Not Connected ????

Not connected !

Yes it is, but . . . . . . . . .

I've just reformatted a computer. In addition to the 2 IDE hard drives on the primary IDE controller, there are 2 more connected to an Ultra ATA IDE controller card. One drive shows up and works fine, but the other not quite so good. It's there in My Computer, and clicking 'properties' reveals that there is data on it (NTFS as with all the other drives on the system) but when I try to open it, it appears to be empty. But if I attempt to create a new folder in it, it tells me the drive is not connected. In fact, it tells me the same thing whatever I try to do with it, including defragmenter, back up etc. It is definitely connected, and yes, I've checked the physical connections too. In disk management, it appears not to exist at all.

So what does disconnected mean here. And how can I make this computer behave sensibly again ? (it all worked prior to the reinstall and I have also made sure the drivers are installed properly).

System specs - XP Pro (sp2). AMD 1.6Gb cpu. 256 DDR Ram.

 

If you select the IDE controller in device manager, what properties/options do you get?
I'm wondering if something doesn't have to be reset following the format/reinstall.

Studio T

 

Well here's a strange thing. It's alright now. I just started the computer up and hey presto, everything on the drive is now accessible and it's showing up in Disk Management as well. I'd still love to know what might have caused it though.rolleyes

I don't know. Maybe I just didn't kick it hard enough the first time

 

Shutdown - second scotch - restart.

The oldest repair technique in the book.

Studio T

 

Yeah, a harder kick always works

 

Update. Looks like there is a problem. Intermittent, but it's back.
The error message says

"H;\$Mft
Windows - Delayed write failed."

So I googled it and found

Maybe the hard drive is on its way out, or could the partition table have become corrupted for some reason ?

 

Funny i've just cured that error message in win2k by uninstalling a new bit of software I was trying, called Image burner. The only thing is that the error related to a DVD RAM drive. You often get this conflict when you load more than one cd/dvd writing software.

Of course it could be your hard drive. Try swapping the two on the card to see if the problem moves with the drive.

Studio T