[SOLVED] After Formatting xp missing 2nd hard drive

kelynnrod · 04-11-2009, 11:30 PM

HI, I went to a friends(she doesn't know much about her computer & how it was set up) Anyways, she had a very bad virus & her c-drive was badly infected so she wanted me to format her main c drive with windows xp. All went fine except she has a secondary hard drive for storage named F. I can not see F in my computer. I went to device mangager & it shows the two drives. Computer management shows the drive but with an x beside it. It says dynamic drive, unreadable, 0 reserved space, 0 unallocated space, MBR? So how do I get the drive to be readable again. I know I only formatted c & did not touch the F drive. She is not sure what is on the F drive but if I can get it up & running to see what is there would be nice. If not I would just like to get the storage space back for her so she can use it. There is no right click option to click on for recognizing the disk. Any help apreciated. Thanks

dai · 04-11-2009, 11:45 PM

try taking ownership

http://support.microsoft.com/?id=308421

kelynnrod · 04-12-2009, 10:27 PM

No Luck with the article. Any other suggestions to try. Thanks

**raptor_pa** · 04-12-2009, 10:41 PM

If it is ashowing as a dynamic drive, open computer management and right click on the gray area identifying the disk. If there is an option to import or re-activate the disk take that. A dynamic drive will need to be imported into a new OS. If that fails then...
Try test_disk as in this sticky to see if the MBR or Partition table are hosed and rebuild Have you "lost" a hard drive, partition or files in your computer?

dai · 04-12-2009, 10:43 PM

i have asked someone to have a look at the problem

kelynnrod · 04-12-2009, 11:37 PM

Thanks for all the info I will give the link a read. I won't have access to my friends computer for a week so hopefully it goes well, if not I can post back next week. Thanks for everything.

**raptor_pa** · 04-13-2009, 05:06 AM

Try the import foreign disk option first, I tend to think that will solve this one, and is the simpler more data safe way to go.

kelynnrod · 04-13-2009, 12:00 PM

Just for future reference. When I formatted c-drive was I supposed to do something different when formatting. I have formatted my own computer with just c-drive many times with no problems. This was my first time formatting with two drives. Is it a different process when having 2 drives? Do you have to answer questions different with 2 drives? I just assumed that if I did not touch f-drive everything would be fine & it would stay intact with all her files. Is it possible that all the files are gone on F? (she said it is no biggy but nice to have the info for the future incase it happens again) Thanks

**raptor_pa** · 04-13-2009, 12:12 PM

No it is just that a dynamic drive is linked to the OS, when you reinstall the OS the new one doesn't know the dynamic drive was there - it is a 'foreign disk'. No differences in formatting. The files should still be there and available once you import the disk. Maybe this explains better than I can http://www.alexnolan.net/articles/im...eign_disks.htm Even tho the computer is the same, the OS is different since you reinstalled, so it needs to be imported. Don't mess with chkdsk etc, just try the import straight away.

kelynnrod · 04-13-2009, 12:24 PM

Will do-good article to read. Thanks

Import disk option is not present. Just convert to basic,properties & help. So next I will try the program you recommended. Thanks

kelynnrod · 04-19-2009, 11:04 AM

All is fixed so I would like to thank you for all the replys & help. Cheers

**raptor_pa** · 04-19-2009, 11:10 AM

What was the final solution?

kelynnrod · 04-19-2009, 03:47 PM

Well I reinstalled windows xp ( we had too many issues with the computer) & updated to service pack 2, updated all drivers and then it showed on reboot. I think something was wrong with the first format just not sure what it was but her computer was just not running smooth It was glitchy, monitor was glitchy, no sound, so I started over. But, I learned a lot from this & read the articles so more informed now for future problems incase they arise again. Thanks for everyone's help.

04-11-2009, 11:30 PM	#1 (permalink)
kelynnrod Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ontario Posts: 6 OS: xp	[SOLVED] After Formatting xp missing 2nd hard drive HI, I went to a friends(she doesn't know much about her computer & how it was set up) Anyways, she had a very bad virus & her c-drive was badly infected so she wanted me to format her main c drive with windows xp. All went fine except she has a secondary hard drive for storage named F. I can not see F in my computer. I went to device mangager & it shows the two drives. Computer management shows the drive but with an x beside it. It says dynamic drive, unreadable, 0 reserved space, 0 unallocated space, MBR? So how do I get the drive to be readable again. I know I only formatted c & did not touch the F drive. She is not sure what is on the F drive but if I can get it up & running to see what is there would be nice. If not I would just like to get the storage space back for her so she can use it. There is no right click option to click on for recognizing the disk. Any help apreciated. Thanks

04-11-2009, 11:45 PM	#2 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,569 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: After Formatting xp missing 2nd hard drive try taking ownership http://support.microsoft.com/?id=308421 __________________

04-12-2009, 10:27 PM	#3 (permalink)
kelynnrod Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ontario Posts: 6 OS: xp	Re: After Formatting xp missing 2nd hard drive No Luck with the article. Any other suggestions to try. Thanks

04-12-2009, 10:41 PM	#4 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,801 OS: XP	Re: After Formatting xp missing 2nd hard drive If it is ashowing as a dynamic drive, open computer management and right click on the gray area identifying the disk. If there is an option to import or re-activate the disk take that. A dynamic drive will need to be imported into a new OS. If that fails then... Try test_disk as in this sticky to see if the MBR or Partition table are hosed and rebuild Have you "lost" a hard drive, partition or files in your computer? __________________ Last edited by raptor_pa; 04-12-2009 at 10:45 PM.

04-12-2009, 10:43 PM	#5 (permalink)
dai Manager, Hardware Forums Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: west australia Posts: 56,569 OS: win 7 32x 64x rtm	Re: After Formatting xp missing 2nd hard drive i have asked someone to have a look at the problem __________________

04-12-2009, 11:37 PM	#6 (permalink)
kelynnrod Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ontario Posts: 6 OS: xp	Re: After Formatting xp missing 2nd hard drive Thanks for all the info I will give the link a read. I won't have access to my friends computer for a week so hopefully it goes well, if not I can post back next week. Thanks for everything.

04-13-2009, 05:06 AM	#7 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,801 OS: XP	Re: After Formatting xp missing 2nd hard drive Try the import foreign disk option first, I tend to think that will solve this one, and is the simpler more data safe way to go. __________________

04-13-2009, 12:00 PM	#8 (permalink)
kelynnrod Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ontario Posts: 6 OS: xp	Re: After Formatting xp missing 2nd hard drive Just for future reference. When I formatted c-drive was I supposed to do something different when formatting. I have formatted my own computer with just c-drive many times with no problems. This was my first time formatting with two drives. Is it a different process when having 2 drives? Do you have to answer questions different with 2 drives? I just assumed that if I did not touch f-drive everything would be fine & it would stay intact with all her files. Is it possible that all the files are gone on F? (she said it is no biggy but nice to have the info for the future incase it happens again) Thanks

04-13-2009, 12:12 PM	#9 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,801 OS: XP	Re: After Formatting xp missing 2nd hard drive No it is just that a dynamic drive is linked to the OS, when you reinstall the OS the new one doesn't know the dynamic drive was there - it is a 'foreign disk'. No differences in formatting. The files should still be there and available once you import the disk. Maybe this explains better than I can http://www.alexnolan.net/articles/im...eign_disks.htm Even tho the computer is the same, the OS is different since you reinstalled, so it needs to be imported. Don't mess with chkdsk etc, just try the import straight away. __________________

04-13-2009, 12:24 PM	#10 (permalink)
kelynnrod Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ontario Posts: 6 OS: xp	Will do-good article to read. Thanks Import disk option is not present. Just convert to basic,properties & help. So next I will try the program you recommended. Thanks Last edited by dai; 04-14-2009 at 01:27 AM.

04-19-2009, 11:04 AM	#11 (permalink)
kelynnrod Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ontario Posts: 6 OS: xp	Re: After Formatting xp missing 2nd hard drive All is fixed so I would like to thank you for all the replys & help. Cheers

04-19-2009, 11:10 AM	#12 (permalink)
raptor_pa Mod Hardware Team Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Central PA Posts: 4,801 OS: XP	Re: After Formatting xp missing 2nd hard drive What was the final solution? __________________

04-19-2009, 03:47 PM	#13 (permalink)
kelynnrod Registered User Join Date: Apr 2009 Location: Ontario Posts: 6 OS: xp	Re: After Formatting xp missing 2nd hard drive Well I reinstalled windows xp ( we had too many issues with the computer) & updated to service pack 2, updated all drivers and then it showed on reboot. I think something was wrong with the first format just not sure what it was but her computer was just not running smooth It was glitchy, monitor was glitchy, no sound, so I started over. But, I learned a lot from this & read the articles so more informed now for future problems incase they arise again. Thanks for everyone's help.