XP home "lost" one of my HDDs

[fnugen]

Okay..........was having issues with getting the SPs onto my XP pro......so I grabbed a copy of XP Home that already has SP2 on the CD. My big problem now is, when I go into my my CMOS, and device manager.....all 3 of my HDDs show up. When I go into my My computer....my "D" is missing. C and E plusF (CD) are there. I went into my maintenance and whatnot......my "D" drive is there, but has an "!" on it. I can't do anything with it. It will not let me get it recognized. I had no trouble when installing before, this is new to me. It will allow me to convert to basic.........NOOOOO, I'll lose way too much data. Admittedly, I quickied my way and just installed Home without reformatting. I can't imagine this would have this kind of affect, I've done it with XP Pro at least 3 times this week. DON'T ASK!! Anyway.....I hope someone can help me figure this out. I use all 3 HDDs for various games, backups and utilities.....nicely organized this way. Is this a common problem with the Home edition ?? thanks all

V

 

[Spike]

well, that (!) is telling you that there is a problem with the drive.

It could mean a corrupt driver, partition/hardware failure, or anything really, and you need to work out what.

I'm not sure what you mean by 'going into maintenance etc', but try right clicking on the broken drive, select properties, and go to the hardware tab. Get the properties of the drive in question. On the general tab, you will be told the status of the drive.

Failing that, try device manager for the same.

That's all I can suggest I'm afraid. I don't understand enough of your post, or there's not enough info for me personally to offer anything more.

Hope it gets sorted

 

[fnugen]

By maintenance I was referring to control panel, performance/maintenance, admin tools, Comp mgmnt. That's where I see the "!" on the drive. Inside XP I cannot see it at all. When I go into device manager it tells me the drive is working fine. It lists all 3 of my HDDs in the device manager. I tried the (useless for the most part) troubleshooter supplied with XP and it got me nowhere. The drive was working just fine when I shutdown to install XP Home this afternoon. I changed nothing, and the drive itself is no older than 6mths. I don't get why it shows as being fine, but not showing up in any way inside "my computer". Any more info needed ??

V

 

[StormBringer]

Try uninstalling the drive from Device Manager and reboot, if it is a problem with the way the driver is configured, or a setting then it will likely fix it when it detects and reinstalls the drive.

 

[fnugen]

Tried that. Same result..........shows up every place but inside my computer. I even tried a repair to windows. I'm stumped. No jumpers would have been moved...nothing changed in anywhere. It just doesn't show up for me to access. I mean, why would windows recognize it in device manager then ignore it elsewhere?? I know.....it's windows. aggravating, the LAST thing I want to do is format it my maintenance/admin. ARRRRRRRRRRG !!!!!!

 

[fnugen]

Found it !!! Of course thios is AFTER converting to basic then reformatting. DAMN !!! Years of games and game mods lost in about 15mins. BUT..........I now have another 40g of space to fill with the ones that can be replaced. Thanks to any and all who responded. :grinthumb