Missing partitions in Disk Manager on WinXP Pro SP2 machine

[Bill Lathan]

I recently purchased a Dell system, which in hindsight may have been a
mistake. I have two HDs that are configured as RAID 0 (hardware based) such
that my two 250GB drives, as delivered, show up as one C partition with size
approximately 465 GB. Dell tells me that they don't support multiple
partitions. Well, I see that as rather foolish as I don't want to back up
465 GB to have an OS backup. I thus partitioned, using Partition Magic, the
one C partition into three. My C partition is only about 50 GB as is the D
partition where I install programs that take up a lot of disk space, e.g.,
encyclopedias. Partition E is then left with ~350 GB which I use as a data
store. This configuration has been working for several days and appeared
stable. Then I purchased an external HD so that I could backup the C and D
partitions. I used Disk Manager to partation the ext HD and also to switch
from FAT32 to NTFS. Then my trouble started.

Now, if I turn the ext HD on, I see only those partitions under Disk Manager
(and Partition Magic as well); if it isn't on, no partitions are shown. On
the other hand, C, D, and E show up fine in Windows Explorer so data
moves/copies, etc. work fine; installations of new software also work fine.
However, I wish to use Norton Ghost to do my backups, and it has the same
problem as Disk Manager. It does not list the C, D, and E partitions; thus,
no partitions are available to be backup up.

If anyone has a clue as to what happened and how I can fix it, I'd be very
grateful.

Many thanks,

Bill

 

[Pegasus \(MVP\)]

I recently purchased a Dell system, which in hindsight may have been a
mistake. I have two HDs that are configured as RAID 0 (hardware based) such
that my two 250GB drives, as delivered, show up as one C partition with size
approximately 465 GB. Dell tells me that they don't support multiple
partitions. Well, I see that as rather foolish as I don't want to back up
465 GB to have an OS backup. I thus partitioned, using Partition Magic, the
one C partition into three. My C partition is only about 50 GB as is the D
partition where I install programs that take up a lot of disk space, e.g.,
encyclopedias. Partition E is then left with ~350 GB which I use as a data
store. This configuration has been working for several days and appeared
stable. Then I purchased an external HD so that I could backup the C and D
partitions. I used Disk Manager to partation the ext HD and also to switch
from FAT32 to NTFS. Then my trouble started.

Now, if I turn the ext HD on, I see only those partitions under Disk Manager
(and Partition Magic as well); if it isn't on, no partitions are shown. On
the other hand, C, D, and E show up fine in Windows Explorer so data
moves/copies, etc. work fine; installations of new software also work fine.
However, I wish to use Norton Ghost to do my backups, and it has the same
problem as Disk Manager. It does not list the C, D, and E partitions; thus,
no partitions are available to be backup up.

If anyone has a clue as to what happened and how I can fix it, I'd be very
grateful.

Many thanks,

Bill

This suggestion won't solve the problem but it might tell us
a little more about your disks:
1. Start a Command Prompt.
2. Insert a formatted floppy disk.
3. Type this command: copy %SystemRoot%\system32\mountvol.exe a:\ {Enter}
4. Run these commands while the external USB disk is turned off:
a: {Enter}
mountvol > a:\disks.txt {Enter}
3. Run this command while the external USB disk is turned on:
a: {Enter}
mountvol >> a:\disks.txt {Enter}
5. Post the contents of a:\disks.txt.

 

[Jonny]

If you can return it, do so. Get the RAID 1 option instead. Usable HD
space is diminished, but you can have multiple partitions. One partition is
hidden by default for built-in Ghost backup target on these type of Dells.
And if the 1st hard drive physically fails, you swap the other as its
mirrored.

Read up on RAID 0 and RAID 1 to help understand.