Losing Drives - Finding Drives - Losing Drives

M

mel

I'm using a Dell 8400 w/Windows XP Pro (Service Pack 2 - with all
current updates)

Problem: My comp can't find my drive(s)

A few days back I bought some memory for my comp. The clerk in the
store read the original packing slip from 3-4 years back on which it
stated which type of memory my comp had. When I put in the memory he
sold me, the comp went weird and came up with the blue screen of death.
(I was grounded to the comp's metal chassis. so I doubt if the chips had
gotten zapped. )

After I took the memory out, I saw that my comp was no longer finding my
2 outboard drives - E: and F:. Not knowing at the time about the MY
COMPUTER | MANAGE bit, I mistakenly went into the F2 comp setup and
changed something in there which referred to drives being on or off. I
now have each drive showing "on."

After I found out about the MY COMPUTER | DISK MANAGEMENT method of
rescanning the drives, I did get my outboard E: and F: drives back.
However, when I turned my comp on today, I find the F: drive is missing
again, and it is not showing up as it previously had yesterday in DISK
MANAGEMENT. (Heck, even my virtual BestCrypt drives show up if I mount
them. They are on the E: drive.)

The drives shown in the F2 setup are:

Diskette Drive A:
SATA 0 (C: drive)
SATA 1 (Unknown)
SATA 2 (Unknown)
SATA 3 (Unknown)
PATA 0 (CD ROM)

When I boot the comp, it does not boot into Windows. It goes to a black
and white screen showing the following:

Drive 1 Not found
Drive 2 Not found
Drive 3 Not found
Drive 5 Not found

Use F1 to Continue or F2 to enter Setup

(I have no idea what happened to Drive 4.)

To say again:
I have one internal HD, which is my C: drive
I have two outboard hard drives, which are my E: & F: drives
I have a single CD drive
I have a single floppy A: drive

The F: drive, which is the one I am not seeing today, is good. It is a
Seagate which I hooked up (USB) to my wife's comp and it showed all my
files.

It also takes my comp almost a minute to reboot. During that time I see
only a blank screen.

I hope someone can solve this, because the comp repair guys in my area
are not too swift. I learned that the hard way - and the expensive way.
 
A

Arno Wagner

Previously said:
I'm using a Dell 8400 w/Windows XP Pro (Service Pack 2 - with all
current updates)
Problem: My comp can't find my drive(s)
A few days back I bought some memory for my comp. The clerk in the
store read the original packing slip from 3-4 years back on which it
stated which type of memory my comp had. When I put in the memory he
sold me, the comp went weird and came up with the blue screen of death.
(I was grounded to the comp's metal chassis. so I doubt if the chips had
gotten zapped. )

That is pretty rare today anyways.
After I took the memory out, I saw that my comp was no longer finding my
2 outboard drives - E: and F:. Not knowing at the time about the MY
COMPUTER | MANAGE bit, I mistakenly went into the F2 comp setup and
changed something in there which referred to drives being on or off. I
now have each drive showing "on."
After I found out about the MY COMPUTER | DISK MANAGEMENT method of
rescanning the drives, I did get my outboard E: and F: drives back.
However, when I turned my comp on today, I find the F: drive is missing
again, and it is not showing up as it previously had yesterday in DISK
MANAGEMENT. (Heck, even my virtual BestCrypt drives show up if I mount
them. They are on the E: drive.)
The drives shown in the F2 setup are:
Diskette Drive A:
SATA 0 (C: drive)
SATA 1 (Unknown)
SATA 2 (Unknown)
SATA 3 (Unknown)
PATA 0 (CD ROM)
When I boot the comp, it does not boot into Windows. It goes to a black
and white screen showing the following:
Drive 1 Not found
Drive 2 Not found
Drive 3 Not found
Drive 5 Not found
Use F1 to Continue or F2 to enter Setup
(I have no idea what happened to Drive 4.)
To say again:
I have one internal HD, which is my C: drive
I have two outboard hard drives, which are my E: & F: drives
I have a single CD drive
I have a single floppy A: drive
The F: drive, which is the one I am not seeing today, is good. It is a
Seagate which I hooked up (USB) to my wife's comp and it showed all my
files.
It also takes my comp almost a minute to reboot. During that time I see
only a blank screen.
I hope someone can solve this, because the comp repair guys in my area
are not too swift. I learned that the hard way - and the expensive way.

Chack that all the cable connectors are sitting properly in drives and
other side. You may have disloged one of them to the degree that the
connection is unreliable.

Arno
 

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