Windows ME Hard Drive Problem

Dilly5 · 02-04-2007, 05:59 PM

Hi, I have Windows ME and I recently reformatted my computer using two quick restore CD's I have, my hard drive before was around 80 GB but after I reformatted my computer and checked it, it says my hard drive is only 15 GB

Can anyone help me correct this or tell me whats wrong

Thanks

**OldGrayGary** · 02-05-2007, 02:29 AM

Hi Dilly5

. . . and Welcome to the Tech Support Forums!

What is the make/model of your system?

Why did you decide to reformat?

Were the Restore CDs the same as those that shipped with the computer?

At some point since you bought the computer, did you upgrade the hard drive? Do you remember if you used a special program to install it, so that the larger drive would be recognized by your older motherboard? ( a program like "MaxBlast", "DiscWizard", "DataLifeGuard"...etc? - and did you see a brief banner message that mentioned something loading (like "EZ-BIOS" or "Disk Manager" or "OnTrack.." ...) each time you started your computer?

If you look at your files & folders in Windows Explorer, do all the files seem present & OK? What does Windows report the total capacity to be for the drive, when you select it in Windows Explorer, and choose "Properities"? If you have only one hard drive in the system, do you see only one hard drive in Windows Explorer, or two (or more)?

Let's see if we can get this straightened out for you.
. . . Gary

Dilly5 · 02-05-2007, 05:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldGrayGary

Hi Dilly5

. . . and Welcome to the Tech Support Forums!

What is the make/model of your system?

Why did you decide to reformat?

Were the Restore CDs the same as those that shipped with the computer?

At some point since you bought the computer, did you upgrade the hard drive? Do you remember if you used a special program to install it, so that the larger drive would be recognized by your older motherboard? ( a program like "MaxBlast", "DiscWizard", "DataLifeGuard"...etc? - and did you see a brief banner message that mentioned something loading (like "EZ-BIOS" or "Disk Manager" or "OnTrack.." ...) each time you started your computer?

If you look at your files & folders in Windows Explorer, do all the files seem present & OK? What does Windows report the total capacity to be for the drive, when you select it in Windows Explorer, and choose "Properities"? If you have only one hard drive in the system, do you see only one hard drive in Windows Explorer, or two (or more)?

Let's see if we can get this straightened out for you.
. . . Gary

Hey, and thanks for the reply

I have a Compaq Presario 5000

I reformatted because my computer would not start up properly and would freeze

My hard drive was upgraded and we got it professionally installed

My files all seem fine and working properly but right now it says my hard drive capacity is only 15 GB and before I reformatted it was around 70-80 GB..

**OldGrayGary** · 02-06-2007, 02:33 AM

Hi again

When you look at your system in My Computer, how many hard drives do you see? Is there is only one, and is 15gb the total capacity?

Do you remember what the size of the original hard drive was? (I'm going to guess that perhaps it was about 20gb - and that your Restore Disks wrote a 15gb image of the original system disk, and also likely a hidden Compaq restore partition, which accounts for some of the other 5gb --- 15+5=20gb drive). If your motherboard's original bios didn't support hard drive's as large as your 80gb drive, the tech who installed it originally probably used a "drive overlay" to help Windows be able to see and use the full capacity.

Did the tech create some "Rescue Disks" or "Emergency Disks" (usually just a floppy or two) during his installation of your hard-drive upgrade, and did he provide you with these disks? If so, you can use those disks to re-create the "drive-overlay" MBR (Master Boot Record) that helps Windows to see the full drive.

You mention you ran a 'Quick Restore' -- do you remember if you chose the "standard" restore, or the "full" restore? The 'standard' would have left most of your personal files alone, while the 'full' erases the entire drive & writes the original disk image back onto the drive.

And -a question I ask of older computers - has the system had any trouble keeping track of the time/date, and has the CMOS battery been replaced since the computer was first purchased?

Sorry about so many questions -
. . . Gary

[P.S. ... on a sticker somewhere on your case, there should be a more detailed model number. Presario 5000 is the series, and your exact model number is on the sticker.... If you can find an exact #, we can check if a Bios Update is available for your motherboard, that would allow the system to recognize the full 80gb drive without having to resort to using "drive overlay" software]

Dilly5 · 02-09-2007, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldGrayGary

Hi again

When you look at your system in My Computer, how many hard drives do you see? Is there is only one, and is 15gb the total capacity?

Do you remember what the size of the original hard drive was? (I'm going to guess that perhaps it was about 20gb - and that your Restore Disks wrote a 15gb image of the original system disk, and also likely a hidden Compaq restore partition, which accounts for some of the other 5gb --- 15+5=20gb drive). If your motherboard's original bios didn't support hard drive's as large as your 80gb drive, the tech who installed it originally probably used a "drive overlay" to help Windows be able to see and use the full capacity.

Did the tech create some "Rescue Disks" or "Emergency Disks" (usually just a floppy or two) during his installation of your hard-drive upgrade, and did he provide you with these disks? If so, you can use those disks to re-create the "drive-overlay" MBR (Master Boot Record) that helps Windows to see the full drive.

You mention you ran a 'Quick Restore' -- do you remember if you chose the "standard" restore, or the "full" restore? The 'standard' would have left most of your personal files alone, while the 'full' erases the entire drive & writes the original disk image back onto the drive.

And -a question I ask of older computers - has the system had any trouble keeping track of the time/date, and has the CMOS battery been replaced since the computer was first purchased?

Sorry about so many questions -
. . . Gary

[P.S. ... on a sticker somewhere on your case, there should be a more detailed model number. Presario 5000 is the series, and your exact model number is on the sticker.... If you can find an exact #, we can check if a Bios Update is available for your motherboard, that would allow the system to recognize the full 80gb drive without having to resort to using "drive overlay" software]

There is only one drive in my computer and it is 15 GB total capacity.

My hard drive use to be around 20 gb or 25 gb WHEN I first go it but then got a 80GB hard drive put in.

I do not have any rescue disks.

The restore CD was a full restore.

My computer has never had any trouble of keeping track of time or anything like that and has not been replaced

And I have a Compaq Presario Model 5WV227

And by the way, I installed windows XP to see if I would have the same problem even though my computer does not run as smooth on XP and on XP it showed my hard drive as the proper 80GB, also I am back on WIndows ME and it still says 15 GB capacity and I used restore to get it back

And thanks for the answers, sorry I took so long to get back but I was busy with school, but hopefully you can help me out

Dilly5 · 02-09-2007, 11:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldGrayGary

Hi again

When you look at your system in My Computer, how many hard drives do you see? Is there is only one, and is 15gb the total capacity?

Do you remember what the size of the original hard drive was? (I'm going to guess that perhaps it was about 20gb - and that your Restore Disks wrote a 15gb image of the original system disk, and also likely a hidden Compaq restore partition, which accounts for some of the other 5gb --- 15+5=20gb drive). If your motherboard's original bios didn't support hard drive's as large as your 80gb drive, the tech who installed it originally probably used a "drive overlay" to help Windows be able to see and use the full capacity.

Did the tech create some "Rescue Disks" or "Emergency Disks" (usually just a floppy or two) during his installation of your hard-drive upgrade, and did he provide you with these disks? If so, you can use those disks to re-create the "drive-overlay" MBR (Master Boot Record) that helps Windows to see the full drive.

You mention you ran a 'Quick Restore' -- do you remember if you chose the "standard" restore, or the "full" restore? The 'standard' would have left most of your personal files alone, while the 'full' erases the entire drive & writes the original disk image back onto the drive.

And -a question I ask of older computers - has the system had any trouble keeping track of the time/date, and has the CMOS battery been replaced since the computer was first purchased?

Sorry about so many questions -
. . . Gary

[P.S. ... on a sticker somewhere on your case, there should be a more detailed model number. Presario 5000 is the series, and your exact model number is on the sticker.... If you can find an exact #, we can check if a Bios Update is available for your motherboard, that would allow the system to recognize the full 80gb drive without having to resort to using "drive overlay" software]

There is only one drive in my computer and it is 15 GB total capacity.

My hard drive use to be around 20 gb or 25 gb WHEN I first got it but then got a 80GB hard drive installed

I do not have any rescue disks.

The restore CD was a full restore.

My computer has never had any trouble of keeping track of time or anything like that and has not been replaced

And I have a Compaq Presario Model 5WV227

And by the way, I installed windows XP to see if I would have the same problem even though my computer does not run as smooth on XP and on XP it showed my hard drive as the proper 80GB, also I am back on WIndows ME and it still says 15 GB capacity and I used restore to get it back

And thanks for the answers, sorry I took so long to get back but I was busy with school, but hopefully you can help me out

**OldGrayGary** · 02-09-2007, 11:45 PM

Hi Dilly5

Actually, it's a good thing that school comes first! [That's your future].
_____

I'll guess that when you installed Windows XP, you didn't delete all the existing partitioning on the drive, and simply reformatted the existing partition(s). This would have left the "drive-overlay MBR" intact. The tech who installed your hard drive likely used one to overcome limitations of the motherboard. Then - when you restored your disk-image (ie - when you ran the Quick Restore) you overwrote everything back to the original = a 15gb visible partition, and a 5gb hidden Compaq restore partition.

I couldn't find a Compaq Presario with your model number (5WV227) on their site - only 5WV210 and 5WV230 are close - (there is a 5WV237, however). If you visit hp.com, and head over to the support pages, you can enter your Service Tag #, and look in the "Software and Drivers" Downloads section for your model: see if a Bios update (a ROMPaq in the Compaq lingo) is available --- I noticed that some of the model numbers close to yours had updates from around 2002, seems likely that such an update would include support for an 80gb drive.

If you can find such an update, read the instructions carefully & make absolutely sure it is an exact-match for your model. After you've installed the update, see if the 80gb capacity is recognized. You might have to run your quick-restore again if you want the restore to use all the available space when it creates the partitions again.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

Dilly5 · 02-10-2007, 02:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OldGrayGary

Hi Dilly5

Actually, it's a good thing that school comes first! [That's your future].
_____

I'll guess that when you installed Windows XP, you didn't delete all the existing partitioning on the drive, and simply reformatted the existing partition(s). This would have left the "drive-overlay MBR" intact. The tech who installed your hard drive likely used one to overcome limitations of the motherboard. Then - when you restored your disk-image (ie - when you ran the Quick Restore) you overwrote everything back to the original = a 15gb visible partition, and a 5gb hidden Compaq restore partition.

I couldn't find a Compaq Presario with your model number (5WV227) on their site - only 5WV210 and 5WV230 are close - (there is a 5WV237, however). If you visit hp.com, and head over to the support pages, you can enter your Service Tag #, and look in the "Software and Drivers" Downloads section for your model: see if a Bios update (a ROMPaq in the Compaq lingo) is available --- I noticed that some of the model numbers close to yours had updates from around 2002, seems likely that such an update would include support for an 80gb drive.

If you can find such an update, read the instructions carefully & make absolutely sure it is an exact-match for your model. After you've installed the update, see if the 80gb capacity is recognized. You might have to run your quick-restore again if you want the restore to use all the available space when it creates the partitions again.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

Hey thanks, but I made a little mistake, my Compaq Presario Model is 5WV277

**Deleted090308** · 02-10-2007, 02:33 PM

Hi!
Maybe the restore CD's only formatted a part of your HDD. What does BIOS say? Do you have a boot disk with fdisk on it - if so you can see if there's any unformatted space.

Nicholas

**OldGrayGary** · 02-10-2007, 05:45 PM

Hi again

The 5WV277 model is listed, and there is a Bios Update ("ROMpaq") from 2002 that might do.

Nicholas is referring to using fdisk's option 4 from its main menu - to display the current partitions and any remaining free space. Since many Compaqs display a splash screen rather than show details during a boot, you'd have to either press a key to see the Bios messages at startup, or press a key to enter Bios Setup & see what the Bios sees the drive as in there.

I'd expect that it sees it as a 20gb (or possibly a 32gb) drive. If it sees it as an 80gb drive, then it indeed isn't a drive overlay or an old Bios at fault - it's something with the Compaq Restore procedure. In that case, you could try the procedure again, or try using a partitioning program such as Partition Magic to extend the partition without damaging the installation that's already in-place. ---> It's possible that the older Restore procedure uses an older fdisk, which misreports drive sizes on hard drives larger than 64gb --- [this could be the case - since it tends to show a total capacity of the disk as the real capacity minus 64gb ... which would yield your current 15gb -- I'd be a little surprised if this turns out to be the case, but I've been surprised before].

Some Recovery disks ask if you'd like to have the restore use the entire disk, if yours asks such a question, answer yes to have it create the system partition using all the available space.

Best of luck
. . . Gary

02-04-2007, 05:59 PM	#1 (permalink)
Dilly5 Registered User Join Date: Feb 2007 Posts: 9 OS: Win 2000	Windows ME Hard Drive Problem Hi, I have Windows ME and I recently reformatted my computer using two quick restore CD's I have, my hard drive before was around 80 GB but after I reformatted my computer and checked it, it says my hard drive is only 15 GB Can anyone help me correct this or tell me whats wrong Thanks

02-05-2007, 02:29 AM	#2 (permalink)
OldGrayGary Mentor, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Woodland Hills, CA Posts: 2,240 OS: Windows 98se/2000/XP/Vista	Hi Dilly5 . . . and Welcome to the Tech Support Forums! What is the make/model of your system? Why did you decide to reformat? Were the Restore CDs the same as those that shipped with the computer? At some point since you bought the computer, did you upgrade the hard drive? Do you remember if you used a special program to install it, so that the larger drive would be recognized by your older motherboard? ( a program like "MaxBlast", "DiscWizard", "DataLifeGuard"...etc? - and did you see a brief banner message that mentioned something loading (like "EZ-BIOS" or "Disk Manager" or "OnTrack.." ...) each time you started your computer? If you look at your files & folders in Windows Explorer, do all the files seem present & OK? What does Windows report the total capacity to be for the drive, when you select it in Windows Explorer, and choose "Properities"? If you have only one hard drive in the system, do you see only one hard drive in Windows Explorer, or two (or more)? Let's see if we can get this straightened out for you. . . . Gary __________________

02-06-2007, 02:33 AM	#4 (permalink)
OldGrayGary Mentor, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Woodland Hills, CA Posts: 2,240 OS: Windows 98se/2000/XP/Vista	Hi again When you look at your system in My Computer, how many hard drives do you see? Is there is only one, and is 15gb the total capacity? Do you remember what the size of the original hard drive was? (I'm going to guess that perhaps it was about 20gb - and that your Restore Disks wrote a 15gb image of the original system disk, and also likely a hidden Compaq restore partition, which accounts for some of the other 5gb --- 15+5=20gb drive). If your motherboard's original bios didn't support hard drive's as large as your 80gb drive, the tech who installed it originally probably used a "drive overlay" to help Windows be able to see and use the full capacity. Did the tech create some "Rescue Disks" or "Emergency Disks" (usually just a floppy or two) during his installation of your hard-drive upgrade, and did he provide you with these disks? If so, you can use those disks to re-create the "drive-overlay" MBR (Master Boot Record) that helps Windows to see the full drive. You mention you ran a 'Quick Restore' -- do you remember if you chose the "standard" restore, or the "full" restore? The 'standard' would have left most of your personal files alone, while the 'full' erases the entire drive & writes the original disk image back onto the drive. And -a question I ask of older computers - has the system had any trouble keeping track of the time/date, and has the CMOS battery been replaced since the computer was first purchased? Sorry about so many questions - . . . Gary [P.S. ... on a sticker somewhere on your case, there should be a more detailed model number. Presario 5000 is the series, and your exact model number is on the sticker.... If you can find an exact #, we can check if a Bios Update is available for your motherboard, that would allow the system to recognize the full 80gb drive without having to resort to using "drive overlay" software] __________________

02-09-2007, 11:45 PM	#7 (permalink)
OldGrayGary Mentor, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Woodland Hills, CA Posts: 2,240 OS: Windows 98se/2000/XP/Vista	Hi Dilly5 Actually, it's a good thing that school comes first! [That's your future]. _____ I'll guess that when you installed Windows XP, you didn't delete all the existing partitioning on the drive, and simply reformatted the existing partition(s). This would have left the "drive-overlay MBR" intact. The tech who installed your hard drive likely used one to overcome limitations of the motherboard. Then - when you restored your disk-image (ie - when you ran the Quick Restore) you overwrote everything back to the original = a 15gb visible partition, and a 5gb hidden Compaq restore partition. I couldn't find a Compaq Presario with your model number (5WV227) on their site - only 5WV210 and 5WV230 are close - (there is a 5WV237, however). If you visit hp.com, and head over to the support pages, you can enter your Service Tag #, and look in the "Software and Drivers" Downloads section for your model: see if a Bios update (a ROMPaq in the Compaq lingo) is available --- I noticed that some of the model numbers close to yours had updates from around 2002, seems likely that such an update would include support for an 80gb drive. If you can find such an update, read the instructions carefully & make absolutely sure it is an exact-match for your model. After you've installed the update, see if the 80gb capacity is recognized. You might have to run your quick-restore again if you want the restore to use all the available space when it creates the partitions again. Best of luck . . . Gary __________________

02-10-2007, 05:45 PM	#10 (permalink)
OldGrayGary Mentor, Microsoft Support Join Date: Jun 2006 Location: Woodland Hills, CA Posts: 2,240 OS: Windows 98se/2000/XP/Vista	Hi again The 5WV277 model is listed, and there is a Bios Update ("ROMpaq") from 2002 that might do. Nicholas is referring to using fdisk's option 4 from its main menu - to display the current partitions and any remaining free space. Since many Compaqs display a splash screen rather than show details during a boot, you'd have to either press a key to see the Bios messages at startup, or press a key to enter Bios Setup & see what the Bios sees the drive as in there. I'd expect that it sees it as a 20gb (or possibly a 32gb) drive. If it sees it as an 80gb drive, then it indeed isn't a drive overlay or an old Bios at fault - it's something with the Compaq Restore procedure. In that case, you could try the procedure again, or try using a partitioning program such as Partition Magic to extend the partition without damaging the installation that's already in-place. ---> It's possible that the older Restore procedure uses an older fdisk, which misreports drive sizes on hard drives larger than 64gb --- [this could be the case - since it tends to show a total capacity of the disk as the real capacity minus 64gb ... which would yield your current 15gb -- I'd be a little surprised if this turns out to be the case, but I've been surprised before]. Some Recovery disks ask if you'd like to have the restore use the entire disk, if yours asks such a question, answer yes to have it create the system partition using all the available space. Best of luck . . . Gary __________________

02-10-2007, 02:33 PM	#9 (permalink)
Deleted090308 Not... Join Date: Jan 2007 Posts: 22,277 OS: Xp	Hi! Maybe the restore CD's only formatted a part of your HDD. What does BIOS say? Do you have a boot disk with fdisk on it - if so you can see if there's any unformatted space. Nicholas