[wozman7]

Greetings - I recently re-installed my purchased copy of Windows XP (after an unsatisfying 4 month trial of PC-BSD). I use my 120GB "C" drive for my OS & related applications/files (Master setting). I also have a 500GB HDD that I use for my files, music, pics, videos, etc.etc.(my working hard drive "D" - Slave setting). The new install doesn't show the 2nd HDD at all - I've tried unplugging it and re-booting, then re-plugging it & booting up again - no luck. I may have messed up in the BIOS mode when I was re-installing XP, but I don't remember what I did (partitioning issues??). I know the 2nd HDD works, because I was using it just before the re-install.
The Device Manager seems to show both hard drives, but it doesn't appear in explorer - ?
Any assistance would be appreciated.
p.s.: You helped me a few months ago when I last used XP, but I had picked up a nasty virus (VIRUT?), & decided to try open source for a taste of something different. My technical abilities fell short however, & I've decided to stick with Windows for now.

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Go to Start then to Run
Type in compmgmt.msc and click Enter
On left side click on Disk Management
On right side you will see you hard drive.
Now I need you to take a screenshot and attach it to your next reply. Do the following to take a screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard. It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
Now go to Start and then to All Programs
Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
Save as file type JPEG and save it to your Desktop


Attach it to your next reply

[rshaffer61]

Go to Start then to Run
Type in compmgmt.msc and click Enter
On left side click on Disk Management
On right side you will see you hard drive.
Now I need you to take a screenshot and attach it to your next reply. Do the following to take a screenshot while the above is open and showing on your desktop.

To do a screenshot please have click on your Print Screen on your keyboard. It is normally the key above your number pad between the F12 key and the Scroll Lock key
Now go to Start and then to All Programs
Scroll to Accessories and then click on Paint
In the Empty White Area click and hold the CTRL key and then click the V
Go to the File option at the top and click on Save as
Save as file type JPEG and save it to your Desktop


Attach it to your next reply

[wozman7]

Hi rshaffer61 - here is the JPEG file as instructed

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[rshaffer61]

The second HD is showing in the picture but it is only showing as a 128gigs.
It is not partitioned or formatted so it won't show in My Computer or Windows Explorer yet.
I also see 2 cdrom drives is this correct?
The second drive you will need to Right Click on the Unallocated area and then setup the Partition for the whole drive.
Before you do that I know you said you just reinstalled the OS and have you done all the upgrades to it? What SP is the OS at now?

Edited by rshaffer61, 24 February 2010 - 05:39 PM.

[wozman7]

a) I do have 2 disc drives - a CD R/W and a DVD R/W
b) I have not yet downloaded/installed any Service Pack updates from MSoft
c) When I first purchased/installed this 2nd HD I had partitioned it in half using something called 'Partition Magic' - I don't remember why, but I've not had to use the 2nd half, so it hasn't really been an issue. It's just been on my 'to do' list to remove the partition.

[Ferrari]

but it is only showing as a 128gigs

To confirm what size it is supposed to be:

Install PC Wizard:

• Click PC Wizard in my signature
• Click PC Wizard 2010.1.93 on the top left
• Save the file to your Desktop
• Double Click the setup file
• Follow installation instructions
• Once installed, open PC Wizard up
• Click System Summary (Should be highlighted by default)

What size does it say for each Hard Disk? Note: This information is the "said" size, not after formatting, available, partitioned, free, etc.

[rshaffer61]

OK part of the reason the whole drive is not being seen then is because you need to get your SP up to 2 and then the OS will identify the drive correctly.

[wozman7]

trying to DL SP2, but I'm using Firefox, so MS doesn't want to give it to me unless I use IE 5 or better; I've activated Auto updates, so that may do it.
Attached is the PC Wizard snapshot of my HD's

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[Ferrari]

How to update Windows manually:

• Go to Start
• All Programs
• Click Windows Update
• Internet Explorer will Open
• Follow any prompts to update windows
• i.e. a yellow drop down bar may appear in IE, if so, click and allow
• Use Express Install.

There are often several steps to get all updates, SP2 may not be the first one

Attached is the PC Wizard snapshot of my HD's

I can tell by the model number it is a 500gig drive, but I think rshaffer is correct, without SP2, only about 130gigs or so will show. Updating windows is the first step.

[wozman7]

Express installed windows updates & restarted machine - still no 2nd HD showing in explorer.

[rshaffer61]

It's not going to show till the drive has been partitioned and formatted.

[Ferrari]

Express installed windows updates & restarted machine

Did it install SP2? There are several updates, even SP3, not all of them happen at the same time. They will occur often after a clean install. To check what OS and it's Service Pack you have...

• Click Start
• Right Click My Computer
• Select Properties
• Make sure the "General" Tab is forward

Under "System:" What SP do you have?

Example Image

[wozman7]

OK - I've managed to install Xp Service Pack 3 and it looks OK.
How do I partition and format the 2nd HD?

[rshaffer61]

Now go back to disk management.
Take another picture and we can then instruct you step by step what to do on the correct drive.

[wozman7]

Here's another snapshot - looks like it's showing almost the whole disc capacity(?)

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