[badben25]

i recently plugged in my previous hdd [seagate barracuda 40gb ultra-ATA] to check its condition. i first had to format it cuz it was trashed with old files of all sorts. i formatted it's 2 partitions [20gb-17.9gb] on the fat32 system. now when i booted with it plugged in i can see and use the drive, the first partition shows '20gb total-20gb free' but the second partition shows '17.9gb total-4.47gb free'. its really odd cuz i jus formatted the disk but it still shows this. there are no hidden files on it too. maybe this is jus an error of windows and maybe the complete 17.9gb is free, but i didnt test it yet cuz rite now i have jus around 80mb of my own data. any ideas on this?

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If ypu have Win XP what does it say in "Disk Management". It may be the partition may have lost some of the partition info. See if you can prepartition that part in disk management.

control panel> administrative tools>computer management> disk management

If you have win 98 or ME use a boot disk to get to the a prompt and use Fdisk to find out what the partitions are. Heres a good site on fdisk.

http://www.fdisk.com/fdisk/

SRX660

[SRX660]

If ypu have Win XP what does it say in "Disk Management". It may be the partition may have lost some of the partition info. See if you can prepartition that part in disk management.

control panel> administrative tools>computer management> disk management

If you have win 98 or ME use a boot disk to get to the a prompt and use Fdisk to find out what the partitions are. Heres a good site on fdisk.

http://www.fdisk.com/fdisk/

SRX660

[badben25]

i've got winxp pro now [SP1]. i went into disk management, said the drive was healthy, right-clicked n selected Format, after formattin now says 11.9gb free instead of 4.47gb. but its still not the full capacity. shud i try formattin again?

[†Gladiator†]

maybe try formatting it with ntfs instead of fat32. Is system restore turned on? That might eat some hard drive space.

p.s. you should consider updating to ps2, unless you have some specific reasons not to.

[badben25]

well first i'll try formatting once more. it might jus do the trick. then i'll come to ur suggestions. and yes, i really do wanna update windows, but the only updates i got were SP1 and the Windows Malicious Software removal tool. after that whenever i went for updatin it wud ask me to verify if my windows was genuine, and the result was negative, which isn't possible. i've contacted microsoft, jus waitin for their reply. isnt there some place where i cud get windows updates, other than MS? the windows update site is pretty slow, and the end result is never favourable [always asks me to buy a copy of windows]. lets jus wait n see wat MS has to say.

[warriorscot]

Im afriad you have to get them from MS, WGA is rubbish lots of people are having the same problems and MS seem to be unwilling to do anything about it, they offer you free copies or with large discounts if you tell the where you got the OS illegally but if you got it legally and its an error its more difficult. I would call them on the phone that way if you get to a real person they should be able to resolve it quickly.

[badben25]

my full-size reply

@SRX660
disk management says its healthy and fine. i've even tested n there r no problems with the drive/partition. dunno wat u mean by "See if you can prepartition that part in disk management". cud u explain? nyways, i'll still try FDISK. i've found it helpful in the past, so maybe it'll live up to my expectations this time too.

I tried reformattin a second time but this time the status was the same [11.9gb free]. i feel the drive's either busted, or its some virus or sumthin of that sort.

@Gladiator
i have to keep it on fat32. reason 1: this hdd is like my 'system disk' so i shud be able to access it thru DOS without hassles in case i have some probs. reason 2: i jus want it to be fat32.
but it did cross my mind that i cud try formattin it to ntfs, which [hopefully] will regain all the missing space, and then i cud turn it to fat32 again and voila! problem solved. but another thing crossed my mind too, [which is actually another question]: does formattin a drive/partition too many times harm it in any way?

@warriorscot
MS is unwilling cuz its too scared. not only MS but almost all major software companies. scared of that little but really bad bug called piracy. discussing it is another story, so lets keep it aside for now. and no, MS in my region doesnt give free copies of nyhting to folks who have similar problems. but in the case of windows xp, yes, there are some sweet price cuts. my copy is legal but i m still havin this problem, dunno why. i cant find their helpline number anywhere although i do recall that 2 helplines exist. i had emailed 'em though, and they replied that i take my pc to their offices. tuff for me, but i still went, taking my copy too. they checked it out for bout half an hour, n then asked me if there was sumthin different with it. after a while i remembered that normally when u use the same copy of xp again, u enter the serial number but because this isnt the first use, it gives u a some long number and asks u to call MS to activate xp. but in my case, eventhough i was usin the disc for the second time, it didnt ask me to call MS or sumthin. it jus proceeded with the cd-key i had used previously, without any hassle. the MS guy then told me that they'll gimme a call after solving my problem. after some hours, i got a call from them, n i was told that the problem cudnt be verified, so i'll jus have to stick with this copy. i asked about the updates problem, n they said it'll stay that way until MS sends a solution. here's the last piece of the call:
MS lady - "we're sorry sir, but rest assured because we've added ur case to our priority list. so as soon as we get a solution we'll contact u."
me - "thats good, but what do i do now?"
"u cud purchase a copy of the latest version. we're offering it at a very low price rite now, sir."
"thanks but no thanks, i've got less then $4 in my pocket right now, and on top of that, i owe more than $37. really."
*giggles* "then i guess you'll have to wait sir..."
"may i know how old u r?"
"errrr....28 sir...."
"so please, dont call me sir. call me anythin but not sir. dunno why, but i dont like being called sir. atleast not for the next 4-5 years."
"and may i know why?"
"i am 16"
"oh..."
"i hope that explains it."
"err...yea, yes, it does"
"well, thanks nyways. but i'll have to say, u folks are one of the fastest in customer service history. thanks once again."
"ur most welcome sir. oops, sorry!"
*short laugh* "its ok. bye"
END