drive c not recognized...

[fdgsogc]

Have Pentium 3.
OS is winxp.
Working configuration had one CD, DVD, two HDs. The DVD and the second HD were additions I added last year.

Upgraded to new P4 computer.
Swapped DVD from P3 to P4.
Swapped CD from P4 to P3.
Moved 2nd HD from P3 to P4

Current configuration of P3
original HD, 2CD drives.

Problem. P3 computer does not boot anymore. The BIOS recongizes Fixed Disk 0. However, when I boot with a floopy I cannot specify the C drive. Nor can I specify another drive letter except A drive.

I have swapped IDE cables. Disengaged the 2 CD IDE and power cables. Put the jumper switches in every position for the hard drive.

I'm at my wits end. Any ideas?

 

[firewolfrl]

zero out the HD with the drive manufacturer's software (that makes sure The MBR is zeroed) reload XP.
I prefer Maxtor's PowerMax using the CD boot method
I also like Steve Gibson's Spinrite
use only one CD drive and one HD (unplug everything else)
make sure there are no Zip drives installed.

cut and dried that is as simple as it can get
and should work as long as there is no damage to the HD

 

[firewolfrl]

here is the powermax link

http://www.maxtor.com/portal/site/M...tware Downloads/ATA Hard Drives&downloadID=22

 

[rvnguy]

FDGsogc,

The BIOS recongizes Fixed Disk 0. However, when I boot with a floopy I cannot specify the C drive.

You specified OS as XP, what type of floppy are you booting from?
If the HD is formatted as NTFS and you are using an older(win98 or ME) floppy it will not recognize the HD.

Problem. P3 computer does not boot anymore.

What error msg are you getting?
Is it not booting correctly?
Or not finding a bootable HD?

If the drive is not being recognized, you can attempt fixing the MBR on the drive by using the "fixmbr" cmd in the recovery console.
Recovery Console

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/q307654/

Or attempt a "Repair Install"
How to perform an in-place upgrade (reinstallation) of Windows XP

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;315341

rvnguy
"I know everything..I just can't remember it all

 

[tauris]

You can make a boot disk here for NTFS.

http://www.bootdisk.com/ntfs.htm

Go to the second method.
It won't fix your problem but you might be able to see your HD