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500gb of Data GONE After Fresh WinXP Pro Install

Discussion in 'Windows XP' started by andrewkeil, 2007/06/13.

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  1. 2007/06/13
    andrewkeil

    andrewkeil Inactive Thread Starter

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    Alright I'm kind of in a panic right now....I reinstalled windows and before doing so I backed everything up that I was going to need on my D drive which is a completely seperate hard drive than the C drive which windows is installed on. So, after getting everything I needed, I started reinstalling XP Pro on the C drive. The whole setup was fine and i reformatted the C drive and didn't touch the D drive at all. I boot up for the first time and my computer recognizes the D drive as being RAW with no data on it....WHAT THE HELL. I've literally got 500 gig of irreplaceable data including pictures and movies that aren't backed up anywhere else on that drive. In preferences it says 0 Bytes of free space and 0 bytes of used space...

    What the hell did the Windows install do to my disc?! And more importantly, how can I get that data back without losing it for good?!
     
    andrewkeil,
    #1
  2. 2007/06/13
    Steve R Jones

    Steve R Jones SuperGeek Staff

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    Did Windows assign it a drive letter?
     
    Steve R Jones,
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  4. 2007/06/13
    andrewkeil

    andrewkeil Inactive Thread Starter

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    It shows up just as it did before as Drive Letter D only this time the tag is different. It used to say "media" and now it only says drive D.

     
    andrewkeil,
    #3
  5. 2007/06/13
    charlesvar

    charlesvar Inactive Alumni

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    Hello andrew,

    Have you looked in Disk Management yet to see what the drive looks like, not just My Computer.

    Right click My Computer > Manage > Disk Management.

    Regards - Charles
     
    charlesvar,
    #4
  6. 2007/06/13
    andrewkeil

    andrewkeil Inactive Thread Starter

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    It says its healthy and 100% free. I'm going to install SP2 before doing anything else and just hope that fixes something...for some reason...


     
    andrewkeil,
    #5
  7. 2007/06/13
    charlesvar

    charlesvar Inactive Alumni

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    Before you do anything, would it be possible to hook the drive up to another system as a slave drive to look at the drive?

    I think a SP2 install would further complicate this and don't see how it would address this problem.

    Regards - Charles
     
    charlesvar,
    #6
  8. 2007/06/13
    surferdude2

    surferdude2 Inactive

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    XP SP1 has a 137gig limit so upgrading to SP2 may fix this glitch.
     
    surferdude2,
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  9. 2007/06/13
    andrewkeil

    andrewkeil Inactive Thread Starter

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    That was my thoughts. I'll hook the drive up as a slave to my laptop (which I'm on now) and see what's up...
     
    andrewkeil,
    #8
  10. 2007/06/13
    charlesvar

    charlesvar Inactive Alumni

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    Ah, forgot about that - it's been a long time since SP1 :)

    Regards - Charles
     
    charlesvar,
    #9
  11. 2007/06/13
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    As I recall it, XP RTM had the 137 GB limit but it was "fixed" in SP1. If the install CD that was used is XP RTM, it may help installing SP2 but not if the install CD is XP SP1. If the latter, the problem is not the 137 GB limit.

    Whatever you do, disconnect the second hard disk while you continue!

    A friend of mine moved a hard disk from one computer to another, the computer to which it was moved had the 137 GB limit. (If I recall correctly, it was moved from a XP SP1 computer to a W2K SP? computer.) The result was the same as in your situation (in essence, you did the same) and when he moved it back, it was still unreadable. He was not able to recover his data but it was not important so, he just reformated but you may want to hand it over to the pros for recovery and that's why I recommend disconnecting it.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  12. 2007/06/13
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Another comment:

    If it IS the 137 GB limit causing the problem, I believe that the partition table has been rewritten by the new installation. If so, people knowing more than I do, will possibly have a way to restore it.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #11
  13. 2007/06/13
    andrewkeil

    andrewkeil Inactive Thread Starter

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    Installing SP2 fixed it. Thanks for the help and ideas guys!
     
    andrewkeil,
    #12
  14. 2007/06/13
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    PHEW!

    It seems like it is different when W2K is involved. The install CD you used, is it RTM or SP1?

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  15. 2007/06/14
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Now would be a good time to back it up :) External USB drive(s)?
     
    PeteC,
    #14
  16. 2007/06/15
    andrewkeil

    andrewkeil Inactive Thread Starter

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    I plan on backing up as soon as I get back home. This happened right before I left for college orientation. My XP Pro disc is an original OEM from before SP1. Lame, I know. But, I burned SP2 to another CD that I keep close to it now so I don't have to worry about stupid little problems like this again.
     
    andrewkeil,
    #15
  17. 2007/06/15
    surferdude2

    surferdude2 Inactive

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    Thanks for verifying what everyone knew but me. :eek:

    I incorrectly stated that SP1 had the 137gig restriction but it was prior to SP1 which would be the original generation of XP. The Sp1 generation addressed the issue and corrected it but even then some people had to change some cmos settings or upgrade their bios to accommodate the larger LBA option.

    I'll stop short of blaming my memory fade on the generation gap. :D
     
    surferdude2,
    #16
  18. 2007/06/15
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    andrewkeil,
    thanks for the feedback!

    'dude,
    the fix for the 137GB limit was simple in WinXP, just install SP1. In Win2K, it was more difficult and also needed a registry hack to enable "the larger LBA option ". Older motherboards with "out dated" BIOS versions needed an update too but that has noting to do with 2K/XP.

    I'm pleasantly surprized that andrewkeil's data was not lost. I remember clearly, from a few years ago, that my friend did not recover his data but that was on a hard disk that went from WinXP SP1 > Win2K SP? > WinXP SP1 and maybe the lacking registry hack made a difference. (It was actually his son who did it and he was subsequently "removed from my friends Last Will and Testament ".)

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #17
  19. 2007/06/15
    surferdude2

    surferdude2 Inactive

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    I'm too old to be removed from anyone's Last Will and Testament. They have already departed intestate. :D

    Thanks for the chuckle.
     
    surferdude2,
    #18
  20. 2007/06/15
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    ... :D ... which state is that ... :confused: ... or does it mean that they are "inter" for eternity?

    Christer
     
    Christer,
    #19
  21. 2007/06/15
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Intestate - died without making a will.
     
    PeteC,
    #20
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