xp doesnt show 2nd hdd under computer

[hukilau]

After clean install of xp home, my 2nd hdd, maxtor 30gb doesnt show up. I unplugged, replugged, thinking it would then recognize it. When i check xp computer page, shows both cdroms,drivec c(wdd 120gb),zip drive,floppy, but no maxtor.
did it miss something in the re install>

Does it show it in the BIOS before windows loads? If not the computer is not recognising it.

Maybe it was reformatted when you reintalled XP Home? Can you recall what drives it said it would format?

Try checking in Drive Management (inside Computer Management) to see how it lists the 2nd HDD. Did it have data on it that needs to be recovered?

Cheers
Mick

[hukilau]

I had never done formatting or reinstall before, my 1st time and it was scarry! spent all day, several tries, but finally worked it out. to answer ur question, I deleted all partitions, started fresh. couldnt get xp to finish install otherwise. bios reads master/slave, but it goes by so quick. I will check in drive mgemnt. the data thing, u mean saved files and what not? I had saved some files, yes.
Thanks for ur info, I will ck drv mgment now.

[hukilau]

shows disk 0 wdd, disk 1 maxtor(unallocated). what does that mean?

If you deleted ALL partitions on ALL drives, then you have deleted your 2nd hard drive. That's why you can';t see it. It will say unknown partition in Drive Management if that's the case.
Cheers
Mick

[hukilau]

how do I get it back mick?

That's an age old question. You need a utility that can restore partitions. Not an easy ask. No free ones that restore whole partitions that I know of. There are some free ones that can restore files, but not from partitions that have been removed AFAIK.

My suggestions would be to download a demo version of R-Studio (www.r-studio.com) and see if it can find and identify your files on the deleted drive. If it can, it may be worth purchasing (about US$70 I think). If it can't find them, it is unlikely IMO you can get them back very easily.

Sorry for the doom and gloom, but that's how I see it. Maybe someone else has some other ideas?

Cheers
Mick

[KenKun]

Adding Second Drive:



1-Set BIOS to AUTO for all IDE devices.

Note: Make sure your drive is identified on the boot up screen. If not, please refer to our knowledgebase article on how to identify drives in your BIOS. Bios identify.


2-To partition a drive, boot to the Windows desktop and go to control panel.


3-In upper left corner of control panel, click on "Switch to Classic".


4-Go to Administrative Tools \ Computer Management \ Storage \ Disk Management
Note: (If you are already in the classic environment, go to the icon on your desktop that says �gMy Computer�h. Right click and go to �gManage�h then click on �gDisk Management�h).


5-Once you click on Disk Management a wizard may appear called: Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard.

Note: You must use this wizard to write a Signature to the drive otherwise, the hard drive will not work with the Windows XP.

Using Initialize and Convert Disk Wizard:


6-Drives are numbered as follows: drive 0 being the boot drive and drive 1-3 are all other drives, (except CD�fs the first CD is CD 0 the second CD 1 and so forth).


7-After clicking next on first screen you need to select the drive you wish to install (in this case Disk 1).

In first screen, you select the drive you are writing the signature to and on the next page you select the drive you are initializing and converting.


8-The next page shows the drive you selected to initialize. Make sure the drive is checked and hit Next.


9-The next page will give you the option to convert the drive, which you do not want to select. Leave drive unchecked and hit Next.


10-Then hit Finish.

Partitioning/Formatting:

Note: In two separate windows, on the right side of the screen, a graphical representation of the partitions on the installed drives will be displayed. The top window is for viewing a drive`s status, capacity, and file system. In the bottom window, you will see a representation of the drives in the system starting with the boot drive (drive 0). In almost all cases, you will want to work with the bottom window.



11-Once you�fre done initializing the disk , right click in the unallocated space of the drive-this is what Windows XP calls un-partitioned space.


12-Then click on create partition.


13-A new wizard pops up: Create Partition Wizard-next to continue.


14-On the next page select either Primary or Extended Partition and click next to continue.


15-Next assign a drive letter that is not in use by other devices then click next to continue.


16-Now format the drive and select the type of format (NTFS or FAT32). Leave allocation unit size at default & label the drive as desired.


17-Enter the desired partition size and, if using FAT32, your partition can not be larger than 32 gig.


18-Click �gFinish�h when done.

I ran through this when i got my new HD yesterday, i used Partition Magic to creat the partition, coz winXP wasn`t able to see the new drive ..
It was detected as `unallocated`..

The above quoted information are from WD FAQ page. Give it a try coz it might work fine.
Good luck

And check Maxtor`s instructions too...

[hukilau]

thanks mickwish and KenKun!. Thanks alot!! I shall try the wizard wish me luck!

[beejo]

will these partition instrux cause me to lose my data? i've got about 45 gb (or at least i did have) i'm trying to find ..