15 replies to this topic

[Bayta]

I'm trying to install a second hard drive on my computer. I have some problems though. I set up the jumpers correctly on both drives, for Master and Slave. When I tried that though, the computer started acting crazy! First it didn't even read the Master, but it still booted up, and then it crashed. Sometimes, I can get it to read both properly on the CMOS settings screen thing-a-ma-jiggy, but only when I set up the jumpers in a weird way. And even then, I can't access the new hard drive. Can anyone help?

[Saffith]

You can almost certainly get a diagnostic program from the manufacturer's website. Use that to scan for errors.
If you can't boot to windows with both drives in, though, you may have to hook up the new one alone and run the diagnostics from a floppy disk or CD.

[Ben]

Make sure that you didn't get an incompatible disk. From your previous posts I'd guess your machine has ATA-66 or ATA-100 - you want a disk that is compatible with that. They're bceoming harder to find now that most machines are beginning to use Serial ATA. Anything that says ATA/150 or ATA/300 (otherwise known as SATA or Serial ATA) won't work.

In addition, you can try setting the jumpers to Cable Select. It could also be that the new disk is bad, or something simple like cables not being inserted all the way.

Also, make sure the computer is off. >>' I've had to deal with people who messed around inside the computer while it was on a few times, one guy completely ruined his IDE controller that way.

[Bayta]

The hard drive is actually kind of old. So it could have gone bad. It says it was made on... April 15, 1999. And the hard drive I have in my computer is probably older. So it could be broken, but I don't think it is... Also, whenever I set it up so the computer can read the hard drive, it gives all the correct data. I just can't access it from My Computer.

Also, what do you mean by setting the jumpers to "Cable Select"? One more thing, yes, the cables are inserted correctly.

Edit: If it helps, it's a Western Digital 10262.5 MB hard drive, that I'm trying to add to my e Machines Windows 98 SE.

Edited by Beta Link, 25 July 2007 - 03:26 PM.

[Saffith]

If the hard drives are both set to cable select, the system will automatically choose which is the master and which is the slave based on which of the cable's connectors they use. The jumper setting for that ought to just be printed there with the others; if not, you can surely find it online.

You could also try putting it on the other IDE channel or using a different cable. Try running chkdsk on it if you can.

[Bayta]

Saffith, the problem isn't that the hard drive "doesn't exist" according to the computer, but that I can't access it from My Computer. So it's not the plug. the jumper setting for Cable Select is not on either of my hard drives. All it shows is Single, Master, and Slave. So I'll look around online for the jumper setting.

[Saffith]

I seriously suspect a hardware problem of some sort, since you say it doesn't work properly even when it's set up correctly.

When you say you can't access the drive, do you mean it doesn't even show up in the list, or that it's there but you can't open it?
If it doesn't show up, see if you can find it in the device manager. If it's there, check its properties; it may just not have a drive letter assigned for some reason.

[Bayta]

It's not showing up in My Computer. So yeah, I'll try finding it in the Device Manager.





Edit...

I found it in the device manager...

Edited by Beta Link, 26 July 2007 - 12:07 AM.

[Saffith]

Do you know what file system it's using? The first thing that comes to mind is that Windows doesn't recognize the format.
Since the physical disk shows up, you should be able to access it with a file recovery program. PC Inspector File Recovery is the best free one I know of.

[Ben]

If you can go into DOS, run fdisk and set up the 'new' disk from there. It could be that the new disk is badly corrupted or has an incompatible filesystem.

...

Another thing is the possibility that ... since you found it in with old computer parts ... maybe that's why it was put there. Maybe it was DELIBERATELY ruined to see what happened to it (like idiots on Youtube.)

[Bayta]

No, I know for a fact that it was not deliberately destroyed. My dad is the one who saved it and tons of other things. But it could be corrupted anyway. It's been sitting in a box under a desk for at least 2 years.

Edit: I entered MS DOS Prompt, and ran fdisk. It asked me if I wanted to activate large disk support, (any drive over 2 gig) and I already have a 6 gig hard drive, so I typed Y (for yes) anyway. Then it locked up on me.

Edited by Beta Link, 26 July 2007 - 04:24 PM.

[Ben]

You're going to want to do that while Windows isn't running.

[Bayta]

So you're saying I need to boot the computer in MS DOS mode, then.

Edit: Alright! I got my new D Drive to show up in My Computer. But apparently now, I need to format it properly, and I have no idea how to do that.

Edit 2: On a side note, this screwed up my Zip Drive, which was apparently set to D. My dad had tried to set up a second hard drive on my computer about 2 1/2 years ago, and failed. I bet the Zip Drive being set to D was the reason. Well now, the Zip Drive has been kicked out. It's no biggey though, because I rarely use it.

Edited by Beta Link, 26 July 2007 - 08:50 PM.

[Ben]

You should just be able to format it by right-clicking its icon.

I doubt it will give you the option to use any other filesystem anyway, but format it as FAT32.

[Saffith]

I say agian that you should try data recovery programs first. Formatting the hard drive means setting up an entirely new filesystem, which means all the files on it will be deleted. That's not to say they'll be overwritten, necessarily, but you've still got a better chance of retrieving data from it before you reformat it.