 Drives can't be accessed |
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 Jan 24 2005, 06:00 PM
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#46
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 Voted most likely  Group: Members Posts: 3,727 Joined: 19-September 04 From: Collingwood, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 2,883  |
can a Mod delete this? This post has been edited by Leurgy: Jan 24 2005, 06:02 PM -------------------- **** We use our powers for good, not evil **** When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail. Abraham Maslo |
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Jan 26 2005, 01:29 PM
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#47
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Member Group: Members Posts: 44 Joined: 6-January 05 Member No.: 8,810 |
Typed sys C\:
returned messsage "Parameter format not correct" Drives not working Dan |
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Jan 26 2005, 02:35 PM
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#48
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Voted most likely Group: Members Posts: 3,727 Joined: 19-September 04 From: Collingwood, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 2,883 |
QUOTE Typed sys C\: returned messsage "Parameter format not correct" Its supposed to be sys C:\ or sys C: not sys C\: When you get to the A:\> type the following. fdisk /mbr The screen will look like this: A:\>fdisk /mbr Then reboot without the floppy. The only space in that line is between k and /. -------------------- **** We use our powers for good, not evil **** When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail. Abraham Maslo |
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Jan 27 2005, 07:19 AM
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#49
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Member Group: Members Posts: 44 Joined: 6-January 05 Member No.: 8,810 |
Sorry about that, I did type the sys C: command in correctly in dos and tried a few combo's but it jus gave that parameter format not correct message.
Just tried the fdisk /mbr Didn't give me an error message, just showed the A:\> again so I re-booted but the drives still aren't working. Dan |
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Jan 27 2005, 08:16 AM
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#50
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Voted most likely Group: Members Posts: 3,727 Joined: 19-September 04 From: Collingwood, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 2,883 |
We have seen that your drives work when you have some of the basic operating commands in your memory after using two of these boot disks. Unfortunately they dont have anything in common really except for some basic i/o commands.
Think the best thing you can do right now is to try a repair install of XP. Look for how to repair install XP on that page. -------------------- **** We use our powers for good, not evil **** When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail. Abraham Maslo |
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Jan 27 2005, 05:27 PM
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#51
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Member Group: Members Posts: 44 Joined: 6-January 05 Member No.: 8,810 |
Tried the sufggestion on there of removing some files from the directory to correct drive access problems but it had no effect.
My intention now is to remove my old hard drive, then insert a new one and some more RAM, then re-install XP Pro and the programmes back onto my system. I hope that this will get rid of the problems I'm having with drives not accesing properly, general clutter from old programmes and will sort out my internet explorer problems. It will be nice to start a fresh with a virus free computer. I intend to then place the old hard drive as a slave so that I can then transfer my work, pictures and music from it too the new drive. Then format the old one and just use it as backup. Is all of this possible and how easy would it be. Dan |
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Jan 27 2005, 08:47 PM
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#52
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Voted most likely Group: Members Posts: 3,727 Joined: 19-September 04 From: Collingwood, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 2,883 |
What is the new one going to be? What is the drive you have now?
Thats not hard to do at all. Set two jumpers, plug them in and go into the bios to make sure they are recognized. I would partition the new drive first. Boot with the cd and install XP on the new one. -------------------- **** We use our powers for good, not evil **** When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail. Abraham Maslo |
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Jan 28 2005, 05:49 AM
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#53
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Member Group: Members Posts: 44 Joined: 6-January 05 Member No.: 8,810 |
I'm going to get a Western Digital 80Gb 8mb cache drive (£38.47).
The one I have now is an Excelstor Technology ES3220, it's only 20Gb and it's nearly full. Jumpers? What is partitioning and how would I do it? Dan |
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Jan 28 2005, 09:06 AM
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#54
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Voted most likely Group: Members Posts: 3,727 Joined: 19-September 04 From: Collingwood, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 2,883 |
Hard drives have jumpers on them so you can put two on the same ribbon cable. You would set them with the new one to master and the old one to slave. Read this about master/slave and this about setting jumpers. Read the assembly section in those links about installing the hard drive.
What I would do is partition the new drive. When you do that you fool windows into thinking its two separate drives. I would put XP on the first partition with the program files. The rest of the drive would be storage and if you need to reprogram XP again you would only format the part with XP on it so the rest of your stuff is left alone. Look at this page near figure 6 and 7. You can make the partitions when you install XP. -------------------- **** We use our powers for good, not evil **** When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail. Abraham Maslo |
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Jan 28 2005, 11:11 AM
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#55
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Member Group: Members Posts: 44 Joined: 6-January 05 Member No.: 8,810 |
In most cases you'll want to use NTFS. It's far more secure than FAT32 and supports permissions, encryption, and compression.
Would you agree with this reconendation as I'm running FAT32 at the moment. So don't really have any experience of NTFS. Will I notice a difference? All the partitioning seems straight forward, if I allocate 20Gb for prgrammes and then the rest for documents, pictures and music etc. Dan |
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Jan 28 2005, 11:39 AM
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#56
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Voted most likely Group: Members Posts: 3,727 Joined: 19-September 04 From: Collingwood, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 2,883 |
If you are running Fat32 now and you go to NTFS on the new drive you won't be able to see the old drive when you boot with the new drive. You won't notice any difference between them.
You can make the C: partition anywhere from 5GB on up. That would be plenty for XP and program files. -------------------- **** We use our powers for good, not evil **** When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail. Abraham Maslo |
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Jan 31 2005, 06:21 AM
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#57
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Member Group: Members Posts: 44 Joined: 6-January 05 Member No.: 8,810 |
When I access the second drive what will happen as all of the windows files will still be on there?
Will it just appear as it does now if I go into it from my computer? Would it be easier to format the old drive and then it will be clean and I can then install NTFS onto it aswell? I really want to clear the old hard drive to get rid of any problems of viruses which it may be harbouring. How would I format the drive to clear it completely before or after I re-install my new hardware? I ordered a new Western Digital HD and 256Mb more RAM. Should I insert the new RAM chip before or after the new hard drive? Dan |
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Jan 31 2005, 06:32 AM
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#58
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Voted most likely Group: Members Posts: 3,727 Joined: 19-September 04 From: Collingwood, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 2,883 |
QUOTE When I access the second drive what will happen as all of the windows files will still be on there? Will it just appear as it does now if I go into it from my computer? Yes if the new drive is Fat32. QUOTE Would it be easier to format the old drive and then it will be clean and I can then install NTFS onto it aswell? I really want to clear the old hard drive to get rid of any problems of viruses which it may be harbouring. How would I format the drive to clear it completely before or after I re-install my new hardware? Doesn't really matter when you format it. If I was doing it I would wait until the new OS was installed so you can boot from it if needed. QUOTE I ordered a new Western Digital HD and 256Mb more RAM. Should I insert the new RAM chip before or after the new hard drive? Cool. Put it in first. It will help make the install of XP go faster and XP will know about it. -------------------- **** We use our powers for good, not evil **** When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail. Abraham Maslo |
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Jan 31 2005, 03:46 PM
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#59
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New Member Group: Members Posts: 2 Joined: 31-January 05 Member No.: 11,004 |
Hi Guys,
I have been reading the lasty 4 pages, as I was looking for a solution which seems to be the same as the one Rastamandan has. As I happen to know something about computers (Well, at least it seems that my friends keep coming to me with problems  ), I think you are on the wrong track.Let me explain: I am working with a PIV 1.2Ghz, 512Mb Ram + 1 DVD writer and 1 DVD reader. Since some days, I have the same problem as Rastamandan. When I boot my PC with a disk in one of the drives, XP recognises it. But when I remove it and place an other cd, it seems as if the explorer does not see the new disk, and gives me the message; " Please insert a new disk into drive ...". As I am working with my pc a lot, this seemed very strange, so I looked a bit deeper. With ANY programm accessing the drives without using the standard XP drivers/dll's (for example Nero burning rom,...), you can see the exact disk info, and even copy it or copy an image! I have been doing some tests and I am sure it is a Windows related problem. The only things I recently changed are the install of (bloody) service pack 2, and the removal of CloneCD. I think it might be related to the last one, as CloneCD uses other ASPI drivers. I will keep looking and let you know what I found. Val |
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Jan 31 2005, 04:05 PM
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#60
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Voted most likely Group: Members Posts: 3,727 Joined: 19-September 04 From: Collingwood, Ontario, Canada Member No.: 2,883 |
Hi vasch and welcome to BC. Thanks for posting.
You may be right. I have a confession to make and if I get enough PM's I might make it.  Cozy up to Dan and help him install XP ok? -------------------- **** We use our powers for good, not evil **** When the only tool you own is a hammer, every problem begins to resemble a nail. Abraham Maslo |
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