xp sees hard disk as 32gb + unallocated space

G

google

I had an IDE Samsung 80GB HDD in an external USB2 enclosure, but the
enclosure stopped working so I put installed it internally. In Windows
(XP) it showed it as only 31.5GB, and I marked the partition active in
the disk manangement MMC built in to windows (right click on My
computer and choose "manage"). I realised then I had accidently set the
jumpers on the drive to 32GB-mode!

I changed to jumpers back to "slave" and it shows now in Windows Disk
Managment as two partitions, 31.5GB and 43.06 "unallocated".

I'm worried that setting the "32GB" partition to active rewrote
something on disk to make it think it had a 32GB partition. I've tried
swapping out the hard disk, uninstalling, reinstalling, and rebooting,
to see if XP will see it in its original format but no joy - it still
sees it as two partitons (one unformateed, the other unallocated space)

(I've tried a partition repair programs but for some reason it doesn't
even see the disk at all). BIOS on boot shows the disk as recognised
with its full 80GB capactiy.

Ash.
 
B

Bill Blanton

I had an IDE Samsung 80GB HDD in an external USB2 enclosure, but the
enclosure stopped working so I put installed it internally. In Windows
(XP) it showed it as only 31.5GB, and I marked the partition active in
the disk manangement MMC built in to windows (right click on My
computer and choose "manage"). I realised then I had accidently set the
jumpers on the drive to 32GB-mode!

I changed to jumpers back to "slave" and it shows now in Windows Disk
Managment as two partitions, 31.5GB and 43.06 "unallocated".

You can check the partition table and boot records with PartinNT.
ftp://ftp.symantec.com/public/english_us_canada/tools/pq/utilities/PartInNT.zip

Basic things to look at:
Check the PartType of the volumes (FAT32, NTFS, Unallocated, "other?")
Check the Size(MB) reported.
Check the boot record.

Highlight the volume and click the "Boot record.." button. If NTFS, check that
the "Total NTFS Sectors" listed is one less than the "Total Sectors" from the
table. If FAT32, check that "Big Total Sectors" equals "Total Sectors".

I'm worried that setting the "32GB" partition to active rewrote
something on disk to make it think it had a 32GB partition.

Though only the system partition should be active, setting a primary partition
"active" on a non-booting device shouldn't cause that problem.
I've tried
swapping out the hard disk, uninstalling, reinstalling, and rebooting,

Uninstalling/reinstalling what?

to see if XP will see it in its original format but no joy - it still
sees it as two partitons (one unformateed, the other unallocated space)

If your data was visible when jumpered at 32GB, now would be a good time to
rejumper back to 32GB, and evacuate your data before anything else is done.
 

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