My Computer (Windows Explorer) stops responding on new SATA instal

[ocpsduke]

I have just added a second SATA hard drive to my PC (Western Digital
WD5000AAKS 500GB). My Vista Home Premium installation is on a partition on a
Seagate 200GB SATA drive.
After I installed the new drive, everything started up fine. I moved some
files to the new drive (I partitioned it into 2x250GB partitions), and it
again was working fine. After I closed it, I tried to open Computer (Windows
Explorer) again, and it goes to a blank window, with the animated circle
cursor as if it is opening, then .... nothing. The animated circle stops and
it goes back to the arrow cursor, but the window which opened for my computer
remains blank. If I shut down and restart, then I get it all back again.
But once I open it once and then close it, it will no longer open again. I
tried to open the control panel as well, with the same result.

I have Windows Vista Home Premium 32-bit with SP1 installed. My processor
is a Pentium 4 3.00 GHz, and I have 4.00 GB RAM installed.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated. I was really looking forward
to having this extra storage space.

Thanks,

Duke

 

[DDW]

After I installed the new drive, everything started up fine. I moved some
files to the new drive (I partitioned it into 2x250GB partitions), and it
again was working fine.

What files did you move?

After I closed it, I tried to open Computer (Windows
Explorer) again, and it goes to a blank window, with the animated circle
cursor as if it is opening, then .... nothing. The animated circle stops and
it goes back to the arrow cursor, but the window which opened for my computer
remains blank. If I shut down and restart, then I get it all back again.
But once I open it once and then close it, it will no longer open again. I
tried to open the control panel as well, with the same result.

DDW

 

[ocpsduke]

The files that were moved were avi files. I have a bunch of home video I
want to store on this drive so that I can work with it in creating a DVD for
my family. The files are there, that's not a problem. They show up when My
Computer opens properly. Problem is, it only opens once per boot session.
If I close it and want to open it back up, I have to re-boot.

 

[DDW]

The files that were moved were avi files. I have a bunch of home video I
want to store on this drive so that I can work with it in creating a DVD for
my family. The files are there, that's not a problem. They show up when My
Computer opens properly. Problem is, it only opens once per boot session.
If I close it and want to open it back up, I have to re-boot.

How are the two SATA drives configured in the BIOS?

DDW

 

[R. C. White]

Hi, Duke.

What does Disk Management say about your drives?

Many users are STILL (over 8 years since it was introduced in Windows 2000!)
unfamiliar with Disk Management. Other tools (Windows Explorer, Computer,
etc.) can tell you some things about your drives, but DM is the real tool to
install and manage them. The fastest way to start it is to press Start,
type "diskmgmt.msc", and press Enter.

Check out the Help file there, but be aware that (a) it is for the entire
Microsoft Management Console, of which Disk Management is only a part; and
(b) it is a reference, not a tutorial, so you can't read it like a textbook.
But it has TONS of information that most users never learn about hard disk
drives. DM also manages other "drives", such as optical drives, USB flash
drives, etc.; anything that can be assigned a "drive" letter.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail 2008 in Vista Ultimate x64 SP1)

 

[ocpsduke]

I'll check that out. I think I may have narrowed it down to a conflict with
an external drive by Maxtor. I have yet to get that drive to install
properly since I installed Vista, and it seems that the issue only arises
when that drive is turned on.