I had three partitions in my system. I formatted my second HD into two, which gave me a total of four partiotions and I plugged in an external HD via the USB port. The next time I tried to boot up, my system would not boot up unless I'd go to the BIOS and disable the secondary IDE, which handles my CD burner and a regular CD ROM. I also added a few programs but I don't think that would matter. Did I add too many partitions? Does anybody know a common cause for this?
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TOO MANY partitions??
- Thread starter joemanuel
- Start date
- Thread starter
- #3
Boot with IDE 2 disabled.
Go to Admin tools, Computer management, expand the tree to Storage, disk management.
Find the second hard drive, and relabel the drive to adifferent drive letter (right click, Change drive letter...)probably something after the number of devices you already have.
If C is boot (it is), D is partition 1 on drive 2, E is now partition 2, CD was E (hence the conflict), and burner was F.
Rename D, E, and F to G, H, and I. (this is only temporary).
Restart, enable IDE 2.
You should get into windows now.
Go back into disk management, readjust letters however you want them.
Hint: Rename your CD-ROM as R for Reader, your Burner as W for Writer, and DvD if you have it to V for dVd (for lack of a better letter) and then you can add/remove partitions drives as you like, without messing up any optical device drive letters. Cheers,
Jim
Go to Admin tools, Computer management, expand the tree to Storage, disk management.
Find the second hard drive, and relabel the drive to adifferent drive letter (right click, Change drive letter...)probably something after the number of devices you already have.
If C is boot (it is), D is partition 1 on drive 2, E is now partition 2, CD was E (hence the conflict), and burner was F.
Rename D, E, and F to G, H, and I. (this is only temporary).
Restart, enable IDE 2.
You should get into windows now.
Go back into disk management, readjust letters however you want them.
Hint: Rename your CD-ROM as R for Reader, your Burner as W for Writer, and DvD if you have it to V for dVd (for lack of a better letter) and then you can add/remove partitions drives as you like, without messing up any optical device drive letters. Cheers,
Jim
- Thread starter
- #6
My partitioins are as follows
IDE # 1
Drive 0 = C (boot) and D
Drive 1 = E and F
IDE # 2
CD burner = G
CD ROM = H
The external HD was automatically assigned the letter I
I will check if there are conflicts tonite. I am not at that system rt now.
Thanks again 4 your help and suggestions
Joemanuel
IDE # 1
Drive 0 = C (boot) and D
Drive 1 = E and F
IDE # 2
CD burner = G
CD ROM = H
The external HD was automatically assigned the letter I
I will check if there are conflicts tonite. I am not at that system rt now.
Thanks again 4 your help and suggestions
Joemanuel
- Thread starter
- #7
Hello again,
I still have not resolved this problem. Any other suggestions?
The only way I can start XP is with IDE #2 disabled, but I can not use my CDRW and CD ROM. If I enable IDE #2, my system will not go into XP at all.
My IDE configuration is as follows.
IDE #1
Drive 0 - C (boot) and D
Drive 1 - E and F
IDE #2
CD Burner - G
CD ROM - H
When I plug in my external HD, it becomes drive I.
It doesn't appear that I have a conflict with the letters assigned to the drives. So what can it be? How can I make my system recognise IDE # 2 so that I can use me CD burner and CD ROM?
Joemanuel
I still have not resolved this problem. Any other suggestions?
The only way I can start XP is with IDE #2 disabled, but I can not use my CDRW and CD ROM. If I enable IDE #2, my system will not go into XP at all.
My IDE configuration is as follows.
IDE #1
Drive 0 - C (boot) and D
Drive 1 - E and F
IDE #2
CD Burner - G
CD ROM - H
When I plug in my external HD, it becomes drive I.
It doesn't appear that I have a conflict with the letters assigned to the drives. So what can it be? How can I make my system recognise IDE # 2 so that I can use me CD burner and CD ROM?
Joemanuel
Joemanuel
Aren't USB connections hot swappable? Can't you just boot with the USB hard drive disconnected, then plug it in after booting? (assuming this works - couldn't quite figure out from original post if problem started after you added external drive or not).
PS. what is your boot sequence in the bios set to?
Aren't USB connections hot swappable? Can't you just boot with the USB hard drive disconnected, then plug it in after booting? (assuming this works - couldn't quite figure out from original post if problem started after you added external drive or not).
PS. what is your boot sequence in the bios set to?
- Thread starter
- #9
- Thread starter
- #11
I think I tried that already.
Let me tell you what I did right before that problem started.
First - I installed a USB 2.0 PCI card
2nd - I split my second HD into two partitions.
3rd- I installed my USB HD while the system was up. It was recognized without a problem and it was assigned drive I.
4th -I installed McAffe Virus scan version 6.0.
Then I tried rebooting because McAffe promted me to do so.
My system boted up but it told me that the date in my E drive had not been saved. I tried rebooting again and this is where it all started. I could not go into XP at all. When I disbled IDE # 2, I was able to get into XP and all my data in drive E was intact.
Then I uninstalled McAffee but the problem was not corrected.
Next I deleted the second partition (drive F) in my secon HD, but this didn't help either.
What do i do next?
Let me tell you what I did right before that problem started.
First - I installed a USB 2.0 PCI card
2nd - I split my second HD into two partitions.
3rd- I installed my USB HD while the system was up. It was recognized without a problem and it was assigned drive I.
4th -I installed McAffe Virus scan version 6.0.
Then I tried rebooting because McAffe promted me to do so.
My system boted up but it told me that the date in my E drive had not been saved. I tried rebooting again and this is where it all started. I could not go into XP at all. When I disbled IDE # 2, I was able to get into XP and all my data in drive E was intact.
Then I uninstalled McAffee but the problem was not corrected.
Next I deleted the second partition (drive F) in my secon HD, but this didn't help either.
What do i do next?
This isnt going to be of much help, however. I have heard of this problem with McAfee and XP Before. It seems to me that I reacall a couple of registry settings that need to be manualy changed (a couple McAfee makes that cause this ) I will try to find the thread or url for you. SMac "Never Argue with an Idiot. They will Lower You to Their Level, Then Beat YOU with Experience"
- Thread starter
- #13
You could have the USB drive hooked up, and run a repair on it. Cheers,
Jim
Jim
- Thread starter
- #16
I remember seeing a menu in XP that lets you go back to a date you specify and restores the setting to whatever they were on that date. I found it once in XP but now I can not remeber where it is. Does anybody know the path for that menu. I think that's what system restore is... am I correct?
Joemanuel
Joemanuel
Metaliczombi
Technical User
Start>programs>Accessories>system tools>System restore
Click Restore my comp to an earlier time then click next. You will see a Calander with available restore points. Click on one and hit next.
Click Restore my comp to an earlier time then click next. You will see a Calander with available restore points. Click on one and hit next.
- Thread starter
- #18
Well...I found the solution for this problem, but I don't understand why it happend. Maybe one of you can explain it to me.
Although I am now afraid to use it, it was not McAfee.
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I installed
I USB 2.0 PCI card. This was the problem. XP installed it with its drivers but it didn't like it when I tried to use the driver that came with the card. This caused the system not to recognize whatever devices were attached to IDE #2 and XP would not start unless this IDE was disabled in the BIOS. Once I deinstalled the drivers that came with the PCI card and enabled IDE #2 the problem was corrected. Anybody can explain in detail how this conflict occurs. Is it that microsoft only want us to use their drivers?
Joemanuel
Although I am now afraid to use it, it was not McAfee.
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I installed
I USB 2.0 PCI card. This was the problem. XP installed it with its drivers but it didn't like it when I tried to use the driver that came with the card. This caused the system not to recognize whatever devices were attached to IDE #2 and XP would not start unless this IDE was disabled in the BIOS. Once I deinstalled the drivers that came with the PCI card and enabled IDE #2 the problem was corrected. Anybody can explain in detail how this conflict occurs. Is it that microsoft only want us to use their drivers?
Joemanuel
Sounds more like whoever made the USB card didn't want you to use any onboard IDE stuff. A poor quality card, or just an incompatibility with your motherboard. Cheers,
Jim
Jim
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