Partitioned drive lost

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

XPpro with two HDs, CDr/w and DVDr/w.
My system was
3.5 floppy
Local Disk(C
FRSTHAFOLD(D
SNDHAFOLD(E

(D AND (E are (were?) a 20G drive which I
partitioned over a year ago.
This morning I came across a 4G drive in an old box. (really).
Being a curious type I pulled the power and ribbon leads from the DVD and
plugged them into the 4G HD, after setting the jumper to slave.
Then switched on.
A dos line appeared saying 'automatically configuring an F: drive'
After which Windows appeared to boot up normally.
Except that 'My Computer' showed no (D
The 4G (F drive showed as not formated.
So... I removed the 4G and replaced the leads back to the DVD.

Now 'My Computer' shows
3.5 floppy
Local Disk(C
FRSTHAFOLD(D 9G abt

Notice NO (E

Not only that but my D drive is missing lots of files and folders wont open.
It seems that the partitioning has been forgotten!

I have checked what bios settings there are (not many on Compaq 5000)
And the bios sees my main Crive and only one 20G disk

I have a bad feeling about this
Is there any way to get things back to normal?
Please
Ted

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

Hi Ted,

Two uilities that may help:

testdisk www.cgsecurity.com
mbrwork www.terabyteunlimited.com

Both are free, but should be used with caution as they are powerful tools
that could easily make matters worse. Make sure to read the documentation
fully.

--
Best of Luck,

Rick Rogers, aka "Nutcase" - Microsoft MVP
http://mvp.support.microsoft.com/
Associate Expert - WindowsXP Expert Zone
www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone
Windows help - www.rickrogers.org

"Ted" <edward@clarkeedward.wan.rubbish.adoo.co.uk> wrote in message
newsdj9dl$59v$1@newsg2.svr.pol.co.uk...
> XPpro with two HDs, CDr/w and DVDr/w.
> My system was
> 3.5 floppy
> Local Disk(C
> FRSTHAFOLD(D
> SNDHAFOLD(E
>
> (D AND (E are (were?) a 20G drive which I
> partitioned over a year ago.
> This morning I came across a 4G drive in an old box. (really).
> Being a curious type I pulled the power and ribbon leads from the DVD and
> plugged them into the 4G HD, after setting the jumper to slave.
> Then switched on.
> A dos line appeared saying 'automatically configuring an F: drive'
> After which Windows appeared to boot up normally.
> Except that 'My Computer' showed no (D
> The 4G (F drive showed as not formated.
> So... I removed the 4G and replaced the leads back to the DVD.
>
> Now 'My Computer' shows
> 3.5 floppy
> Local Disk(C
> FRSTHAFOLD(D 9G abt
>
> Notice NO (E
>
> Not only that but my D drive is missing lots of files and folders wont
> open.
> It seems that the partitioning has been forgotten!
>
> I have checked what bios settings there are (not many on Compaq 5000)
> And the bios sees my main Crive and only one 20G disk
>
> I have a bad feeling about this
> Is there any way to get things back to normal?
> Please
> Ted
>
>