My previously working setup was as follows

- 40Gb HD (master) with XP on one NTFS partition
- 120 GB HD (slave) for storage only with two NTFS partitions and 51
GB unallocated space

During an attempt of formatting the remaining 51 GB on the latter HD
into a new NTFS volume using Windows XP's disk management, the
computer froze completely (incl no access to task manager).

On reboot of computer, the HD LED is constantly on and I can hear
activity from an HD, and it takes 5 mins+ to get to a message telling
me that the system failed to boot (please insert boot media).

Physically removing the 120GB HD IDE cable and power supply solves the
problem, and everything is as before - less deserately needed storage
space!

What may have gone wrong, and is there anyway it can be fixed?

Thanks for any suggestions.

Sincerely,
Bjarte Sorensen

"B Sorensen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> My previously working setup was as follows
>
> - 40Gb HD (master) with XP on one NTFS partition
> - 120 GB HD (slave) for storage only with two NTFS partitions and 51
> GB unallocated space
>
> During an attempt of formatting the remaining 51 GB on the latter HD
> into a new NTFS volume using Windows XP's disk management, the
> computer froze completely (incl no access to task manager).
>
> On reboot of computer, the HD LED is constantly on and I can hear
> activity from an HD, and it takes 5 mins+ to get to a message telling
> me that the system failed to boot (please insert boot media).
>
> Physically removing the 120GB HD IDE cable and power supply solves the
> problem, and everything is as before - less deserately needed storage
> space!
>
> What may have gone wrong, and is there anyway it can be fixed?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions.
>
> Sincerely,
> Bjarte Sorensen

I would do two things:

- Download and run the disk diagnostic program that the
manufacturer of your 120 GByte disk makes available
on his web site.

- Physically disconnect your 40 GByte disk, boot the PC
with a Win98 boot disk from www.bootdisk.com, then run
delpart.exe from http://www.russelltexas.com/delpart.htm
to remove the half-cooked 51 GByte partition. You need to
be extremely careful not to delete your 70 GByte partition.

My guess is that he made the 51 GB partition the active
partition and since it is blank it fails to boot. Boot the
XP CD and open the recovery console. You should have the
command line tools to fix the partitions.


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.


"Pegasus (MVP)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
|
| "B Sorensen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
| news:(E-Mail Removed)...
| > My previously working setup was as follows
| >
| > - 40Gb HD (master) with XP on one NTFS partition
| > - 120 GB HD (slave) for storage only with two NTFS
partitions and 51
| > GB unallocated space
| >
| > During an attempt of formatting the remaining 51 GB on
the latter HD
| > into a new NTFS volume using Windows XP's disk
management, the
| > computer froze completely (incl no access to task
manager).
| >
| > On reboot of computer, the HD LED is constantly on and I
can hear
| > activity from an HD, and it takes 5 mins+ to get to a
message telling
| > me that the system failed to boot (please insert boot
media).
| >
| > Physically removing the 120GB HD IDE cable and power
supply solves the
| > problem, and everything is as before - less deserately
needed storage
| > space!
| >
| > What may have gone wrong, and is there anyway it can be
fixed?
| >
| > Thanks for any suggestions.
| >
| > Sincerely,
| > Bjarte Sorensen
|
| I would do two things:
|
| - Download and run the disk diagnostic program that the
| manufacturer of your 120 GByte disk makes available
| on his web site.
|
| - Physically disconnect your 40 GByte disk, boot the PC
| with a Win98 boot disk from www.bootdisk.com, then run
| delpart.exe from http://www.russelltexas.com/delpart.htm
| to remove the half-cooked 51 GByte partition. You need
to
| be extremely careful not to delete your 70 GByte
partition.
|
|

You may well be right, both with your diagnosis and
with your remedy.


"Jim Macklin" <p51mustang[threeX12]@xxxhotmail.calm> wrote in message
news:%23D$(E-Mail Removed)...
> My guess is that he made the 51 GB partition the active
> partition and since it is blank it fails to boot. Boot the
> XP CD and open the recovery console. You should have the
> command line tools to fix the partitions.
>
>
> --
> The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
> But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
>
>
> "Pegasus (MVP)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> |
> | "B Sorensen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
> | news:(E-Mail Removed)...
> | > My previously working setup was as follows
> | >
> | > - 40Gb HD (master) with XP on one NTFS partition
> | > - 120 GB HD (slave) for storage only with two NTFS
> partitions and 51
> | > GB unallocated space
> | >
> | > During an attempt of formatting the remaining 51 GB on
> the latter HD
> | > into a new NTFS volume using Windows XP's disk
> management, the
> | > computer froze completely (incl no access to task
> manager).
> | >
> | > On reboot of computer, the HD LED is constantly on and I
> can hear
> | > activity from an HD, and it takes 5 mins+ to get to a
> message telling
> | > me that the system failed to boot (please insert boot
> media).
> | >
> | > Physically removing the 120GB HD IDE cable and power
> supply solves the
> | > problem, and everything is as before - less deserately
> needed storage
> | > space!
> | >
> | > What may have gone wrong, and is there anyway it can be
> fixed?
> | >
> | > Thanks for any suggestions.
> | >
> | > Sincerely,
> | > Bjarte Sorensen
> |
> | I would do two things:
> |
> | - Download and run the disk diagnostic program that the
> | manufacturer of your 120 GByte disk makes available
> | on his web site.
> |
> | - Physically disconnect your 40 GByte disk, boot the PC
> | with a Win98 boot disk from www.bootdisk.com, then run
> | delpart.exe from http://www.russelltexas.com/delpart.htm
> | to remove the half-cooked 51 GByte partition. You need
> to
> | be extremely careful not to delete your 70 GByte
> partition.
> |
> |
>
>

It was just a guess, thanks.
Jim

--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.


"Pegasus (MVP)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:%23$(E-Mail Removed)...
| You may well be right, both with your diagnosis and
| with your remedy.
|
|
| "Jim Macklin" <p51mustang[threeX12]@xxxhotmail.calm> wrote
in message
| news:%23D$(E-Mail Removed)...
| > My guess is that he made the 51 GB partition the active
| > partition and since it is blank it fails to boot. Boot
the
| > XP CD and open the recovery console. You should have
the
| > command line tools to fix the partitions.
| >
| >
| > --
| > The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
| > But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.
| >
| >
| > "Pegasus (MVP)" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
| > news:(E-Mail Removed)...
| > |
| > | "B Sorensen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in
message
| > |
news:(E-Mail Removed)...
| > | > My previously working setup was as follows
| > | >
| > | > - 40Gb HD (master) with XP on one NTFS partition
| > | > - 120 GB HD (slave) for storage only with two NTFS
| > partitions and 51
| > | > GB unallocated space
| > | >
| > | > During an attempt of formatting the remaining 51 GB
on
| > the latter HD
| > | > into a new NTFS volume using Windows XP's disk
| > management, the
| > | > computer froze completely (incl no access to task
| > manager).
| > | >
| > | > On reboot of computer, the HD LED is constantly on
and I
| > can hear
| > | > activity from an HD, and it takes 5 mins+ to get to
a
| > message telling
| > | > me that the system failed to boot (please insert
boot
| > media).
| > | >
| > | > Physically removing the 120GB HD IDE cable and power
| > supply solves the
| > | > problem, and everything is as before - less
deserately
| > needed storage
| > | > space!
| > | >
| > | > What may have gone wrong, and is there anyway it can
be
| > fixed?
| > | >
| > | > Thanks for any suggestions.
| > | >
| > | > Sincerely,
| > | > Bjarte Sorensen
| > |
| > | I would do two things:
| > |
| > | - Download and run the disk diagnostic program that
the
| > | manufacturer of your 120 GByte disk makes available
| > | on his web site.
| > |
| > | - Physically disconnect your 40 GByte disk, boot the
PC
| > | with a Win98 boot disk from www.bootdisk.com, then
run
| > | delpart.exe from
http://www.russelltexas.com/delpart.htm
| > | to remove the half-cooked 51 GByte partition. You
need
| > to
| > | be extremely careful not to delete your 70 GByte
| > partition.
| > |
| > |
| >
| >
|
|

Thanks for all your help (see previous posts)!

Nothing of what has been suggested (using diagnostic tools from Seagate,
delpart.exe etc.) works, I suppose because the HD is not even recognized
by the BIOS. The partition was definitely not set as the active
partition by me, the partition on the 40GB HD with XP has always been
the active partition.

The HD is correctly connected, and the jumper is in the right position.
I have also tried to position the jumper to limit the capacity to 32 GB,
but this didn't work either, and I have tried to start the computer with
the working HD disconnected, using the 120GB as master.

On starting the computer, it hangs for several minutes while I can hear
a soft clicking sound from the harddrive. Only physically disconnecting
it makes my computer able to boot normally.

I'm worried something quite serious is wrong with the HD. Do you know if
this may even be a warranty case (HD vendor)? The HD was only bought and
installed a few days ago, and has hardly been used (although it was
working fine until this happened).

Thanks for any other suggestions. I'm open for suggestions that will
wipe data as well, as there is not really anything of importance on it
as of yet.

Sincerely,

Bjarte Sorensen

B Sorensen wrote:

> My previously working setup was as follows
>
> - 40Gb HD (master) with XP on one NTFS partition
> - 120 GB HD (slave) for storage only with two NTFS partitions and 51
> GB unallocated space
>
> During an attempt of formatting the remaining 51 GB on the latter HD
> into a new NTFS volume using Windows XP's disk management, the
> computer froze completely (incl no access to task manager).
>
> On reboot of computer, the HD LED is constantly on and I can hear
> activity from an HD, and it takes 5 mins+ to get to a message telling
> me that the system failed to boot (please insert boot media).
>
> Physically removing the 120GB HD IDE cable and power supply solves the
> problem, and everything is as before - less deserately needed storage
> space!
>
> What may have gone wrong, and is there anyway it can be fixed?
>
> Thanks for any suggestions.
>
> Sincerely,
> Bjarte Sorensen

The Seagate site lets you register a warranty claim, and it
gives you instructions where to return the disk to.


"Bjarte Sorensen" <(E-Mail Removed)> wrote in message
news:bH1jc.13165$(E-Mail Removed)...
> Thanks for all your help (see previous posts)!
>
> Nothing of what has been suggested (using diagnostic tools from Seagate,
> delpart.exe etc.) works, I suppose because the HD is not even recognized
> by the BIOS. The partition was definitely not set as the active
> partition by me, the partition on the 40GB HD with XP has always been
> the active partition.
>
> The HD is correctly connected, and the jumper is in the right position.
> I have also tried to position the jumper to limit the capacity to 32 GB,
> but this didn't work either, and I have tried to start the computer with
> the working HD disconnected, using the 120GB as master.
>
> On starting the computer, it hangs for several minutes while I can hear
> a soft clicking sound from the harddrive. Only physically disconnecting
> it makes my computer able to boot normally.
>
> I'm worried something quite serious is wrong with the HD. Do you know if
> this may even be a warranty case (HD vendor)? The HD was only bought and
> installed a few days ago, and has hardly been used (although it was
> working fine until this happened).
>
> Thanks for any other suggestions. I'm open for suggestions that will
> wipe data as well, as there is not really anything of importance on it
> as of yet.
>
> Sincerely,
>
> Bjarte Sorensen
>
> B Sorensen wrote:
>
> > My previously working setup was as follows
> >
> > - 40Gb HD (master) with XP on one NTFS partition
> > - 120 GB HD (slave) for storage only with two NTFS partitions and 51
> > GB unallocated space
> >
> > During an attempt of formatting the remaining 51 GB on the latter HD
> > into a new NTFS volume using Windows XP's disk management, the
> > computer froze completely (incl no access to task manager).
> >
> > On reboot of computer, the HD LED is constantly on and I can hear
> > activity from an HD, and it takes 5 mins+ to get to a message telling
> > me that the system failed to boot (please insert boot media).
> >
> > Physically removing the 120GB HD IDE cable and power supply solves the
> > problem, and everything is as before - less deserately needed storage
> > space!
> >
> > What may have gone wrong, and is there anyway it can be fixed?
> >
> > Thanks for any suggestions.
> >
> > Sincerely,
> > Bjarte Sorensen