Ryan
August 24th 04, 03:43 PM
Hi,
I have posted this problem on hard drive groups thinking I had a hard
drive error. Now that it seems the drive is fine, I really need some
help from Windows XP Home experts.
I have two hard drives on my computer. One (drive C) is a 40 gig drive
where I keep the operating system and applications, the second hard
drive (drive F) is where I keep MP3 files, video files, digital
photos, etc. it is a 60 gig drive.
Both drives have worked flawlessly for a few years and I use both
every day. About a week ago I turned the machine on one morning and
all seemed fine until I went to open a file on drive F. Windows
claimed the drive was not there as if I had removed it. I hadn't, of
course.
When I went to My Computer and click on drive F (which is shown) it
tells me drive F is "not accessible". When I click on properties it
tells me the drive has 0 free space and 0 used space!
HOWEVER, when I run utilties (such as from FirstData) I can see all
the files and folders just as if nothing has happened. I have also
downloaded a couple file recovery programs and same result.. all the
data is there and intact as if nothing happened.
I have been told to restore the boot sector. Nope, the two utilties I
have tell me the boot sector is fine and won't restore the backup copy
claiming there is nothing wrong with either one. I have also been told
to fix the MBR (master boot record). No to that too, I am told it is
fine when I try and fix it. These utilties tell me there is nothing
wrong with this drive to be fixed!
However, I return to Windows XP and it refuses to access the darn
drive it has used with no trouble for years! Disk Management says the
drive exists, but there is nothing there to access. It also has no
format under that column (the drive has one partition and it's NTFS
but I am told if I force it to show NTFS, I will loose the data
already on that drive.. so I have left it alone.
I have read elsewhere that this may be a permissions thing that went
wrong in XP. But, I am the only user and am the adminstrator and I see
nothing for permissions at all, to fix or not. It is as if XP has
simply turned off this drive for no known reason.
I am not a hardware expert, but I have done everything I have been
told and XP refuses to read this drive. I know the drive is fine and I
know the data is there. How on Earth do I correct this?
Thanks!
I have posted this problem on hard drive groups thinking I had a hard
drive error. Now that it seems the drive is fine, I really need some
help from Windows XP Home experts.
I have two hard drives on my computer. One (drive C) is a 40 gig drive
where I keep the operating system and applications, the second hard
drive (drive F) is where I keep MP3 files, video files, digital
photos, etc. it is a 60 gig drive.
Both drives have worked flawlessly for a few years and I use both
every day. About a week ago I turned the machine on one morning and
all seemed fine until I went to open a file on drive F. Windows
claimed the drive was not there as if I had removed it. I hadn't, of
course.
When I went to My Computer and click on drive F (which is shown) it
tells me drive F is "not accessible". When I click on properties it
tells me the drive has 0 free space and 0 used space!
HOWEVER, when I run utilties (such as from FirstData) I can see all
the files and folders just as if nothing has happened. I have also
downloaded a couple file recovery programs and same result.. all the
data is there and intact as if nothing happened.
I have been told to restore the boot sector. Nope, the two utilties I
have tell me the boot sector is fine and won't restore the backup copy
claiming there is nothing wrong with either one. I have also been told
to fix the MBR (master boot record). No to that too, I am told it is
fine when I try and fix it. These utilties tell me there is nothing
wrong with this drive to be fixed!
However, I return to Windows XP and it refuses to access the darn
drive it has used with no trouble for years! Disk Management says the
drive exists, but there is nothing there to access. It also has no
format under that column (the drive has one partition and it's NTFS
but I am told if I force it to show NTFS, I will loose the data
already on that drive.. so I have left it alone.
I have read elsewhere that this may be a permissions thing that went
wrong in XP. But, I am the only user and am the adminstrator and I see
nothing for permissions at all, to fix or not. It is as if XP has
simply turned off this drive for no known reason.
I am not a hardware expert, but I have done everything I have been
told and XP refuses to read this drive. I know the drive is fine and I
know the data is there. How on Earth do I correct this?
Thanks!