Just got through a HD crash, and I need your help.

This question is for pretty advanced computer users with a good deal of knowledge on computers.

Here is the issue:

Last week my computer was making high pitched noises. Some people thought it might be the fan that I talked to. Well, it turned out my hard drive(master) was pretty much cooked. Anyway, I was able to get on safe mode for Windows XP and copy all my files over to my slave drive(320 gigs) before I put in a new master drive. I was using Windows XP before the crash.

OK, well here is where my problem comes in. I took out my master drive and put in a new one spare hard drive I had from another computer. I reformatted it clean, but my Windows XP disc was only an upgrade, and it needs a version if Windows on there to install so I had to put Windows 2000 on this.

OK, I am up and running, but here is the problem. Windows recognizes my slave drive(with all my stuff on it that I copied over), but when I double click on it, it says "drive not formatted". I called my pop who used to be a computer technician 5 years ago, and he said it sounds like since Windows 2000 is NTFS and I formatted my slave drive originally with Windows XP which is FAT32, that is why it doesn't read it. He wasn't sure though.

Can anyone tell me what's going on here? Again, my slave drive IS recognized by Windows, but when I go to open it, it says it isn't formatted. Is my pop correct? Is it because I formatted it with an FAT32 file system on XP?

If not I am totally screwed. I had EVERYTHING copied over to this drive. 3 papers for college are on there. I have priceless stuff.

If I put XP back on here will I be able to access my slave drive?

Thanks!

Jam it back in, in the dark.

That isn't the problem. Windows XP or 2000 should be able to read FAT32 partitions without any problems. This is only a guess, but how big is the drive? If it's above 128GB (or something like that) then you'll need SP1 to be able to read it. The problem with that idea is can FAT32 partitions be that large. Again I'm not too sure.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Wait, how you do know it recognizes the drive?

BTW: Win2K should by default do NTFS. Not sure why you chose FAT32.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by wtran168

That isn't the problem. Windows XP or 2000 should be able to read FAT32 partitions without any problems. This is only a guess, but how big is the drive? If it's above 128GB (or something like that) then you'll need SP1 to be able to read it. The problem with that idea is can FAT32 partitions be that large. Again I'm not too sure.

It's 320 gigs.

Is that the problem then?

Double Post:

Originally Posted by Lukage

Wait, how you do know it recognizes the drive?

BTW: Win2K should by default do NTFS. Not sure why you chose FAT32.

Nono, Win 2k was NFTS, my XP was FAT32.

I know it recognized it, because it shows it on the startup screen, and under my system properties it says it's there and it is healthy. This drive is only 3 months old and is in great working health. The only problem is when I try to access it(by double clicking) it says it isn't formatted and needs to be. It's obviously formatted because I've been using it for 3 months now.

If the above poster is correct and WinXP can only read big hard drives then that may be it, because this hard drive worked yesterday.

Note: This hard drive we are talking about ISN'T the one that crashed. That was my other one.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Your problem isn't the OS's capability to read such drives, its the fact that NTFS was created for certain reasons. One of them is the incapacity of FAT32 to read certain-sized drives.

I was speaking idiomatically.

So what can I do?

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Originally Posted by DragoonKain

So what can I do?

Get yourself a copy of Windows XP Sp1 or higher. Like wtran168 said, any older version of Windows can't read paritions above 137GB in size. Even if you have to make a bogus WinXP install that requires activation that won't work, 30 days is mroe than enough time to copy the files to another drive than repartition the 320GB HDD in 130GB (or smaller) chunks.
Apparently installing Win2k SP4 could also solve this problem, try Win2k with Sp4 before trying WinXP.
EDIT: About WinXP, now that you have Win2k installed, just upgrade to WinXP. If you don't have anything you want to keep, start fresh and prevent all potential problems (just make sure you don't reformat or repartition your 320GB HDD).

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by DragoonKain

So what can I do?

Cry. If you can't use your same methods to get the information off the drive, its gone.

There's a difference between seeing a drive and it being accessible. I have a 200GB in now. Its a functioning device, just not formatted. Save what you can and do it the right way, the safe way.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

Originally Posted by www.sega.co.jp

Get yourself a copy of Windows XP Sp1 or higher. Like wtran168 said, any older version of Windows can't read paritions above 137GB in size. Even if you have to make a bogus WinXP install that requires activation that won't work, 30 days is mroe than enough time to copy the files to another drive than repartition the 320GB HDD in 130GB (or smaller) chunks.
Apparently installing Win2k SP4 could also solve this problem, try Win2k with Sp4 before trying WinXP.
EDIT: About WinXP, now that you have Win2k installed, just upgrade to WinXP. If you don't have anything you want to keep, start fresh and prevent all potential problems (just make sure you don't reformat or repartition your 320GB HDD).

Can I upgrade to Windows XP from 2000? The box says 98 and 98 SE, doesn't say 2000.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Originally Posted by DragoonKain

Can I upgrade to Windows XP from 2000? The box says 98 and 98 SE, doesn't say 2000.

I'd say just stick with 2000. I used it for years and it works just fine. Maybe better than XP in some cases.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Originally Posted by Lukage

Cry. If you can't use your same methods to get the information off the drive, its gone.

There's a difference between seeing a drive and it being accessible. I have a 200GB in now. Its a functioning device, just not formatted. Save what you can and do it the right way, the safe way.

I think you read my post wrong. The hard drive that died wasn't the one that I can't access. The hard drive that I can't access is in perfect healthy working condition.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Yeh, I think Lukage read your initial post wrong. Make sure you have SP1 on there at least and you should be able to read off the drive, providing the partitioning table isn't screwed up.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by DragoonKain

Can I upgrade to Windows XP from 2000? The box says 98 and 98 SE, doesn't say 2000.

Yes you can.

In fact, I think you should have installed XP in the first place. All you needed to do was just pop in the Windows 2000 disc when it asked for a "previous version" (because Windows 2000 is a "previous version".)

Makes sure Windows XP is up to date, and then it should read just fine.

(I'll tell you, there's a hard way to do anything, and there's an easy way to do anything. You almost did everything the easy way.)

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Go find yourself a copy of Stellar Phoenix that I posted over in the Other Requests forum. Backup all the stuff off that drive and format it properly in NTFS this time. FAT32 wasn't really designed for large scale HDs.

How ya doing, buddy?

Thanks fellas. I'll be doing everything sunday or monday so I'll let you know then. I'm in the middle of a paper now and I don't want to risk anything until it's finished. Then I'll get to work.

I'll keep you all updated.

FELIPE NO

I'm back on XP and it still does the same thing.

I'm running out of ideas fellas.

Need your help.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?