Damaged partition table?

Logla · Nov 1, 2005, 10:09 PM

I need help here guys, please.

I got a 120GB Maxtor drive which I haven't used for a couple of months.
When it was last used, it was formatted and then put on a shelf in a vacum sealed anti static bag and it never moved.
Now I reconnected the drive yesterday and it was seen in the bios and the machine booted fine. I can see the drive in device manager but it does not appear in My Computer or in disk management.
As I mentioned, the drive is visible in the BIOS, spins up and down correctly and the machine boots fine (providing the drive is jumpered correctly otherwise it will hang on a black screen just after the POST)

Could this be a corrupt or missing partition table, and if so, does anyone know of any software that can repair the drive? I don't need to recover any data because the drive had been formatted before - I just want the 120gig back.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Nov 1, 2005, 10:14 PM

Reformat the drive

Logla · Nov 1, 2005, 10:25 PM

I cant reformat the drive - windows doesn't see the drive/partition/empty space.
It is only visible in device manager and the bios.
You would expect to see the drive in disk management and then do whatever needs doing in there but it just doesn't appear.

niceguyrichy · Nov 1, 2005, 10:28 PM

can't you slave it and format?

Logla · Nov 1, 2005, 10:30 PM

how do you mean slave it?

calidan · Nov 1, 2005, 10:41 PM

Go to Adminstrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management. If you just recently added the drive it should be Drive 2 if there is only one other drive besides this one. You should be able to format from there.

My bad I should of read the full post. Have you tried using Partition Magic or some other partitioning wizard?

Logla · Nov 1, 2005, 10:51 PM

If the drive is connected, I cant run partition magic - I get an error saying "bad partition table" and then exits. If the drive is disconnected, it runs fine.

I've yet to boot the machine with a floppy disk as my fdd has decided it no longer wants to work either - although I dont blame it being 10 years old and living in smokey and then dusty rooms for its lifetime

niceguyrichy · Nov 1, 2005, 10:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Logla

how do you mean slave it?

attach it to a comp that already runs well, on a secondry IDE channel, and access through 'my computer' and you should have an option (might be right click, don't remember, to format) to do whatever you want with it really.

Logla · Nov 1, 2005, 10:56 PM

nope doesn't work - tried that also.

niceguyrichy · Nov 1, 2005, 10:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Logla

If the drive is connected, I cant run partition magic - I get an error saying "bad partition table" and then exits. If the drive is disconnected, it runs fine.

I've yet to boot the machine with a floppy disk as my fdd has decided it no longer wants to work either - although I dont blame it being 10 years old and living in smokey and then dusty rooms for its lifetime

you not just run win install and delete all partitions and start over??

niceguyrichy · Nov 1, 2005, 11:02 PM

old, old, old idea.

access 'fdisk' and sort out your partitions?

Logla · Nov 1, 2005, 11:08 PM

This is the whole point my friend, nothing sees the partitions which is what makes me think the partition table is missing/damaged.
so for example, I run windows setup with only that drive enabled and the setup reports back that there are no drives connected.
From what I can tell, a damaged or missing partition table will cause this because if it doesn't exisist as it should, no software that utilises hdd's will be able to communicate with the drive properly. Think of the Partition table as an IP address and the host computer as the internet. If the address doesn't exist then the computer will not exist on the network.

**dj_stick** · Nov 1, 2005, 11:19 PM

does the disk show up in windows setup? (booting of the xp cd)
you might be able to format it there

niceguyrichy · Nov 1, 2005, 11:30 PM

this is probably the most stupidly obvious thing you'll read all year, but is it a SATA drive, and if so, did you install drivers for it?

calidan · Nov 1, 2005, 11:55 PM

Have you tried the Maxtor PowerMax Utility? It states that it can help with "drive recognition problems".

Logla · Nov 1, 2005, 11:59 PM

its a pata drive, and I'm going to try the powermax util in the morning - thanks for the reminder.
This is really hacking me off now cos I know (gut feeling - I'm a hardware engineer you see) the drive itself is fine. If anyone else has anything to add please do.

The_Neon_Cowboy · Nov 2, 2005, 12:07 AM

Max blast is all I've used
http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Ma...&downloadID=57
han't tried the powmax one

Wost case do a zero fill with the maxtor utillity if you still run into problems
you may lose specail fomating and if you bios isn't up to snuff you may then
need to use the EZ bios like DDO that they offer but again thier utillity will tell you...
then of couse add partions and format....

Logla · Nov 2, 2005, 08:07 PM

looks like the drive is dead after all. I've spent all day fiddling with it and its just not happening.

Max blast sees the drive but doesn't see the disk inside it. I cant zero fill, add partitions or resize it. Looks like its going to the bin.

Thanks for your replies guys.

Richie-b · Nov 2, 2005, 08:18 PM

Had exactly the same problem as you and it drove me nuts.
I found a solution in the maxtor kb and it said to try this :
1 Disconnect the hard drive from the mainboard
2 Boot pc so the bios detects no drive present
3 shut down the pc and reconect the hard drive
4 reboot pc and the bios should recognise the drive and you can then format/partition the drive.
I always use maxblast to format and partition the drive, booting maxblast off a floppy, then just install windows

Hope this helps

Found the article on the kb:
https://maxtor.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...g2SnxBTh&p_lva=#

ReDGuiTaR · Nov 2, 2005, 08:48 PM

I know it sounds stupid but how about to change the HD cable ???

Logla · Nov 3, 2005, 07:35 AM

HDDs been disconnected/reconnected several times and on different machines.
3 Cables have been used also.

Nov 1, 2005, 10:09 PM	#1
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	Damaged partition table? I need help here guys, please. I got a 120GB Maxtor drive which I haven't used for a couple of months. When it was last used, it was formatted and then put on a shelf in a vacum sealed anti static bag and it never moved. Now I reconnected the drive yesterday and it was seen in the bios and the machine booted fine. I can see the drive in device manager but it does not appear in My Computer or in disk management. As I mentioned, the drive is visible in the BIOS, spins up and down correctly and the machine boots fine (providing the drive is jumpered correctly otherwise it will hang on a black screen just after the POST) Could this be a corrupt or missing partition table, and if so, does anyone know of any software that can repair the drive? I don't need to recover any data because the drive had been formatted before - I just want the 120gig back.

Nov 1, 2005, 10:14 PM	#2
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	Reformat the drive __________________

Nov 1, 2005, 10:41 PM	#6
calidan Frozen in Carbonite Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 1,409 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Go to Adminstrative Tools > Computer Management > Disk Management. If you just recently added the drive it should be Drive 2 if there is only one other drive besides this one. You should be able to format from there. My bad I should of read the full post. Have you tried using Partition Magic or some other partitioning wizard? __________________ Steam Community :: ID :: calidan "Don't try to be like Jackie. There is only one Jackie.... Study computers instead." - Jackie Chan

Nov 1, 2005, 11:55 PM	#15
calidan Frozen in Carbonite Join Date: Mar 2003 Location: Kansas City, MO Posts: 1,409 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Have you tried the Maxtor PowerMax Utility? It states that it can help with "drive recognition problems". __________________ Steam Community :: ID :: calidan "Don't try to be like Jackie. There is only one Jackie.... Study computers instead." - Jackie Chan

Nov 2, 2005, 12:07 AM	#17
The_Neon_Cowboy HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: U.S.A. Posts: 16,009 Rep Power: 92 System Specs	Max blast is all I've used http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/Ma...&downloadID=57 han't tried the powmax one Wost case do a zero fill with the maxtor utillity if you still run into problems you may lose specail fomating and if you bios isn't up to snuff you may then need to use the EZ bios like DDO that they offer but again thier utillity will tell you... then of couse add partions and format.... __________________

Nov 1, 2005, 10:25 PM	Thread Starter #3
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	I cant reformat the drive - windows doesn't see the drive/partition/empty space. It is only visible in device manager and the bios. You would expect to see the drive in disk management and then do whatever needs doing in there but it just doesn't appear.

Nov 1, 2005, 10:30 PM	Thread Starter #5
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	how do you mean slave it?

Nov 1, 2005, 10:51 PM	Thread Starter #7
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	If the drive is connected, I cant run partition magic - I get an error saying "bad partition table" and then exits. If the drive is disconnected, it runs fine. I've yet to boot the machine with a floppy disk as my fdd has decided it no longer wants to work either - although I dont blame it being 10 years old and living in smokey and then dusty rooms for its lifetime

Nov 1, 2005, 10:56 PM	Thread Starter #9
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	nope doesn't work - tried that also.

Nov 1, 2005, 11:08 PM	Thread Starter #12
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	This is the whole point my friend, nothing sees the partitions which is what makes me think the partition table is missing/damaged. so for example, I run windows setup with only that drive enabled and the setup reports back that there are no drives connected. From what I can tell, a damaged or missing partition table will cause this because if it doesn't exisist as it should, no software that utilises hdd's will be able to communicate with the drive properly. Think of the Partition table as an IP address and the host computer as the internet. If the address doesn't exist then the computer will not exist on the network.

Nov 1, 2005, 11:59 PM	Thread Starter #16
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	its a pata drive, and I'm going to try the powermax util in the morning - thanks for the reminder. This is really hacking me off now cos I know (gut feeling - I'm a hardware engineer you see) the drive itself is fine. If anyone else has anything to add please do.

Nov 2, 2005, 08:07 PM	Thread Starter #18
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	looks like the drive is dead after all. I've spent all day fiddling with it and its just not happening. Max blast sees the drive but doesn't see the disk inside it. I cant zero fill, add partitions or resize it. Looks like its going to the bin. Thanks for your replies guys.

Nov 2, 2005, 08:18 PM	#19
Richie-b In the corner Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: In the corner Posts: 106 Rep Power: 0 System Specs	Had exactly the same problem as you and it drove me nuts. I found a solution in the maxtor kb and it said to try this : 1 Disconnect the hard drive from the mainboard 2 Boot pc so the bios detects no drive present 3 shut down the pc and reconect the hard drive 4 reboot pc and the bios should recognise the drive and you can then format/partition the drive. I always use maxblast to format and partition the drive, booting maxblast off a floppy, then just install windows Hope this helps Found the article on the kb: https://maxtor.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/...g2SnxBTh&p_lva=# Last edited by Richie-b; Nov 2, 2005 at 08:25 PM.

Nov 2, 2005, 08:48 PM	#20
ReDGuiTaR DriverHeaven Senior Member Join Date: May 2004 Location: Quebec , Canada Posts: 746 Rep Power: 0	I know it sounds stupid but how about to change the HD cable ??? __________________ Zing a ling... zing a ling a ling ... A8N-E - A64x2 4600, 2048 Mb Kingston ram 400mhz cas 2.5 ( 2 x 1024 DualChannel ), Seagate 320 Gig 7200 16Mb cache S-ata 2, GeForce 7900GT 512MB, Enermax 460watt power supply, WindowsXP SP2.

Nov 3, 2005, 07:35 AM	Thread Starter #21
Logla HardwareHeaven Extreme Member Join Date: May 2003 Posts: 3,311 Rep Power: 0	HDDs been disconnected/reconnected several times and on different machines. 3 Cables have been used also.