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moonsp9
Ok you computer gurus I need your help ! Pretty please!

I have 2 hard disks on my system. The first is divided into 2 drives C:\ and D:\. I use C:\ for installing Windows and small programs. The other drive, which I have problems with, is a "WDC WD800JB-00ETA0", which had the driver letter X:\.

I had Windows XP Professional installed, and there was no problems accessing the drive X:\. But there was too much virus on C:\ so I decided to reformat with a fresh copy of Windows XP Home SP2.

After I installed Windows XP Home SP2, the 80gb X:\ drive disappeared from My Computer. And of course I cant access it via Run> X:\ , or from DOS for that matter. It shows up in Control Panel> Admin Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management, in the bottom. It says Disk 1: Dynamic and Foreign -- instead of: Basic and Online for the working drives.

If I click onto it's properties and Volumes Tab, it says
Disk: Disk 1
Type: Dynamic
Status: Foreign
Partition style: Master Boot Record (MBR)
Capacity: 0 MB
Unallocated space: 0 MB
Reserved space: 0 MB

It also shows up in BIOS, as a Slave Master drive with the correct WDC WD800JB-00ETA0 name.

I think there is no partition in X:\ now. And I can try the 'Convert to Basic Disk' function when I right click the Drive on Disk Management, but I am afraid to lose all the data on it, since they're irreplaceable data.

I have tried uninstalling the driver of the malfunctioning harddrive and getting windows to install them again, but it didn't do no good.


Okay I think one of these might have caused the problem.
- Installing Windows XP Home SP2
- While repairing a device in my computer (the PCI Sound Card), I tilted the computer box sideways, maybe that caused the wires to haywire? But I have checked the wires of the hard drives and they seemed fine. I even gave them a good shove to make sure they're inserted.
- Lettering on X: might have been a problem for the system to recognise.
- The malfunctioning drive was using compression, so files on it were smaller. It was NTFS formatted.


What do you think I should do??
Reinstall with Windows XP PRO again?
Is there a solution to this?

Ask me if you need screenshots or some more details. Thanks in advance!!



--------[ Summary ]-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Computer:
Operating System Microsoft Windows XP Home Edition
OS Service Pack Service Pack 2
Internet Explorer 6.0.2900.2180
Computer Name ANOTHERA-80FB5D
User Name Rene
Logon Domain ANOTHERA-80FB5D

Motherboard:
CPU Type Intel Pentium 4, 1400 MHz (3.5 x 400)
Motherboard Name Asus P4T (5 PCI, 1 AGP Pro, 4 RIMM)
Motherboard Chipset Intel Tehama i850
System Memory 256 MB (RDRAM)
BIOS Type Award Medallion (03/02/01)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM1)
Communication Port Communications Port (COM2)
Communication Port ECP Printer Port (LPT1)

Display:
Video Adapter NVIDIA GeForce FX 5200 (128 MB)
3D Accelerator nVIDIA GeForce FX 5200
Monitor ViewSonic VG2030wm SERIES [NoDB] (QCC0637A1167)

Multimedia:
Audio Adapter C-Media CMI8738/C3DX Audio Device

Storage:
Floppy Drive Floppy disk drive
Disk Drive Apple iPod USB Device
Disk Drive ST330621A (30 GB, 5400 RPM, Ultra-ATA/100)
Disk Drive WDC WD800JB-00ETA0
Optical Drive LITE-ON LTR-48125W (48x/12x/48x CD-RW)
Optical Drive PIONEER DVD-ROM DVD-115 (16x/40x DVD-ROM)

Partitions:
C: (NTFS) 10001 MB (3555 MB free)
D: (FAT32) 18605 MB (6965 MB free)

Input:
Keyboard Standard 101/102-Key or Microsoft Natural PS/2 Keyboard
Mouse Microsoft USB Wheel Mouse Optical

Network:
Network Adapter Realtek RTL8139/810x Family Fast Ethernet NIC

Peripherals:
USB Device Microsoft USB Wheel Mouse Optical
USB Device USB Mass Storage Device
moonsp9
OKay I have looked around the net and found this

forums.pcworld.co.nz/archive/index.php/t-52122.html

People were discussing that Windows XP Home does not support Dynamic drives...

So I will try looking foir a Dynamic to Basic disk conversion software...

If i can't find one, I'll try installing Windows XP Pro.

Anyone with other ideas?
moodyblue
Try re-installing motherboard drivers{motherboard proggys disk came with computer?}
You may find motherboard drivers have been wiped on re-install.

Then seek to upgrade from Asus site
arcman
Dynamic usually means that the drive's partition was linked up with another partition to make a dynamic volume. Any of that sound familiar?

Regardless, there's a partition recovery tool called TestDisk that might be able to help you. Documentation on running it is located at the bottom of the page.
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