Lost partition information on a drive

[RichardOnRails]

Hi,

Windows Explorer no longer displays the partitions on one of my
drives. I've got four hard drives on my WinXP/SP2 system: three
internal and one external.

Disk 0: 200GB (Maybe SCSI) split into two equal partitions, J: and
K:, but no shown as
not initialized.

Disk 1: 34GB IDE split into two partitions:
C: (6.68GB FATwith Win2000 installed)
F: (27.33GB NTFS with WinXP installed)

Recently, I've been getting warnings that the WinXP is low in space.
Device Manager shows it has only 3% free. I hope to solve this
problem by deleting Win2000 and other old stuff from C: to free up
space and repartition disk 1 with Partition Magic 8 to expand F:

Apparently, I got too aggressive in deleting stuff. I don't think I
actually did anything to adversely impact Disk 0, itself.

I plan on searching the Net for a driver for Disk 0 and install it
with the hope that XP will then recognize the drive. Is there
anything else I should consider?

Thanks in advance,
Richard

 

[Guest]

Hi,

Windows Explorer no longer displays the partitions on one of my
drives. I've got four hard drives on my WinXP/SP2 system: three
internal and one external.

Disk 0: 200GB (Maybe SCSI) split into two equal partitions, J: and
K:,  but no shown as
not initialized.

Disk 1: 34GB IDE split into two partitions:
    C: (6.68GB FATwith Win2000 installed)
    F: (27.33GB NTFS with WinXP installed)

Recently, I've been getting warnings that the WinXP is low in space.
Device Manager shows it has only 3% free.  I hope to solve this
problem by deleting Win2000 and other old stuff from C: to free up
space and repartition disk 1 with Partition Magic 8 to expand F:

Apparently,  I got too aggressive in deleting stuff.  I don't think I
actually did anything to adversely impact Disk 0, itself.

I plan on searching the Net for a driver for Disk 0 and install it
with the hope that XP will then recognize the drive.  Is there
anything else I should consider?

Thanks in advance,
Richard

you might want to install paragon partition manager. I have used that
to assign a drive letter to partitions that wouldnt show up in
windows, there is a lot fo software to do it, but I can confirm that
one works well.

Flamer.

 

[GreenieLeBrun]

Hi,

Windows Explorer no longer displays the partitions on one of my
drives. I've got four hard drives on my WinXP/SP2 system: three
internal and one external.

Disk 0: 200GB (Maybe SCSI) split into two equal partitions, J: and
K:, but no shown as
not initialized.

Disk 1: 34GB IDE split into two partitions:
C: (6.68GB FATwith Win2000 installed)
F: (27.33GB NTFS with WinXP installed)

Recently, I've been getting warnings that the WinXP is low in space.
Device Manager shows it has only 3% free. I hope to solve this
problem by deleting Win2000 and other old stuff from C: to free up
space and repartition disk 1 with Partition Magic 8 to expand F:

Apparently, I got too aggressive in deleting stuff. I don't think I
actually did anything to adversely impact Disk 0, itself.

I plan on searching the Net for a driver for Disk 0 and install it
with the hope that XP will then recognize the drive. Is there
anything else I should consider?

Thanks in advance,
Richard

I have had success with TestDisk (http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk)

 

[Gerry]

Richard

Are the partitions properly recognised in Disk Management? Start,
Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk
Management.

What Tool / Utility was used to create the Partitions?

Are you using any Norton products?

You might look at TweakUi.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

In TweakUi select My Computer, Drives.

You might also try HD Tune(freeware) as you can see the SMART
information relating to the drive etc.

Download and run it and see what it turns up.
http://www.hdtune.com/

Select the Info tabs and place the cursor on the drive under Drive
letter and then double click the two page icon ( copy to Clipboard )
and copy into a further message.

Select the Health tab and then double click the two page icon ( copy to
Clipboard ) and copy into a further message. Make sure you do a full
surface scan with HD Tune.

Suggestions for low disk space.

The default allocation to System Restore is 12% on your C partition
which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 mb. Right click your My
Computer icon on the Desktop and select System Restore. Place the cursor
on your C drive select Settings but this time find the slider and drag
it to the left until it reads 700 mb and
exit. When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and
exit.

Another default setting which could be wasteful is that for temporary
internet files, especially if you do not store offline copies on disk.
The default allocation is 3% of drive. Depending on your attitude to
offline copies you could reduce this to 1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer
select Tools, Internet Options, General, Temporary Internet Files,
Settings to make the change. At the same time look at the number of days
history is held.

The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change to
5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor
on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and
move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it get
too full as if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it will
bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also
select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp,
More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System
Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter.

You can generate more space in the system partition by relocation of
folders.

For Temporary Internet Files select Start, Control Panel, Internet
Options, Temporary Internet Files. Settings, Move Folder.

To move the Outlook Express Store Folder select in Outlook Express
Tools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder, Change.
http://www.tomsterdam.com/insideoe/files/store.htm

How to Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder:
http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310147

You may also need to change Default File locations in the Microsoft
Office programmes you choose to move the My Documents folder. For Word
go to Tools, Options, File Locations, highlight Documents, click on
Modify and change file path. For Excel go to Tools, Options, General
and change default file path.

My Documents is one of a number of system created Special Folders
including My Pictures and My Music. These can more easily be relocated
using Tweak Ui. Download TweakUI, one of the MS powertoys, from here:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

In TweakUi select My Computer, Special Folders. You can scroll down to
see the full list of Special Folders to the left of the Change
Location button.


--



Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

 

[RichardOnRails]

Hi,

Windows Explorer no longer displays the partitions on one of my
drives. I've got four hard drives on my WinXP/SP2 system: three
internal and one external.

Disk 0: 200GB (Maybe SCSI) split into two equal partitions, J: and
K:, but no shown as
not initialized.

Disk 1: 34GB IDE split into two partitions:
C: (6.68GB FATwith Win2000 installed)
F: (27.33GB NTFS with WinXP installed)

Recently, I've been getting warnings that the WinXP is low in space.
Device Manager shows it has only 3% free. I hope to solve this
problem by deleting Win2000 and other old stuff from C: to free up
space and repartition disk 1 with Partition Magic 8 to expand F:

Apparently, I got too aggressive in deleting stuff. I don't think I
actually did anything to adversely impact Disk 0, itself.

I plan on searching the Net for a driver for Disk 0 and install it
with the hope that XP will then recognize the drive. Is there
anything else I should consider?

Thanks in advance,
Richard

Hi All,

Thank you very much,

 

[RichardOnRails]

Hi,

Windows Explorer no longer displays the partitions on one of my
drives. I've got four hard drives on my WinXP/SP2 system: three
internal and one external.

Disk 0: 200GB (Maybe SCSI) split into two equal partitions, J: and
K:, but no shown as
not initialized.

Disk 1: 34GB IDE split into two partitions:
C: (6.68GB FATwith Win2000 installed)
F: (27.33GB NTFS with WinXP installed)

Recently, I've been getting warnings that the WinXP is low in space.
Device Manager shows it has only 3% free. I hope to solve this
problem by deleting Win2000 and other old stuff from C: to free up
space and repartition disk 1 with Partition Magic 8 to expand F:

Apparently, I got too aggressive in deleting stuff. I don't think I
actually did anything to adversely impact Disk 0, itself.

I plan on searching the Net for a driver for Disk 0 and install it
with the hope that XP will then recognize the drive. Is there
anything else I should consider?

Thanks in advance,
Richard

Hi All,

Thank you very much, VERY much, for your three responses. Below are
the details of my machine's "miraculous" recovery of the "lost"
partition. Now that I'm back on track, I've got one more question.

I fired up Partition Magic 8 which shows that Disk 1 had partition C:
(6.8 GB, 0.2GB used) and F: (28 GB, 26.7GB used, which houses WinXP).
I set PM to reduce C:'s size to 1GB. When a clicked "Apply", PM
announced that there is no active partition.

I therefore clicked the box depicting C: and again clicked "Apply".
This time I got the "Apply Changes?" dialog I expected. Out of an
abundance of caution, do you think this ~5GB reduction is sage?

Details of my recovery are reported below. I will save your previous
advice in case of a future calamity.

Again, thanks for your excellent responses,
Richard

=== Details ===

I rebooted this afternoon hoping that I'd find some suggestions from
the user community so that I wouldn't have to take my machine apart,
identify the drive's make and model, etc.

I just started to download the package Gerry recommended when I
suddenly noticed the missing drive letters were again present in
Windows Explorer.

Unfortunately, as a septuagenarian, my memory is too weak to recount
the sequence of events that led to this resurrection. I do remember
that I had been installing Visual C# 2008 Express when the warning
about insufficient space on the Windows partition. I suspended the
installation and tried to delete unnecessary things, which led to my
problem. One of my subsequent reboots, to my surprise, restore the
missing drive letters.

I will save the advice you have so generously offered. Hopefully I
will do better in future efforts at freeing critical space.

Best wishes,
Richard

 

[RichardOnRails]

Richard

Are the partitions properly recognised in Disk Management? Start,
Control Panel, Administrative Tools, Computer Management, Disk
Management.

What Tool / Utility was used to create the Partitions?

Are you using any Norton products?

You might look at TweakUi.

http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

In TweakUi select My Computer, Drives.

You might also try HD Tune(freeware) as you can see the SMART
information relating to the drive etc.

Download and run it and see what it turns up.http://www.hdtune.com/

Select the Info tabs and place the cursor on the drive under Drive
letter and then double click the two page icon ( copy to Clipboard )
and copy into a further message.

Select the Health tab and then double click the two page icon ( copy to
Clipboard ) and copy into a further message. Make sure you do a full
surface scan with HD Tune.

Suggestions for low disk space.

The default allocation to System Restore is 12% on your C partition
which is over generous. I would reduce it to 700 mb. Right click your My
Computer icon on the Desktop and select System Restore. Place the cursor
on your C drive select Settings but this time find the slider and drag
it to the left until it reads 700 mb and
exit. When you get to the Settings screen click on Apply and OK and
exit.

Another default setting which could be wasteful is that for temporary
internet files, especially if you do not store offline copies on disk.
The default allocation is 3% of drive. Depending on your attitude to
offline copies you could reduce this to 1% or 2%. In Internet Explorer
select Tools, Internet Options, General, Temporary Internet Files,
Settings to make the change. At the same time look at the number of days
history is held.

The default allocation for the Recycle Bin is 10 % of drive. Change to
5%, which should be sufficient. In Windows Explorer place the cursor
on your Recycle Bin, right click and select Properties, Global and
move the slider from 10% to 5%. However, try to avoid letting it get
too full as if it is full and you delete a file by mistake it will
bypass the Recycle Bin and be gone for ever.

Select Start, All Programs, Accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp to
Empty your Recycle Bin and Remove Temporary Internet Files. Also
select Start, All Programs, accessories, System Tools, Disk CleanUp,
More Options, System Restore and remove all but the latest System
Restore point. Run Disk Defragmenter.

You can generate more space in the system partition by relocation of
folders.

For Temporary Internet Files select Start, Control Panel, Internet
Options, Temporary Internet Files. Settings, Move Folder.

To move the Outlook Express Store Folder select in Outlook Express
Tools, Options, Maintenance, Store Folder, Change.http://www.tomsterdam.com/insideoe/files/store.htm

How to Change the Default Location of the My Documents Folder:http://support.microsoft.com/?id=310147

You may also need to change Default File locations in the Microsoft
Office programmes you choose to move the My Documents folder. For Word
go to Tools, Options, File Locations, highlight Documents, click on
Modify and change file path. For Excel go to Tools, Options, General
and change default file path.

My Documents is one of a number of system created Special Folders
including My Pictures and My Music. These can more easily be relocated
using Tweak Ui. Download TweakUI, one of the MS powertoys, from here:http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/downloads/powertoys.asp

In TweakUi select My Computer, Special Folders. You can scroll down to
see the full list of Special Folders to the left of the Change
Location button.

--

Hope this helps.

Gerry
~~~~
FCA
Stourport, England
Enquire, plan and execute
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hi Gerry,

I just got back to reviewing the earlier replies after I post my most
recent questions. Your reply is loaded with excellent advice, for
which I am especially grateful. Best of all, perhaps, are the
techniques for moving stuff out of the XP folder into other other
folders in a different partition. I'm working on that now, while I
await people's judgment about reducing the C: partition to 1GB.

Again, many thanks for all the stuff to study.

Best wishes,
Richard

 

[PD43]

I'm working on that now, while I await people's judgment about
reducing the C: partition to 1GB.

I think you'll find that they will counsel you to clone that drive to
a larger one because 1 gig ain't gonna cut it.

 

[RichardOnRails]

I think you'll find that they will counsel you to clone that drive to
a larger one because 1 gig ain't gonna cut it.

Hi,

Thanks for your observation. But have you noted that there's no OS in
the C: partition? Only 140MB of its 6.6GB is used, mainly for boot-
up files like ntldr and residual Win2000 files that I haven't already
deleted (because I wasn't sure I didn't need them.) So it should
remain static at < 200MB usage.

I've already followed a number of Gerry's suggestions, e.g. moving
MyDocuments from F: to my 100GB K: partition on my 200GB drive. So my
F: partition which had only 3% free now has about 30% free. I'd
nevertheless like to "gild the lily" by shrinking C: and expanding F:
further.

Does that make my plan seem more sensible?

Best wishes,
Richard




WinXP is in the F: partition on the same drive. It the F: partition
which had only 3% free space

 

[RichardOnRails]

I think you'll find that they will counsel you to clone that drive to
a larger one because 1 gig ain't gonna cut it.

Hi,

The response I posted a minute ago had some typos. I deleted it from
Google Groups but it may not have been deleted from your News server.
I apologize for the error. This is the version I intended to send.

Thanks for your observation. But have you noted that there's no OS in
the C: partition? Only 140MB of its 6.6GB is used, mainly for boot-
up files like ntldr and residual Win2000 files that I haven't already
deleted (because I wasn't sure I didn't need them.) So it should
remain static at < 200MB usage. WinXP is in the F: partition on the
same drive.

I've already followed a number of Gerry's suggestions, e.g. moving
MyDocuments from F: to my 100GB K: partition on my 200GB drive. So my
F: partition which had only 3% free now has about 30% free. I'd
nevertheless like to "gild the lily" by shrinking C: and expanding F:
further.

Does that make my plan seem more sensible?

Best wishes,
Richard

 

[RichardOnRails]

I have had success with TestDisk (http://www.cgsecurity.org/wiki/TestDisk)

Hi Greenie,

Thanks for your response. I tried TestDisk. It warned that its
estimate of disk sizes should match the hardware. I found a small
divergence from what Partition Magic 8 reported, so I didn't purse
this. I'm having pretty good success now as I reported on the thread
Gerry started, so I'm going to pursue that path. Still, I grateful
to learn of freeware that can recover from some severe disk problems.

Best wishes,
Richard

 

[RichardOnRails]

you might want to install paragon partition manager. I have used that
to assign a drive letter to partitions that wouldnt show up in
windows, there is a lot fo software to do it, but I can confirm that
one works well.

Flamer.

Hi Flamer,

Thanks for your response. I do have Partition Magic installed and now
have the missing partition restore in Windows Explorer. As I reported
in the thread started by Gerry, I've got things pretty well under
control. Nevertheless, I appreciate you taking the time to forward
your advice.

Best wishes,
Richard