This really stumps me!

[Linden]

Earlier today (like 3:00 a.m.), I was deleting a very large backup file. During the *delete* process, either the system froze or I tried to start another program. When I hard rebooted the machine, I skipped the Norton scan function that was supposed to have restored the fat system on the affected partition. Now that partition, which is one of three on that physical hard drive, is missing. The drive letter is gone, Device Manager doesn't show it, and accounting for the physical space for that drive (device manager & My computer) reveals that all the disk space is accounted for except for exactly the amount of the mysterious missing partition.

System:

Abit KT7-R
TB 900@1070
2X WD 20GB HDD (First HDD has C: D: and used to have E: - the now missing partition; the
second HDD's partitions are fully in order.)
Win 98 FE, with all available updates

Am I going to have to reformat the first HDD and reinstall Windows? Please say no. I've run all the disk diagnostics in Norton, and in WD's floppy utility, *DATA Lifeguard*. All these utilities report that my HDD is without error - but the utilities don't even notice that the drive has been reduced in size by several MB.

What gives? Help would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance.

 

[PC Freak]

This may sound strange, but try it. Boot with a dos disk. Do you see your missing partition now? Then run 'Fdisk' and select option 4 (display) you see your primary partition. then select the option to get to your logical drives. Do you see your logical drives?

 

[Linden]

Give me a minute. I am a true dummy. I started PC computing just as the Wintel scene was moving from 3.11 to 95. Don't be surprised if I come back and say, "How you do that?". I can build an overclocked screamer but can't execute simple DOS commands. Be back in a minute. Thanks.

 

[Linden]

PC Freak.

I think I'm losing my mind. Which diskette: Windows Startup disk or the facotry MS Win98 Boot disk. Which option do I select of the choices. When A:\>, then what? I warned you I was a DOS dummy.

You're probably rolling your eyes. Hey, I understand. I've executed these functions before, but only after a couple hours of trial and error - no kidding.

 

[Linden]

PC Freak,

Making some progress. Here are the results of the status check:

(This is my first drive, in which there should be one primary DOS partition and two extended DOS partitions for a total of approximately 20GB)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Drive 1

C:

Partition Status Types Vol.Label MBytes System Usage
1 A Pri DOS D1P1 3334 F32 17%
2 Ext DOS 6362 33%

When I selected "continue", it showed that patition 2 was also FAT 32. So far, so good. Can I resurrect partition 3 (now missing in action) or can I just expand partition 2 to 83% - the balance of the drive's total space. I found a good DOS explanation site, but I couldn't discern how to do what I've just asked you.

Just thought of something. C: itself is Disk1Part1, and is 3334MB. Patition 2 is D: at 6362. Partition 3 (wherever it is) should be E: at approx. 10000MB. Why didn't the Status indicate a label for partition 2, or why didn't it identify it is D:?

 

[Linden]

CASE CLOSED.

PC_Freak, you steered me in the right direction. I was able to dredge up some of the DOS commands that I know (only about 5 or 6!), and fixed it. Fortunately, I've always got one or two complete system backups spread out over the three HDD, so I didn't loose any data. Thanks for your assistance.

 

[PC Freak]

Hey, i'm sorry for not getting back till now. It's been a busy evening.
I'm glad you got your info back.
Have a good evening.

If there's anything else let me know.