Hard Drive

[Guest]

I have XP home
my 2nd hard drive that I use for storage now does not appear on my computer
explorer. On hardware looks fine. On boot is recognised.
From my computer, properties, manage - it shows as unallocated.
I disconnected it, reconnected it, repaired windows, no success.

Is there a solution to read my hard drive? It has all my data.

Thak you kindly.

Michael

 

[Terry]

On 3/30/2007 5:10 AM On a whim, Michael pounded out on the keyboard

I have XP home
my 2nd hard drive that I use for storage now does not appear on my computer
explorer. On hardware looks fine. On boot is recognised.
From my computer, properties, manage - it shows as unallocated.
I disconnected it, reconnected it, repaired windows, no success.

Is there a solution to read my hard drive? It has all my data.

Thak you kindly.

Michael

Hi Michael,

If it's being recognized as "unallocated", it sounds like the partition
was deleted from the drive.

Try these links:
http://www.ptdd.com/
http://www.ptdd.com/recoverdeletedpartition.htm

http://www.diskinternals.com/

Report back,
--
Terry

***Reply Note***
Anti-spam measures are included in my email address.
Delete NOSPAM from the email address after clicking Reply.

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I have XP home
my 2nd hard drive that I use for storage now does not appear on my computer
explorer. On hardware looks fine. On boot is recognised.
From my computer, properties, manage - it shows as unallocated.
I disconnected it, reconnected it, repaired windows, no success.

Is there a solution to read my hard drive? It has all my data.

Thak you kindly.

Michael

Your best bet is to restore your data from backup. I assume that
if your data is important then you arranged for regular backups,
e.g. to a 2.5" disk in a USB case. If you don't have a backup then
this may be a harsh reminder to create regular backups.

Your next best solution is to try one of the many recovery
tools. Here are some of them:
http://www.restorer2000.com/r2k.htm
http://www.hddrecovery.com.au
http://bootmaster.filerecovery.biz
http://www.runtime.org/ (GetDataBack - has a trial version)
http://www.softwarepatch.com/software/filerecoverysecdownload.html
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html
www.acronis.com (RecoveryExpert)

 

[Guest]

Out of curiosity, Pegasus, why do you always suggest a 2.5" disk in a USB
case? Do you have a bunch of dead laptops laying around?

Admittedly, the following are sale prices, but at CompUSA, you can get either

WD 7200 rpm 200GB $60
USB 3.5" encl. $20

OR

Samsung 5400 rpm 40GB $60
USB 2 2.5" encl $20

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

The only reason is that many people shy away from the much
larger size of the 3.5" USB case. If they don't then it is certainly
more cost effective than a 2.5" case. In view of the low
prices you quote, I shall modify my recommendation in
future posts (which regretfully come in with great regularity . . .).

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I don't like to count on one type of bus system to restore or access stored
data. Externals, like USB or Firewire may have access problems when
connecting to another computer.

I beg to disagree. USB and Firewire devices are highly portable
and have few problems, as long as a good quality case is used.
If what you say was true then we would see lots of problems
in this newsgroup about people's digital cameras, since they all
use USB interfaces. We don't.

 

[Noncompliant]

Your best bet is to restore your data from backup. I assume that
if your data is important then you arranged for regular backups,
e.g. to a 2.5" disk in a USB case. If you don't have a backup then
this may be a harsh reminder to create regular backups.

Your next best solution is to try one of the many recovery
tools. Here are some of them:
http://www.restorer2000.com/r2k.htm
http://www.hddrecovery.com.au
http://bootmaster.filerecovery.biz
http://www.runtime.org/ (GetDataBack - has a trial version)
http://www.softwarepatch.com/software/filerecoverysecdownload.html
http://www.snapfiles.com/get/restoration.html
www.acronis.com (RecoveryExpert)

I don't like to count on one type of bus system to restore or access stored
data. Externals, like USB or Firewire may have access problems when
connecting to another computer. Oddly, an external backup is typically used
for storage if the whole PC goes kaput. Yet, the access problem if external
enclosure is moved to another PC.

Storage of personal data to an onboard drive is typically done for ease of
storage and access to that data. All internal drives can't be typically
moved to any other PC and be expected to have no access problems with data.
Especially onboard ide.

The only 2 things that work for moving data storage devices around to other
PCs are:
Connecting an ide drive to an ide card, and moving the card and the ide
drive to another PC. Same with scsi and sata cards and their connected hard
drives.
Burning personal data to ISO format to CD/DVD.

If you're going to use an external USB or Firewire enclosure for personal
data storage, only turn it on when XP is loaded and running. Turn it off
when done storing that data, while XP is still running.

 

[Lem]

I don't like to count on one type of bus system to restore or access stored
data. Externals, like USB or Firewire may have access problems when
connecting to another computer. Oddly, an external backup is typically used
for storage if the whole PC goes kaput. Yet, the access problem if external
enclosure is moved to another PC.

Storage of personal data to an onboard drive is typically done for ease of
storage and access to that data. All internal drives can't be typically
moved to any other PC and be expected to have no access problems with data.
Especially onboard ide.

The only 2 things that work for moving data storage devices around to other
PCs are:
Connecting an ide drive to an ide card, and moving the card and the ide
drive to another PC. Same with scsi and sata cards and their connected hard
drives.
Burning personal data to ISO format to CD/DVD.

If you're going to use an external USB or Firewire enclosure for personal
data storage, only turn it on when XP is loaded and running. Turn it off
when done storing that data, while XP is still running.

A solution proposed by several frequent posters here is to use IDE
drives in removable trays. See, e.g., this thread from about a year
ago, that includes comments concerning reliability of external USB
drives:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...35de3?lnk=st&q=&rnum=2&hl=en#22d0b8a39b135de3

This won't work, of course, for laptops, and even for desktops/towers
requires one or two externally-accessible available 3.5" bays rather
than the convenience of just plugging in a USB or FireWire connector.