Installing an old hard drive.

[Matthew Randall]

Hello,

I have built a new computer with Windows XP home edition. I installed my
previous computer's HDD as secondary drive. I *think* I have all the BIOS
settings and jumpers etc... correct.

Disk Management lists the drive as "unallocated". But I don't want to
format it, as I would then lose all the content. Does Windows XP use a
different system to partition disks, etc... as previous versions (ME here)?
How can I access my old HDD's data? Please someone tell me there is a way.

Thanks for any help.

[D.Currie]

"Matthew Randall" > wrote in message
...
> Hello,
>
> I have built a new computer with Windows XP home edition. I installed my
> previous computer's HDD as secondary drive. I *think* I have all the BIOS
> settings and jumpers etc... correct.
>
> Disk Management lists the drive as "unallocated". But I don't want to
> format it, as I would then lose all the content. Does Windows XP use a
> different system to partition disks, etc... as previous versions (ME
here)?
> How can I access my old HDD's data? Please someone tell me there is a
way.
>
> Thanks for any help.
>
>
If it's an old drive from an old computer, you might have EZ bios or a
similar drive overlay on it. If so, you'll have to find out which one (each
mfg. has their own) and uninstall it using the mfg's software.

Or the drive could be compressed with something like drivespace.

Or it could be jumpers or cables, but that wouldn't be my first choice.

[Matthew Randall]

"D.Currie" > wrote in message
...
>
> "Matthew Randall" > wrote in message
> ...
> > Hello,
> >
> > I have built a new computer with Windows XP home edition. I installed
my
> > previous computer's HDD as secondary drive. I *think* I have all the
BIOS
> > settings and jumpers etc... correct.
> >
> > Disk Management lists the drive as "unallocated". But I don't want to
> > format it, as I would then lose all the content. Does Windows XP use a
> > different system to partition disks, etc... as previous versions (ME
> here)?
> > How can I access my old HDD's data? Please someone tell me there is a
> way.
> >
> > Thanks for any help.
> >
> >
> If it's an old drive from an old computer, you might have EZ bios or a
> similar drive overlay on it. If so, you'll have to find out which one
(each
> mfg. has their own) and uninstall it using the mfg's software.
>
> Or the drive could be compressed with something like drivespace.
>
> Or it could be jumpers or cables, but that wouldn't be my first choice.


It's not a very old drive, it was part of a computer I bought in 2000, with
Windows ME on it. It's a Samsung 20GB drive. It can't be compressed, it
was my main drive...

[D.Currie]

"Matthew Randall" > wrote in message
...
>
> "D.Currie" > wrote in message
> ...
> >
> > "Matthew Randall" > wrote in message
> > ...
> > > Hello,
> > >
> > > I have built a new computer with Windows XP home edition. I
installed
> my
> > > previous computer's HDD as secondary drive. I *think* I have all the
> BIOS
> > > settings and jumpers etc... correct.
> > >
> > > Disk Management lists the drive as "unallocated". But I don't want to
> > > format it, as I would then lose all the content. Does Windows XP use
a
> > > different system to partition disks, etc... as previous versions (ME
> > here)?
> > > How can I access my old HDD's data? Please someone tell me there is a
> > way.
> > >
> > > Thanks for any help.
> > >
> > >
> > If it's an old drive from an old computer, you might have EZ bios or a
> > similar drive overlay on it. If so, you'll have to find out which one
> (each
> > mfg. has their own) and uninstall it using the mfg's software.
> >
> > Or the drive could be compressed with something like drivespace.
> >
> > Or it could be jumpers or cables, but that wouldn't be my first choice.
>
>
> It's not a very old drive, it was part of a computer I bought in 2000,
with
> Windows ME on it. It's a Samsung 20GB drive. It can't be compressed, it
> was my main drive...

I've seen a lot of computers running EZ Bios (or similar programs) when they
didn't need to, simply because the software came with the drive. That would
be my first guess. When you put it in another computer not running EZ bios,
it gives intersting errors.

As for the compression, with ME, you're probably right.