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New system build doesn't recognize old HDD

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pnwskier

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I've been putting together a new build with a Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R motherboard, an Intel 8400 chip, 2 GB RAM, and a WDC 320 GB SATA internal hard drive. In addition, I have an older WDC 300GB EIDE drive with a bunch of data files from my old computer that I also installed and attached to the IDE controller on the board. It's connected to an older IDE DVD-writer, and on the advice from others I have it jumpered as a master.

I did a clean install of XP Pro, and Windows Explorer sees the drive, but when I click on the drive icon I get a message "Drive not formatted. Do you want to format now?" or something to that effect. I know the drive is fine because I can pull it out, put it in an external USB hard drive enclosure, and it works with no problems. I believe it's formatted as NTFS, as is my new drive. Why can't the new system read it when installed as an internal drive, and what can I do? Thanks for any advice.
 
I checked the BIOS and it does see the second drive. Not sure what other settings there could be. I ran DISKMGMT.MSC and see the drive, but it's not showing it as NTFS and it shows it as 100% free. Also, it only shows it as having 129 GB, even though it's a 300gb drive.
 
Does it show up under Control Panel>Administrator Tools>Computer Management>Disk Management? If it doesn't show up in there at all, then its definately a bios/jumper setting. If it does show up, it may not be "healthy" (formatted) 100% and may require a quick format.
 
Okay, I see it there, but again it has no entry under "File System", unlike the other drive, which shows NTFS. Also, I had that drive divided into 2 partitions, but this is only showing it as a one 129gb partition drive. I have it jumpered as "Master" and it's connected to a second DVD drive.
 
pnwskier said:
I've been putting together a new build with a Gigabyte GA-EP35C-DS3R motherboard, an Intel 8400 chip, 2 GB RAM, and a WDC 320 GB SATA internal hard drive. In addition, I have an older WDC 300GB EIDE drive with a bunch of data files from my old computer that I also installed and attached to the IDE controller on the board. It's connected to an older IDE DVD-writer, and on the advice from others I have it jumpered as a master.

I did a clean install of XP Pro, and Windows Explorer sees the drive, but when I click on the drive icon I get a message "Drive not formatted. Do you want to format now?" or something to that effect. I know the drive is fine because I can pull it out, put it in an external USB hard drive enclosure, and it works with no problems. I believe it's formatted as NTFS, as is my new drive. Why can't the new system read it when installed as an internal drive, and what can I do? Thanks for any advice.
Click to expand...



do you have to dvd writer set at master or the ide drive, alot times the a ide drive won't show up with a dvd writer attach on the same ide. i would try with out the dvd writer.
 
Its not a jumper setting, or you wouldnt be able to see the drive at all. I doubt its a bios setting. Worst case scenario, get an EIDE to USB from newegg for around 10 dollars, and hook it up that way. Im going to take a stab at this and say that your drive is formatted FAT32, which im almost sure is the case. Its not going to let you utilize the files on that drive if you have a different compression type. The reason it is asking you to format is because it is a different format, but it wont recognize it as that. You should be able to boot up with just that hard drive, instead of the sata. Also it shows 129 because the allocation types are different between the 2 compression systems. The most important thing here is that your hard drive is in fact powering up and showing up, meaning that your data is most likely intact. Pls let me know the outcome of your situation so I can see what the answer to this problem was for sure, thank you.
 
I have the HDD set as master. I unplugged the DVD-writer and got the same result. I tried it with the jumper on at Master and then with no jumper. Still no go.
 
3870x2:

Thanks for the reply. I know the drive is okay because it does work in a USB hard drive enclosure. I've thought about putting it back in the enclosure, copying all the data to the new drive, then reformatting the drive as NTFS. I see that as the worst case scenario.
 
In that case, it is for sure the compression of the drive, you can back up your data on a separate hard drive and NTFS it up.
 
pnwskier said:
3870x2:

Thanks for the reply. I know the drive is okay because it does work in a USB hard drive enclosure. I've thought about putting it back in the enclosure, copying all the data to the new drive, then reformatting the drive as NTFS. I see that as the worst case scenario.
Click to expand...

thats the best thing to do! This way your hardrive is set to the right compression and you shouldnt have any issues
 
Why does the new system still think the new drive is only 129gb when it's a brand new, just-formatted 320gb drive?
 
lol, if you did use NTFS compression, youve got me stumped. Well, not so stumped, but it could be anything from OS, bad compression, bios, hard drive failure, etc etc etc...
 
If you set the Hard Drive as Master, but put it on the center connector of the IDE cable, you're confusing the controller, as the middle connector is slave. Also, if you do set the hard drive as master, you have to set the ROM as slave.

I bet it's a jumper issue. Set the drives' jumpers to Cable Select. Don't worry about selecting slave and master. All modern controllers will do it automatically based on what position the drive is on the cable. Furthermore, Windows sometimes gets confused if the DVD is not set as the Master drive.
 
You are probably right, i was thinking of SATA, but not everyone has SATA these days. GO SERIAL!
 
I would also make sure in the bios the HD is set to LBA or Large. I had a DFI board (NFII Infinity) that had a hell of a time reading drives due to this setting.
 
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