driver configuration

[Guest]

I just recently suffered a windows crash ( the windows was xp professional
and it just wouldn't work anymore). i reinstalled windows 98 onto the
computer to retrieve some files. after that I reinstalled windows xp with
home edition. the problem is that I have two separate memory drives. one that
is 10GB and another which is 40GB. the problem is that all my stuff is on the
40GB but windows will only read the 10GB drive. how can I reconfigure windows
to read the 40GB drive again???

 

[Malke]

I just recently suffered a windows crash ( the windows was xp
professional and it just wouldn't work anymore). i reinstalled windows
98 onto the computer to retrieve some files. after that I reinstalled
windows xp with home edition. the problem is that I have two separate
memory drives. one that is 10GB and another which is 40GB. the problem
is that all my stuff is on the 40GB but windows will only read the
10GB drive. how can I reconfigure windows to read the 40GB drive
again???

My guess is that the 40GB hard drive (not "memory drive") was formatted
NTFS. Windows 98's file system is FAT32. I suspect your 10GB drive is
now formatted FAT32. If you currently have your Windows XP installed on
the 10GB hard drive and it is formatted FAT32, you will need to convert
the file system to NTFS. Look in XP's Help & Support for "convert to
NTFS".

Malke

 

[Frank Saunders, MS-MVP]

My guess is that the 40GB hard drive (not "memory drive") was
formatted NTFS. Windows 98's file system is FAT32. I suspect your
10GB drive is now formatted FAT32. If you currently have your Windows
XP installed on the 10GB hard drive and it is formatted FAT32, you
will need to convert the file system to NTFS. Look in XP's Help &
Support for "convert to NTFS".

Malke

WinXP should read a FAT32 drive without problems shouldn't it?

--
Frank Saunders, MS-MVP, IE/OE
Please respond in Newsgroup only. Do not send email
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[Malke]

WinXP should read a FAT32 drive without problems shouldn't it?

Yes, XP on NTFS will read FAT32 with no problem. The point I was making
(based on my interpretation of the OP's setup) is that if his original
XP installation (the disk that his stuff is on) was formatted NTFS and
he 1) installed Win98 on the smaller drive and then 2) installed WinXP
over top of the Win98 (which is what it sounds like) on the smaller
drive, then his working XP installation is on a FAT32 drive. I have
never tried to read data on an NTFS drive with an XP installation on a
FAT32 drive because I never install XP FAT32, but there is the
possibility that if the OP did the above scenario the XP FAT32 can't
read the NTFS partition.

Malke

 

[CS]

Yes, XP on NTFS will read FAT32 with no problem. The point I was making
(based on my interpretation of the OP's setup) is that if his original
XP installation (the disk that his stuff is on) was formatted NTFS and
he 1) installed Win98 on the smaller drive and then 2) installed WinXP
over top of the Win98 (which is what it sounds like) on the smaller
drive, then his working XP installation is on a FAT32 drive. I have
never tried to read data on an NTFS drive with an XP installation on a
FAT32 drive because I never install XP FAT32, but there is the
possibility that if the OP did the above scenario the XP FAT32 can't
read the NTFS partition.

Malke

Hi Malke:

It works just fine. I had a setup where XP was on a FAT-32 drive
(HDD0) and it read data from another drive (HDD1) that was formatted
to NTFS. ---- That is if I'm understanding your reply correctly ----

Regards.

 

[D.Currie]

Yes, XP on NTFS will read FAT32 with no problem. The point I was making
(based on my interpretation of the OP's setup) is that if his original
XP installation (the disk that his stuff is on) was formatted NTFS and
he 1) installed Win98 on the smaller drive and then 2) installed WinXP
over top of the Win98 (which is what it sounds like) on the smaller
drive, then his working XP installation is on a FAT32 drive. I have
never tried to read data on an NTFS drive with an XP installation on a
FAT32 drive because I never install XP FAT32, but there is the
possibility that if the OP did the above scenario the XP FAT32 can't
read the NTFS partition.

Malke
--
MS MVP - Windows Shell/User
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"

The OS reads the files, the file system it's installed on doesn't matter. XP
can read fat32 or NTFS files whether it's installed on fat32 or NTFS.

 

[Alex Nichol]

Yes, XP on NTFS will read FAT32 with no problem.

XP installed on *either* file system will read any mixture of the two
(and FAT 16 as well)

I suspect this is a matter of Ownership after the reinstall. Provided
the 40 GB shows in My Computer, r-click it; Properties; Security Page;
click Advanced and on Owner select your own user account, make sure that
the box 'apply to sub-objects' is checked and OK.

 

[Malke]

Hi Malke:

It works just fine. I had a setup where XP was on a FAT-32 drive
(HDD0) and it read data from another drive (HDD1) that was formatted
to NTFS. ---- That is if I'm understanding your reply correctly ----

Regards.

Thanks, CS. I don't have any XP Home and/or XP FAT32 installs to check.
I think that Alex Nichol's take on the situation is probably the right
answer - ownership issue.

I appreciate your information.

Malke