Windows XP not recognizing file systems on drives other th..

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COMPUTER: my mon-techie friend's home Dell Dimension 8250, with WinXP Pro
sp2, with latest Windows Updates and Office XP updates applied
PROBLEM: imo, XP not recognizing file systems on any drives other than C:\
drive. I belive this is an operating system issue and not a hardware issue!

C:\ system drive
D:\ DVD/CD-RW
E:\ secondary drive
F:\ SanDisk USB flash "thumb" drive

SYMPTOMS:
I have a Western Digital 20 GB secondary internal hard disk as E:\. It has
been working fine for the last two years. Recently, while trying to access
this disk, Windows displays message, "The disk in this drive is not
formatted. Do you want to format it now?"

When I insert a CD into the D:\ it spins for ~5-10 secs but then shows
nothing in the right pane of Windows Explorer. Does not even give me the
usual prompt to, "Please insert a disk into drive D:". It doesn't hang
Windows Explorer, just sits there with D:\ actually selected in left pane.
This is particularly odd as normally one would get the "insert disk" prompt.
To test for drive readability, I successfully *booted* from the Windows XP
installation CD-ROM. It read the CD fine so not a defective or broken
CD-ROM. This also rules out that maybe the CD I inserted was bad or had
scratches.

When I insert either om my two SanDisk USB 512MB flash, Windows Explorer
"assigns" it a drive letter but does not show it as formatted, ie- "The disk
in this drive is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?" Even if I do
select to format the drive, the format process fails. This drive has beeen
tested on two other WinXP installtions and works fine .

NOTES:
- no 'X' or '!' to be found in Device Manager.
- ran Ad-aware, SpyBot, MS Antispyware and Symantec Antivirus Corp Edition
scan but they reported nothing worth examining further, ie- tracking
cookies, no viruses.

Was on tech support call with Dell. Dell's "final answer"/suggestion was to
reformat h/d then reinstall WinXP. I am trying to avoid doing this cus once
I install new o/s and all programs I've officially become my friend's
on-call tech support person for any *future* problems that may arise :)

With Dell, I tried but did not have luck with the following:
- Removed/reinstalled D: and F: drive devices. For the NEC branded CD-ROM I
updated the firmware.
- Tried "Error Message When You Install and Configure a Subordinate Drive"
fix from
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;812581&Product=winxp
- Similar to Q812581 above but felt it did not directly apply as no Easy CD
Creator program is installed on computer:
[title: "CD-ROM access is missing and messages cite error Code 31, Code 32,
Code 19, Code 39, or Code 41 after you remove Easy CD Creator in Windows XP"
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;%5BLN%5D;q314060 ]
- Resetting NV-RAM

The only thing I have not tried is Doug Know's "CD/DVD fix"
http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/xp_cd_dvd_fix.htm.
I somehow doubt this will fix my problem as I believe his fix only
addresses a CD/DVD drive issue and does not specifically address the bigger
overall problem that I am having, that of WinXP not recognizing file systems
on additional drives.

Again, I belive this is an operating sytem issue and not a hardware issue.
Thoughts?
 
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Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

KJS
It sounds like you have the same problem I've been having. I described it in
a post on 8/22 "CD, DVD+RW, USB/Digitalcamera not recognized".

I found that if I have a cd or dvd inserted in the drive or the camera
attached thru the usb and then reboot, all is ok. However, when I remove the
medium, the computer doesn't recognize it again. I agree that this must be a
o/s problem.
"KJS" wrote:

> COMPUTER: my mon-techie friend's home Dell Dimension 8250, with WinXP Pro
> sp2, with latest Windows Updates and Office XP updates applied
> PROBLEM: imo, XP not recognizing file systems on any drives other than C:\
> drive. I belive this is an operating system issue and not a hardware issue!
>
> C:\ system drive
> D:\ DVD/CD-RW
> E:\ secondary drive
> F:\ SanDisk USB flash "thumb" drive
>
> SYMPTOMS:
> I have a Western Digital 20 GB secondary internal hard disk as E:\. It has
> been working fine for the last two years. Recently, while trying to access
> this disk, Windows displays message, "The disk in this drive is not
> formatted. Do you want to format it now?"
>
> When I insert a CD into the D:\ it spins for ~5-10 secs but then shows
> nothing in the right pane of Windows Explorer. Does not even give me the
> usual prompt to, "Please insert a disk into drive D:". It doesn't hang
> Windows Explorer, just sits there with D:\ actually selected in left pane.
> This is particularly odd as normally one would get the "insert disk" prompt.
> To test for drive readability, I successfully *booted* from the Windows XP
> installation CD-ROM. It read the CD fine so not a defective or broken
> CD-ROM. This also rules out that maybe the CD I inserted was bad or had
> scratches.
>
> When I insert either om my two SanDisk USB 512MB flash, Windows Explorer
> "assigns" it a drive letter but does not show it as formatted, ie- "The disk
> in this drive is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?" Even if I do
> select to format the drive, the format process fails. This drive has beeen
> tested on two other WinXP installtions and works fine .
>
> NOTES:
> - no 'X' or '!' to be found in Device Manager.
> - ran Ad-aware, SpyBot, MS Antispyware and Symantec Antivirus Corp Edition
> scan but they reported nothing worth examining further, ie- tracking
> cookies, no viruses.
>
> Was on tech support call with Dell. Dell's "final answer"/suggestion was to
> reformat h/d then reinstall WinXP. I am trying to avoid doing this cus once
> I install new o/s and all programs I've officially become my friend's
> on-call tech support person for any *future* problems that may arise :)
>
> With Dell, I tried but did not have luck with the following:
> - Removed/reinstalled D: and F: drive devices. For the NEC branded CD-ROM I
> updated the firmware.
> - Tried "Error Message When You Install and Configure a Subordinate Drive"
> fix from
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;812581&Product=winxp
> - Similar to Q812581 above but felt it did not directly apply as no Easy CD
> Creator program is installed on computer:
> [title: "CD-ROM access is missing and messages cite error Code 31, Code 32,
> Code 19, Code 39, or Code 41 after you remove Easy CD Creator in Windows XP"
> http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;%5BLN%5D;q314060 ]
> - Resetting NV-RAM
>
> The only thing I have not tried is Doug Know's "CD/DVD fix"
> http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/xp_cd_dvd_fix.htm.
> I somehow doubt this will fix my problem as I believe his fix only
> addresses a CD/DVD drive issue and does not specifically address the bigger
> overall problem that I am having, that of WinXP not recognizing file systems
> on additional drives.
>
> Again, I belive this is an operating sytem issue and not a hardware issue.
> Thoughts?
>
>
>
 
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Guest

Guest
Archived from groups: microsoft.public.windowsxp.hardware (More info?)

Have you solved the problem yet as I've got the same problem and do not
know what to do. I've tried everything I can thing of including XP
recovery via the Dell recovery tool with no luck.

thx for any help you could provide on this issue.

Ed




KJS wrote:
> *COMPUTER: my mon-techie friend's home Dell Dimension 8250, with
> WinXP Pro
> sp2, with latest Windows Updates and Office XP updates applied
> PROBLEM: imo, XP not recognizing file systems on any drives other
> than C:\
> drive. I belive this is an operating system issue and not a hardware
> issue!
>
> C:\ system drive
> D:\ DVD/CD-RW
> E:\ secondary drive
> F:\ SanDisk USB flash "thumb" drive
>
> SYMPTOMS:
> I have a Western Digital 20 GB secondary internal hard disk as E:\.
> It has
> been working fine for the last two years. Recently, while trying to
> access
> this disk, Windows displays message, "The disk in this drive is not
> formatted. Do you want to format it now?"
>
> When I insert a CD into the D:\ it spins for ~5-10 secs but then
> shows
> nothing in the right pane of Windows Explorer. Does not even give me
> the
> usual prompt to, "Please insert a disk into drive D:". It doesn't
> hang
> Windows Explorer, just sits there with D:\ actually selected in left
> pane.
> This is particularly odd as normally one would get the "insert disk"
> prompt.
> To test for drive readability, I successfully *booted* from the
> Windows XP
> installation CD-ROM. It read the CD fine so not a defective or
> broken
> CD-ROM. This also rules out that maybe the CD I inserted was bad or
> had
> scratches.
>
> When I insert either om my two SanDisk USB 512MB flash, Windows
> Explorer
> "assigns" it a drive letter but does not show it as formatted, ie-
> "The disk
> in this drive is not formatted. Do you want to format it now?" Even
> if I do
> select to format the drive, the format process fails. This drive has
> beeen
> tested on two other WinXP installtions and works fine .
>
> NOTES:
> - no 'X' or '!' to be found in Device Manager.
> - ran Ad-aware, SpyBot, MS Antispyware and Symantec Antivirus Corp
> Edition
> scan but they reported nothing worth examining further, ie- tracking
> cookies, no viruses.
>
> Was on tech support call with Dell. Dell's "final answer"/suggestion
> was to
> reformat h/d then reinstall WinXP. I am trying to avoid doing this
> cus once
> I install new o/s and all programs I've officially become my
> friend's
> on-call tech support person for any *future* problems that may arise
> :)
>
> With Dell, I tried but did not have luck with the following:
> - Removed/reinstalled D: and F: drive devices. For the NEC branded
> CD-ROM I
> updated the firmware.
> - Tried "Error Message When You Install and Configure a Subordinate
> Drive"
> fix from
> http://tinyurl.com/ckoyy
> - Similar to Q812581 above but felt it did not directly apply as no
> Easy CD
> Creator program is installed on computer:
> [title: "CD-ROM access is missing and messages cite error Code 31,
> Code 32,
> Code 19, Code 39, or Code 41 after you remove Easy CD Creator in
> Windows XP"
> http://tinyurl.com/6tufz ]
> - Resetting NV-RAM
>
> The only thing I have not tried is Doug Know's "CD/DVD fix"
> http://www.dougknox.com/xp/scripts_desc/xp_cd_dvd_fix.htm.
> I somehow doubt this will fix my problem as I believe his fix only
> addresses a CD/DVD drive issue and does not specifically address the
> bigger
> overall problem that I am having, that of WinXP not recognizing file
> systems
> on additional drives.
>
> Again, I belive this is an operating sytem issue and not a hardware
> issue.
> Thoughts? *



--
fredward
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Please share any successes; I too am having this problem! Thanks in
advance.