OS doesn't recognize added HD.

[bullhlms]

I just bought a new PC with WinXPhome (NTFS). I took the HD from my old PC (Win98SE, FAT32) and installed it so that I could access my old files. It shows "Healthy (active)" in computer management, but I can't assign a drive letter and can't access the data on it. Must I create a dual-boot system to access this data, or is there a simpler way? PC runs fine, just no access to old HD.

HDs are both WD. I have tried CS alone, dual master/slave, alone, and CS with dual master/slave. The BIOS recognizes the "missing" HD, which is also shown correctly (but with no drive letter) in Computer manager/disk manager.
Thanks for any help.
Bill

 

[micker377]

You may have to "take ownership" of the drive. Look on the Microsoft support site.

 

[Freestone]

Cross-post. Answer is in thread779-944139

 

[bullhlms]

Thanks for the replies. I realize this is a cross-post. bcastner suggested I post to this forum, and I have in hopes of getting more insight into the easiest and safest solution.
Uninstalling GoBack is impossible with the drive in my new PC, except maybe uninstalling while in safe mode, but I DO have the option of disabling it.

 

[Freestone]

I understand the reason for the cross-post, but now that GoBack has been identified as the culprit, it should be decided where to continue the thread. Though it isn't technically an XP issue, since almost all of the thread is in the XP Forum, I suggest it be continued there for ease of reference in the future. I have posted some futher questions there.

 

[bullhlms]

Freestone,
I agree with your reasoning for keeping the thread in one place, and for selection of that place. Thanks.

 

[micker377]

Old post to get rid of "Go-Back" after the fact (different problem-same solution):

I'm still using Windows 98SE. I was replacing the hard drive in my old computer with one twice as large. I did a drive to drive copy with Drive Image 2002 using the rescue disks. It was late and I was tired and like a dummy I forgot to disable GoBack on the old drive. After the copy was complete I was shocked to discover that both drives were now useless and it looked like I just lost several years of irreplaceable files. Instead of 4 Fat 32 partitions on the drives, I now had only one partition the full size of the drive, and it was unreadable and the drives were unbootable. I used all of my rescue disks from several programs all to no avail. Some programs identified the file type as other, some just said bad. Finally one rescue disk identified the file as a Hex 45. Using that information I searched the web and found others with the same problem, but no answers. A search at PowerQuest sent me to Symantec where a knowledgebase article explained that GoBack monitors your system using the Hex 45 file system and therefore must always be disabled before making a drive copy or image or even a defrag. Still no information on how to get out of this mess and back to where I started. I e-mailed Symantec support with all of the details and asked for a fix. The Tech replied that I screwed up and there was no fix or workaround. He pointed me to the same knowledgebase article I had already read and suggested I might try one of those (very expensive) data recovery services. I was down, but not out. I was sure that only the MBR had changed and there must be some way of returning it to it's former state. I searched the Symantec knowledge base some more and found an article on removing the changes GoBack makes to your boot record. There is a tool, GB_PROG.EXE that is hidden on the newer versions of Norton System Works. It's included there in case a failed installation leaves your hard drive unbootable. It's easy to use, insert a floppy in drive A. Click on GB_PROG.EXE and the files will be extracted to the floppy. Restart the computer with a startup disk, switch to the floppy and type: GB_PROG.EXE /U, hit enter and GoBack is removed from your boot record and disabled in Windows. Remove the floppy and when you restart everything is back to normal and all of the Fat 32 partitions are still there. I don't have the newer version of Norton System Works, but Symantec has the tool as a download. Get the info and download link here,

http://langa.com/u/5g.htm

---Vic Laude