Hard Drive still shows only 32GB. I went to disk management and it only says the Western Digital hard drive is composed of 32GB. I did everything else, and nothing seems to work. However, i went into the BIOS intot he Hard Rvei section where youc an change your hard drive's cylinders sectors and heads. Right now mine is set on 65535 cylinders 16 Heads 63 Sectors. The cylinders is max at 65535, and Im not sure whether I should modify these numbers or not, because I thought it might be risky. One more thing to add. I went into the Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools, and wanted to reforamt my whole hard drive and just delete everything off of it. However, I accessed the program, and I went to the area called EZ-Install, apparently this is for PArtitions and Foramts etc., so i went there and it asked me if I was installing Windows XP, and I said YES, and it said that my BIOS does not support Windows XP. I don't get how for the past year my Windows XP has worked fine. Why all of a sudden does my BIOS not support XP. Even when I first bought my the hard drvie I had to format it, and I didn't have these problems. Is there a way to get pass this. I don't how to solve the original problem of getting my old partition back, so I figure it's no longer with me anymore. So I have decided to reformat my hard drive and just delete everything off of it. I don't really care, befause I have backups of everything, so I am in good shape. Can someone please help delete everything off my hard drive and just start fresh. Thanks.
 
unplug ur dvd rom. then go to ur bios. what amount deos the bios show??? everythign should be set to auto, i don't think ur supposed to change around the chs settings manually.

what file format was ur partitions set up as, ntfs or fat32??

do u have access to another pc, ?? slave ur drive and see what that bios shows u
 
If the BIOS only recognizes 32 GB of the hard drive, your system BIOS probably does not support the full capacity of the drive. There are a couple of possible solutions to your problem: 1) Check with the system or motherboard manufacturer for any BIOS upgrades for the system. If there are no BIOS updates from the manufacturer: 2) Purchase a PCI ATA controller card that will support the capacity of the drive. The two benefits of ATA controller cards are the ability to support large capacity drives and the ability to support the faster transfer rates of the drive. The latter solution is one I had to use on my computer when I got a 40 GB hard drive. Chances are your 80 GB are still there, just not recognized by the BIOS and consequently the OS. Do not modify the cylinders, heads or sectors! That would really mess things up. It is possible this limitation was evident before, but you just never noticed it until the DVD burner installation went wrong. Reformating the hard drive will not overcome the BIOS limitation! Buy a PCI card or a new motherboard. I have a Promise Ultra 133 TX2 PCI ATA controller card, but you may find newer versions of this card or similar ones at their web site. My Win XP installation required hitting the F6 key during reboot at just the right moment to install drivers for this card from a diskette. You do need a floppy drive. Your old F drive partition could still be there! Glad to hear you backed everything up just in case. I cannot speak to the why of not seeing this with your previous upgrade. The only thing I can think of is that you are running the Western Digital Data Lifeguard Tools for the first time and because of your BIOS limitation, this program has the ability to tell you about it! Let us know how it goes after you upgrade the BIOS. Good luck. 😎
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top