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General discussion

Windows xp not reading my secondary harddrive?

by identityidentity Jul 29, 2007 6:08PM PDT

hello,

i have a 40gb hard drive running windows xp and a 250gb hard drive full of work and music etc.

i took the 250gb out when i formatted the 40gb one. after i installed windows with service pack back on the 40gb it all worked fine.
then i took the 250gb out to format a 200gb i have and put windows on that one as well.
this all worked fine then when i took the 200gb with windows installed out and put the 250gb back in windows will not read it(250gb)

there is also a message every time i start the pc asking which version of windows i want to run. there are two choices given, both being windows xp. the first one doesnt work, saying there is a file missing even though the 200gb hardrive is in and when i first installed windows on it, it worked fine.
When i try to just use the 200gb hard drive windows will not load, sending me the message ' INSERT FORMAT DISK '

if anyone can help me with this problem i would be very grateful,

thank you

Discussion is locked

9 Posts
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Why, o why, ...
by Kees Bakker Jul 29, 2007 6:41PM PDT

did you chose to install a second version of Windows on a data disk parallel to your current 40 Gb OS disk. This is asking for trouble, especially if you go and swap disks afterwards.

This might be difficult to undo. You'll need expert help from people versed in multi-boot systems. But first please tell what you wanted to reach.

Kees

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Here's the rub...
by John.Wilkinson Jul 30, 2007 2:08AM PDT

The first hard drive you install Windows on is designated the primary system partition. In this case it's the entire 40GB hard drive. Every time you install Windows on another partition or entirely separate hard drive thereafter the boot loader and relevant boot information is appended to the primary system partition (40GB drive) if it's still connected at the time of installation. So what you've done is made it mandatory for the 40GB drive to be the master hard drive if you wish to boot Windows from the 200GB hard drive.

So here's where you have to make a decision. Do you want the 200GB to be only bootable then the 40GB drive is connected or not? That will determine if you have to make a few small changes or reinstall Windows. Let us know what you ultimately want to setup up and we'll guide you from there.

John

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reply to post
by identityidentity Jul 30, 2007 2:15PM PDT

thanks very much for your help john,

i just want to use the 40gb hardrive for windows and have the 200gb and 250gb free to store files.

i tried to put windows on the 200bg because the 40gb was having trouble. it kept restarting after ten minutes or freezing. even after i formatted and re installed windows about three times!

now as the 40gb has stoped having trouble, all i want to do is get rid of that message asking me to choose which version of windows and get my computer to read the other two hard drives.
in the setup before you load windows my computer does read the hard drives, just not once windows had loaded.

sorry if im not making much sense, thank you again for any help you can offer me.

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That's in the BOOT.INI file. Links abound about it.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Jul 30, 2007 11:25PM PDT
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reply to post
by identityidentity Jul 31, 2007 12:04PM PDT

ah ok. i want to keep the windows i originally installed. so which one should i delete, the first or second?

[boot loader]
timeout=30
default=multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS
[operating systems]
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional" /fastdetect

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.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Jul 31, 2007 12:09PM PDT

Make them slightly different so you'll know which to remove by editing the labels. EXAMPLE!


multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(1)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional number 1" /fastdetect
multi(0)disk(0)rdisk(0)partition(1)\WINDOWS="Microsoft Windows XP Professional number 2" /fastdetect

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reply to post
by identityidentity Jul 31, 2007 6:31PM PDT

thank you dude

i just did a repair job on the 40gb and now its sweet.

but for some reason my 250gb hardrive isn't showing up in 'my computer'.
it shows up as working properly in 'hardware connected' and the 'cmos options' ??
anyone know whats wrong?

thanks again for any help

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reply
by identityidentity Aug 1, 2007 6:53PM PDT

my computer is reading other harddrives, just not this one?

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Some details missing so a WILD GUESS.
by r. proffitt Former Forum moderator Aug 2, 2007 1:41AM PDT

Some install XP and drives over 127GB will go missing until you install SP2.

While it's noted (somewhere) at http://www.48bitlba.com be sure to note the link on the Tools page to recover (diskpatch?) software.

Bob

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