Can't read the Hard drive files and info

Wof56 · 17-04-2006, 11:27 AM

My first post here lets see if i do it right.
Last year my Western Digital hardrive ran into all sorts of problems and would not boot from it (XP is the OS) i gave up with it and installed a new one.
As challenge i am trying to resolve the problems, when booting from it a message comes up saying can't find OS ? if i look at the properties it shows as being empty, but if you go to format it it shows as having 50gig of files on it. I have tried to use it as a slave but can't open anything and can't defrag or scan it.
Any ideas or anything i can try.

Regards

donkey42 · 17-04-2006, 03:34 PM

it sounds to me like your partition is not set active, use fdisk to check

Wof56 · 17-04-2006, 04:37 PM

I will have a look at the FDISK never done that before i am a newbie is that a DOS command FDISK from an A prompt ?

Big B · 17-04-2006, 05:05 PM

You don't need to activate a partition with Windows 2000/XP. The other thing is that if the formatting was done with NTFS instead of FAT32 or FAT16 filesystems, FDISK can't read it.

What you might try is installing Windows over itself on that drive. It's pretty much the same thing as a regular install, but you don't format the drive.

donkey42 · 17-04-2006, 05:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Big B

You don't need to activate a partition with Windows 2000/XP. The other thing is that if the formatting was done with NTFS instead of FAT32 or FAT16 filesystems, FDISK can't read it.

i was not aware of Win2k & XP didn't require the primary partition to be active, i was born & bred on Win9x, but i'm learning fast, so can't Win2k & XP still exist in the extended partition (as hidden or visible)

Big B · 17-04-2006, 06:18 PM

They can exist on any partition you want, primary or extended...although the partitioning/formatting section of the Win2k/XP install doesn't have primary or extended. In fact, you don't even need to prep the drive before the OS install.

Karanislove · 18-04-2006, 02:38 AM

go to disk management (Right click my computer > Manage disk) and initialise your drive from right bottom of the disk management window.

17-04-2006, 11:27 AM	#1 (permalink) Top
Wof56 Geek Trainee Join Date: Apr 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 6 Status: Offline	Can't read the Hard drive files and info My first post here lets see if i do it right. Last year my Western Digital hardrive ran into all sorts of problems and would not boot from it (XP is the OS) i gave up with it and installed a new one. As challenge i am trying to resolve the problems, when booting from it a message comes up saying can't find OS ? if i look at the properties it shows as being empty, but if you go to format it it shows as having 50gig of files on it. I have tried to use it as a slave but can't open anything and can't defrag or scan it. Any ideas or anything i can try. Regards

17-04-2006, 05:05 PM	#4 (permalink) Top
Big B HWF Godfather Join Date: Dec 2001 Age: 28 Male Posts: 9,636 Times Helpful: 585 My Mood: Devilish Status: Online My Computer	You don't need to activate a partition with Windows 2000/XP. The other thing is that if the formatting was done with NTFS instead of FAT32 or FAT16 filesystems, FDISK can't read it. What you might try is installing Windows over itself on that drive. It's pretty much the same thing as a regular install, but you don't format the drive. __________________ Hardware Forums\|HWF Rules\|My DVD's\|PSU FAQ\|HWF Folding Team\|2CPU

17-04-2006, 06:18 PM	#6 (permalink) Top
Big B HWF Godfather Join Date: Dec 2001 Age: 28 Male Posts: 9,636 Times Helpful: 585 My Mood: Devilish Status: Online My Computer	They can exist on any partition you want, primary or extended...although the partitioning/formatting section of the Win2k/XP install doesn't have primary or extended. In fact, you don't even need to prep the drive before the OS install. __________________ Hardware Forums\|HWF Rules\|My DVD's\|PSU FAQ\|HWF Folding Team\|2CPU

18-04-2006, 02:38 AM	#7 (permalink) Top
Karanislove It's D Grav80 Of Luv Join Date: Jan 2006 Age: 23 Male Posts: 3,460 Times Helpful: 160 My Mood: Cool Status: Offline My Computer	go to disk management (Right click my computer > Manage disk) and initialise your drive from right bottom of the disk management window. __________________ __________________________________________________ ___ Troubleshoot a Dead/Unbootable PC / Microsoft Events Viewer Troubleshoot Printer / Most Common Home Audio Problems_

Similar Threads
Thread	Thread Starter	Forum	Replies	Last Post
I need help/ideas on how to lock files on a USB drive from being seen/accessed...	ivand67	Storage Devices	1	07-03-2006 08:30 AM
crashing after adding old hard drive back up to new hard drive	Don	Storage Devices	2	07-02-2006 08:25 PM
CD-RW drive won't read blanc disks??	Monkeydub	Storage Devices	6	18-11-2004 11:15 PM
Help! Cant read hard drive!	saiello	Storage Devices	10	11-09-2004 01:55 PM
Can you find the update files on your hard disk?	Addis	Windows OS's	6	11-05-2004 08:18 PM

17-04-2006, 03:34 PM	#2 (permalink) Top
donkey42 Paranoid Geeky Geek Join Date: Mar 2006 Age: 34 Male Posts: 5,819 Times Helpful: 309 My Mood: Paranoid Status: Offline My Computer	it sounds to me like your partition is not set active, use fdisk to check

17-04-2006, 04:37 PM	#3 (permalink) Top
Wof56 Geek Trainee Join Date: Apr 2006 Gender: Male Posts: 6 Status: Offline	I will have a look at the FDISK never done that before i am a newbie is that a DOS command FDISK from an A prompt ?

Currently Active Users Viewing This Thread: 1 (0 members and 1 guests)