Help! Partition disappeared in XP pro.

[Alex Ferguson]

Hi all,

Just found out I have a big problem... I had a 160GB disk - all one
partition - that has disappeared. I'm running XP & haven't noticed
anything strange (eg, reboots, bsods, etc) - just tried to go to D:
and it said the disk wasn't formatted. It had existed there for
several months without change...

When I go into disk management, it reports it as a 'Healty' parition
without a file system.

I installed Partition Magic 8 and it is at least able to see the NTFS
parition on that disk, but the strange thing is that it sees another
partition too, like this:

DISK2:
Partition.....Type...........Size.....Used.....Free..Status..Pri/Log
(*)...........Unallocated....7.8MB....0.0......0.0...None....Primary
DATA (D.....NTFS...........156GB....137GB....19GB..None....Primary

It seems as if I should be able to get this back since it still exists
& PM can see it, but I'm not sure of how to proceed... couldn't find
a "My NTFS partition disappeared wizard"

Anyway, what is the (*) 7.8MB partition? Should I delete it since
it's in front of my "real" partition?

Also, when I right-click on the DATA (missing) partition and "check
for errors", it reports many Error 45 - CRC error in data errors.
Does this until I get a "Error #983 Too many errors found, process
halted."

When I go into the "File Browser" it doesn't show any entries - just
the root D:\ with nothing in it (even though it says 137GB is used).

So... anyone know the process to fix this with PM 8.0? Do I need
another tool instead to get XP to recognize the partition?

Thanks!

 

[Guest]

How much 'real' data exists on the disk? Is it backed up?
No expert, but seems like you have trouble with the drive
that will soon lead to its failure, or loss of your data.
Keep a look out someone may know how to dun a disk
utility to solve your problems, but I lost an OS about a
year ago under similar circumstances. After I recovered
the drive, the drive failed.

Also, what kind of drive is it? Go to the site and see if
they have a diagnostic / repair utility...

Anyway, back up what you can now, onto CDs or another
drive - Data recovery is EXPENSIVE! starts at about
$800.00 USD>

 

[philo]

Hi all,

Just found out I have a big problem... I had a 160GB disk - all one
partition - that has disappeared. I'm running XP & haven't noticed
anything strange (eg, reboots, bsods, etc) - just tried to go to D:
and it said the disk wasn't formatted. It had existed there for
several months without change...

When I go into disk management, it reports it as a 'Healty' parition
without a file system.

I installed Partition Magic 8 and it is at least able to see the NTFS
parition on that disk, but the strange thing is that it sees another
partition too, like this:

DISK2:
Partition.....Type...........Size.....Used.....Free..Status..Pri/Log
(*)...........Unallocated....7.8MB....0.0......0.0...None....Primary
DATA (D.....NTFS...........156GB....137GB....19GB..None....Primary

It seems as if I should be able to get this back since it still exists
& PM can see it, but I'm not sure of how to proceed... couldn't find
a "My NTFS partition disappeared wizard"

Anyway, what is the (*) 7.8MB partition? Should I delete it since
it's in front of my "real" partition?

Also, when I right-click on the DATA (missing) partition and "check
for errors", it reports many Error 45 - CRC error in data errors.
Does this until I get a "Error #983 Too many errors found, process
halted."

When I go into the "File Browser" it doesn't show any entries - just
the root D:\ with nothing in it (even though it says 137GB is used).

So... anyone know the process to fix this with PM 8.0? Do I need
another tool instead to get XP to recognize the partition?

Thanks!

First off...do not delete that 8 meg partition...it won't hurt anything
and is nothing to do with the problem...
it's simply an artifact from the CHS method of identifying partitions

if XP's disk management sees the partition but does not recognize it as
formatted...
there is probably some type of drive problem

if you want...you can go the site of the drive's manufacturer and have it
analyze the disk ... it will very probably confirm the defect


I recently saw a similar problem in a machine I was working on...
(it failed maxtor's analysis test)
and after rebooting the machine many times over a period of days
I eventually got the drive detected ok and did and *immediate* backup



btw: there was an old trick that is sometimes used to temporarily
get a non-working drive to function...and that is putting the drive in the
freezer for a while... although that did not work in my case...
and it turned out that after I had let them machine run for several hours
and got the drive "warmed up" then rebooted...it worked long enough
for me to do a backup

 

[treehugger]

Hi all,

Just found out I have a big problem... I had a 160GB disk - all one
partition - that has disappeared. I'm running XP & haven't noticed
anything strange (eg, reboots, bsods, etc) - just tried to go to D:
and it said the disk wasn't formatted. It had existed there for
several months without change...

When I go into disk management, it reports it as a 'Healty' parition
without a file system.

I installed Partition Magic 8 and it is at least able to see the NTFS
parition on that disk, but the strange thing is that it sees another
partition too, like this:

DISK2:
Partition.....Type...........Size.....Used.....Free..Status..Pri/Log
(*)...........Unallocated....7.8MB....0.0......0.0...None....Primary
DATA (D.....NTFS...........156GB....137GB....19GB..None....Primary

It seems as if I should be able to get this back since it still exists
& PM can see it, but I'm not sure of how to proceed... couldn't find
a "My NTFS partition disappeared wizard"

Anyway, what is the (*) 7.8MB partition? Should I delete it since
it's in front of my "real" partition?

Also, when I right-click on the DATA (missing) partition and "check
for errors", it reports many Error 45 - CRC error in data errors.
Does this until I get a "Error #983 Too many errors found, process
halted."

When I go into the "File Browser" it doesn't show any entries - just
the root D:\ with nothing in it (even though it says 137GB is used).

So... anyone know the process to fix this with PM 8.0? Do I need
another tool instead to get XP to recognize the partition?

Thanks!

A similar thing happened to me once but I was able to get most of my files back by installing linux mandrake on unused space on my first hard drive. Once installed, I was able to browse the missing partition and move the most needed files to the first windows drive. As D:\ is saying 137Gb used, it can see *something* therefore the linux trick could work for you.

tree

 

[Alex Ferguson]

Thanks for the tips guys... I went to maxtors site & tried to run the
latest version of PowerMax (4.06), but it doesn't support my nForce2
chipset!

I did run an XP chkdsk on the disk... it reports many Error 45 - CRC
error in data errors. Does this until I get a "Error #983 Too many
errors found, process
halted."

Strange thing is that explorer can see the directories located in the
root, but when I try to browse into one of them it then tells me the
disk isn't formatted...

 

[Alex Nichol]

I installed Partition Magic 8 and it is at least able to see the NTFS
parition on that disk, but the strange thing is that it sees another
partition too, like this:

DISK2:
Partition.....Type...........Size.....Used.....Free..Status..Pri/Log
(*)...........Unallocated....7.8MB....0.0......0.0...None....Primary
DATA (D.....NTFS...........156GB....137GB....19GB..None....Primary

It seems as if I should be able to get this back since it still exists
& PM can see it, but I'm not sure of how to proceed... couldn't find
a "My NTFS partition disappeared wizard"

Anyway, what is the (*) 7.8MB partition? Should I delete it since
it's in front of my "real" partition?

The 7.8 MB is just the remnant of the first cylinder of the drive, left
over after the MBR in the very first sector. It is needed to allow the
first partition to start on a cylinder boundary. It is normal.

I suspect what has happened is one of two things:

that the 'hidden' bit has been set on the D: partition - Partition
Magic should be able to to sort that.

or *possibly* that the registry setting to EnableBigLBA has got unset.
See http://support.microsoft.com/?scid=kb;en-us;303013

One thing that is probably worth trying, if it is not the hidden bit,
is to force PnP to re-enumerate the drives: GO in regedit.exe to
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\System\Mounter Devices
and delete all lines from the right pane. Then reboot.

 

[philo]

Thanks for the tips guys... I went to maxtors site & tried to run the
latest version of PowerMax (4.06), but it doesn't support my nForce2
chipset!

I did run an XP chkdsk on the disk... it reports many Error 45 - CRC
error in data errors. Does this until I get a "Error #983 Too many
errors found, process
halted."

Strange thing is that explorer can see the directories located in the
root, but when I try to browse into one of them it then tells me the
disk isn't formatted...

the drive is defective i'm sure
you might want to to what i did and just let it run for a while

or try it then turn the machine off
then after a few hours try again etc

you may end up eventually getting it to work for a while

 

[Alex Ferguson]

Thanks for the tips guys, but it quickly progressed to the infinite
chirping squeal of death stage & wouldn't let the machine boot anymore
when it was attached.

Filed an RMA - less than 2 months old!

 

[philo]

Thanks for the tips guys, but it quickly progressed to the infinite
chirping squeal of death stage & wouldn't let the machine boot anymore
when it was attached.

Filed an RMA - less than 2 months old!

Too bad about that

the one I was working on was also less then 2 months old!

it was the first time i had problems with a Maxtor...

I'm wondering if I should start using Quantum Fireball from now on?

 

[Sharon F]

Hi all,

Just found out I have a big problem... I had a 160GB disk - all one
partition - that has disappeared. I'm running XP & haven't noticed
anything strange (eg, reboots, bsods, etc) - just tried to go to D:
and it said the disk wasn't formatted. It had existed there for
several months without change...

When I go into disk management, it reports it as a 'Healty' parition
without a file system.

I installed Partition Magic 8 and it is at least able to see the NTFS
parition on that disk, but the strange thing is that it sees another
partition too, like this:

DISK2:
Partition.....Type...........Size.....Used.....Free..Status..Pri/Log
(*)...........Unallocated....7.8MB....0.0......0.0...None....Primary
DATA (D.....NTFS...........156GB....137GB....19GB..None....Primary

It seems as if I should be able to get this back since it still exists
& PM can see it, but I'm not sure of how to proceed... couldn't find
a "My NTFS partition disappeared wizard"

Anyway, what is the (*) 7.8MB partition? Should I delete it since
it's in front of my "real" partition?

Also, when I right-click on the DATA (missing) partition and "check
for errors", it reports many Error 45 - CRC error in data errors.
Does this until I get a "Error #983 Too many errors found, process
halted."

When I go into the "File Browser" it doesn't show any entries - just
the root D:\ with nothing in it (even though it says 137GB is used).

So... anyone know the process to fix this with PM 8.0? Do I need
another tool instead to get XP to recognize the partition?

Thanks!

The 7.8MB of unallocated space is normal on an NTFS drive. Ignore it.

 

[mrtee]

Why not, Maxtor makes 'em (Quantum HDD). See http://www.shareholder.com/maxtor/R...=67129&reltype=Corporate&maxtor_section=press

--
Just my 2¢ worth
Jeff
__________in response to__________
|
| Too bad about that
|
| the one I was working on was also less then 2 months old!
|
| it was the first time i had problems with a Maxtor...
|
| I'm wondering if I should start using Quantum Fireball from now on?
|
|

 

[philo]

Why not, Maxtor makes 'em (Quantum HDD). See
http://www.shareholder.com/maxtor/R...=67129&reltype=Corporate&maxtor_section=press


I guess I had forgotten about that...
thanks!

 

[Alex Ferguson]

Dunno... I really think drive quality is declining though. I've been
using them for years & haven't ever had to RMA until the last 18
months or so - during which I've had to do 4 (2 WD, 2 Maxtor).

Given the reigning in of the warranties from 5 to 3 to 1 year, it
almost seems like their building them to fail. Wonder if I should
make the jump to SCSI for more reliability...?