Uh oh, I think XP screwed me.. dynamic disk help needed!

[magnux]

Ok, well, this is partly my fault, I'm sure, for not reading up.. but in any event, here's my dilemma.

I initially had 2x120GB drive, running in Basic.. nothing fancy. I picked up 2x160GB drives, and decided to try Dynamic. So, I installed them, set them to Dynamic w/ Striping then proceeded to copy all the data from the 120GB drives over. Worked perfectly, I could see everything.

So, I removed the 120GB drives and installed a 30GB drive (for the OS only). So, now I have 1x30GB and the 2x160GB. I installed XP on the 30GB, and now the 2x160GB drives are showing up as "Unallocated"! Not to mention, they're showing up as 128GB?! Aaahh!

I have over 200GB of data on these drives, and I'll completely go ballistic if it's all gone.. please tell me it's just some mundane thing I overlooked.. I'm dying over here.

Any help is GREATLY appreciated!

 

[EeyoreX]

Yes, I agree that this is "partly" (ie; all) your fault. Windows didn't screw you.

What is probably happening is that since you reinstalled XP you neglegted to install all the updates, especially SP1 to allow the OS to see hard drives over the 137GB limit. Do not try to access/do anything with the array. Unplug those drives and reinstall Windows to your 30GB drive. Apply all the updates to ensure your new install will recongnize the full capacity of the drives. Plug your dynamic drives back in. In Disk Managment you may need to take ownership (I can't think of the exact wording, as I am not an admin and do not have access to the Disk Managment console at work) and see if you can access your data. This may or may not work, depending on what has been done to the drives while you could only "see" 128GB. Your data should still all be there, but any data past the 128GB mark may be gone/damaged.

Good luck.

\Dan

 

[CTho9305]

Originally posted by: magnux
I have over 200GB of data on these drives, and I'll completely go ballistic if it's all gone.. please tell me it's just some mundane thing I overlooked.. I'm dying over here.

200GB data on STRIPED hard drives that would make you go ballistic to lose and no backups? :Q

 

[magnux]

Originally posted by: EeyoreX
Yes, I agree that this is "partly" (ie; all) your fault. Windows didn't screw you.

What is probably happening is that since you reinstalled XP you neglegted to install all the updates, especially SP1 to allow the OS to see hard drives over the 137GB limit. Do not try to access/do anything with the array. Unplug those drives and reinstall Windows to your 30GB drive. Apply all the updates to ensure your new install will recongnize the full capacity of the drives. Plug your dynamic drives back in. In Disk Managment you may need to take ownership (I can't think of the exact wording, as I am not an admin and do not have access to the Disk Managment console at work) and see if you can access your data. This may or may not work, depending on what has been done to the drives while you could only "see" 128GB. Your data should still all be there, but any data past the 128GB mark may be gone/damaged.

Good luck.

\Dan

Yea, I figured all that out last night. Just as I was about to give up, I then remembered about pre-SP1 and it's lack of > 137GB support. Once I upgraded to SP1, the dynamic drives were detected as "Foreign", so I simply need to import them. No data was lost.

I wrote my initial post in more of a panic than anything else. It's not that I didn't research dynamic drives, I did, for the most part. What I really didn't research, which I should have, was any instructions or a checklist for migrating them to a new system. You live to learn. Thanks though.

Originally posted by: CTho9305

Originally posted by: magnux
I have over 200GB of data on these drives, and I'll completely go ballistic if it's all gone.. please tell me it's just some mundane thing I overlooked.. I'm dying over here.

200GB data on STRIPED hard drives that would make you go ballistic to lose and no backups? :Q

Well, 200GB of any data would send me ballistic. All of my mission critical files are backed up, but the bulk was more or less my 'collection' of stuff, most of it which cannot be gotten again. The sheer though, topped with lack of sleep and complete frustration was eating away at me.