XP setup vs. partition table on secondary master

I have lost my E: partition(table) twice after running windows setup.
First loss occured when I tried to repair the Windows installation and
the second happened after a complete reinstall. When the setup finishes
I'm left with two volumes (C: and D, the third disk is reporting
unallocated space.
In the meantime I've found out that the partition can be brought to
life using small program called testdisk, but I'm still curious to know
why this happens.

It's a default setup, with C: as target, nothing special.
IDE 0:0 - C: (maxtor 80)
IDE 0:1 - D: (seagate 160)
IDE 1:0 - E: (maxtor 300) !!
IDE 1:1 - F: (DVD)
All jumpers double checked.

Also, the setup reports the problem drive on same bus location as the
primary master.

Thanks for any help.

wrote:

I have lost my E: partition(table) twice after running windows setup.
First loss occured when I tried to repair the Windows installation and
the second happened after a complete reinstall. When the setup
finishes I'm left with two volumes (C: and D, the third disk is
reporting unallocated space.
In the meantime I've found out that the partition can be brought to
life using small program called testdisk, but I'm still curious to
know why this happens.

It's a default setup, with C: as target, nothing special.
IDE 0:0 - C: (maxtor 80)
IDE 0:1 - D: (seagate 160)
IDE 1:0 - E: (maxtor 300) !!
IDE 1:1 - F: (DVD)
All jumpers double checked.

Also, the setup reports the problem drive on same bus location as the
primary master.

This is not normal behavior. Test the drive with a diagnostic utility
downloaded from the drive mftr.'s website. Create a bootable cd/floppy
with the file and boot with it. Do a thorough test. If the drive fails
any physical tests, replace it.

Malke
--
Elephant Boy Computers
www.elephantboycomputers.com
"Don't Panic!"
MS-MVP Windows - Shell/User