I have a second internal HDD (NTFS formatted) and would like to add it
to my WIndows XP system. In the past, this HDD was also an internal
drive for a previous WinXP system. I have been experimenting with Disk
Management in order to add the second drive. The DM utility sees the
internal drive as 'Unreadable' and if I right click on the 'Disk 1'
area, it states 'convert to basic disk'. (Disk 0 is my WinXP system)
However, I don't want to format the second HDD because it has a ton of
data on it. How do I add the second, internal HDD without formatting?

Much thanks in advance!

devtester wrote:
> I have a second internal HDD (NTFS formatted) and would like to add
> it to my WIndows XP system. In the past, this HDD was also an
> internal drive for a previous WinXP system. I have been
> experimenting with Disk Management in order to add the second
> drive. The DM utility sees the internal drive as 'Unreadable' and
> if I right click on the 'Disk 1' area, it states 'convert to basic
> disk'. (Disk 0 is my WinXP system) However, I don't want to format
> the second HDD because it has a ton of data on it. How do I add the
> second, internal HDD without formatting?
>
> Much thanks in advance!

Was the disk configured as a dynamic disk in the other system?

If so - you are going to have to get the data off it on the old system
before moving it - as dynamic disks cannot just be "moved around" like basic
disks can.

http://technet2.microsoft.com/Window....mspx?mfr=true

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

im having this same problem, except i do not have an old system to put the HD
back in to. my motherboard burned out, so I replaced it; and that is the only
change i have made to the system. when i started everything back up, my
second hard drive would not show up in My Computer. i can see it through
BIOS, and through disk management, but when i attempt to access the drive, it
prompts me to partition and format. i have a LOT of data on this drive that i
really dont want to lose, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
- Henry

"Shenan Stanley" wrote:

> devtester wrote:
> > I have a second internal HDD (NTFS formatted) and would like to add
> > it to my WIndows XP system. In the past, this HDD was also an
> > internal drive for a previous WinXP system. I have been
> > experimenting with Disk Management in order to add the second
> > drive. The DM utility sees the internal drive as 'Unreadable' and
> > if I right click on the 'Disk 1' area, it states 'convert to basic
> > disk'. (Disk 0 is my WinXP system) However, I don't want to format
> > the second HDD because it has a ton of data on it. How do I add the
> > second, internal HDD without formatting?
> >
> > Much thanks in advance!
>
> Was the disk configured as a dynamic disk in the other system?
>
> If so - you are going to have to get the data off it on the old system
> before moving it - as dynamic disks cannot just be "moved around" like basic
> disks can.
>
> http://technet2.microsoft.com/Window....mspx?mfr=true
>
> --
> Shenan Stanley
> MS-MVP
> --
> How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>
>
>

My situation is similar in that my master drive failed and needed to be
replaced. After installing the new master drive (C and reinstalling XP
Pro, my slave drive, which is the dynamic drive, shows as unreadable. I find
it hard to believe that there is no solution to this problem. I have spent
about 12 hours researching an answer and am yet to find one. Microsoft HAD
to have anticipated the possability hard drive failure or OS upgrades, etc.
There must be SOMEONE out there who has the answer.

"Mel" wrote:

> im having this same problem, except i do not have an old system to put the HD
> back in to. my motherboard burned out, so I replaced it; and that is the only
> change i have made to the system. when i started everything back up, my
> second hard drive would not show up in My Computer. i can see it through
> BIOS, and through disk management, but when i attempt to access the drive, it
> prompts me to partition and format. i have a LOT of data on this drive that i
> really dont want to lose, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
> - Henry
>
> "Shenan Stanley" wrote:
>
> > devtester wrote:
> > > I have a second internal HDD (NTFS formatted) and would like to add
> > > it to my WIndows XP system. In the past, this HDD was also an
> > > internal drive for a previous WinXP system. I have been
> > > experimenting with Disk Management in order to add the second
> > > drive. The DM utility sees the internal drive as 'Unreadable' and
> > > if I right click on the 'Disk 1' area, it states 'convert to basic
> > > disk'. (Disk 0 is my WinXP system) However, I don't want to format
> > > the second HDD because it has a ton of data on it. How do I add the
> > > second, internal HDD without formatting?
> > >
> > > Much thanks in advance!
> >
> > Was the disk configured as a dynamic disk in the other system?
> >
> > If so - you are going to have to get the data off it on the old system
> > before moving it - as dynamic disks cannot just be "moved around" like basic
> > disks can.
> >
> > http://technet2.microsoft.com/Window....mspx?mfr=true
> >
> > --
> > Shenan Stanley
> > MS-MVP
> > --
> > How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
> > http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
> >
> >
> >

Recovering NTFS Boot Sector on NTFS Partitions
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/153973/EN-US/

How To Recover an Accidentally Deleted NTFS or FAT32 Dynamic Volume
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/245725/en-us

Or find commercial data recovery firm or data recovery software.

John

Zeppoty wrote:

> My situation is similar in that my master drive failed and needed to be
> replaced. After installing the new master drive (C and reinstalling XP
> Pro, my slave drive, which is the dynamic drive, shows as unreadable. I find
> it hard to believe that there is no solution to this problem. I have spent
> about 12 hours researching an answer and am yet to find one. Microsoft HAD
> to have anticipated the possability hard drive failure or OS upgrades, etc.
> There must be SOMEONE out there who has the answer.
>
> "Mel" wrote:
>
>
>>im having this same problem, except i do not have an old system to put the HD
>>back in to. my motherboard burned out, so I replaced it; and that is the only
>>change i have made to the system. when i started everything back up, my
>>second hard drive would not show up in My Computer. i can see it through
>>BIOS, and through disk management, but when i attempt to access the drive, it
>>prompts me to partition and format. i have a LOT of data on this drive that i
>>really dont want to lose, so any help would be greatly appreciated.
>>- Henry
>>
>>"Shenan Stanley" wrote:
>>
>>
>>>devtester wrote:
>>>
>>>>I have a second internal HDD (NTFS formatted) and would like to add
>>>>it to my WIndows XP system. In the past, this HDD was also an
>>>>internal drive for a previous WinXP system. I have been
>>>>experimenting with Disk Management in order to add the second
>>>>drive. The DM utility sees the internal drive as 'Unreadable' and
>>>>if I right click on the 'Disk 1' area, it states 'convert to basic
>>>>disk'. (Disk 0 is my WinXP system) However, I don't want to format
>>>>the second HDD because it has a ton of data on it. How do I add the
>>>>second, internal HDD without formatting?
>>>>
>>>>Much thanks in advance!
>>>
>>>Was the disk configured as a dynamic disk in the other system?
>>>
>>>If so - you are going to have to get the data off it on the old system
>>>before moving it - as dynamic disks cannot just be "moved around" like basic
>>>disks can.
>>>
>>>http://technet2.microsoft.com/Window....mspx?mfr=true
>>>
>>>--
>>>Shenan Stanley
>>> MS-MVP
>>>--
>>>How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
>>>http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
>>>
>>>
>>>