nV SATA Issue - Can't see drive #2

[obald1]

I have 2 WD 74 GB drives installed. I DO NOT plan on using RAID, I just want to have a backup drive without paying the RAID 1 penalty. In Device Manager, I can see both drives listed under Disk Drives, but they don't show up under Windows Explorer. Both drives are shown, but I can't seem to access or see the 2nd drive?

If I turn on (ENABLE) nVRAID, my computer then says "New Hardware" is found, but it doesn't install the new hardware correctly.?.

I have also tried connecting the main (C SATA drive to the nVRAID controller and the 2nd SATA drive to the Si Image RAID controller, and that triggers a boot up error.

I know it is something simple, I just can't seem to figure it out. Help?

 

[hectorsm]

Do they both show up in the BIOS? I am asuming that you have installed the MB drivers.

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

Did you format the second drive during the Windows installation?

If not, maybe you still need to format the drive before it will show up in Windows Explorer (not sure about that).

Go to:
Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management

You should see an array of tools for partioning and formatting the drives. Maybe something there will answer the question.

Also, I don't think you need to use the nVraid stuff, since that is for RAID arrays which you aren't using.

Good luck!

-D'oh!

 

[FastEddie]

AnnoyedGrunt has it. Did you partition the drive when you installed the OS?

 

[obald1]

Originally posted by: hectorsm
Do they both show up in the BIOS? I am asuming that you have installed the MB drivers.

Both drives show up during boot (and in BIOS utility). I have installed all MB drivers I think (I will double check).

Both drives show up under Device Manager, but only the C: drive with the XP OS shows up in Win Explorer?

 

[obald1]

Originally posted by: AnnoyedGrunt
Did you format the second drive during the Windows installation?

If not, maybe you still need to format the drive before it will show up in Windows Explorer (not sure about that).

Go to:
Control Panel/Administrative Tools/Computer Management/Disk Management

You should see an array of tools for partioning and formatting the drives. Maybe something there will answer the question.

Also, I don't think you need to use the nVraid stuff, since that is for RAID arrays which you aren't using.

Good luck!

-D'oh!

I DO NOT think that I formatted the 2nd drive during XP install. I don't remember doing that.

Followed your directions - CP/AT/CM/DM - Both drives show up. The primary (OS) drive, the C: drive shows up as "Disk 1, Basic, Online: NTFS - Healthy (System)."

The 2nd drive shows up as "Disk 0, Basic, Online: Unallocated" I am assuming that this means it is NOT formatted. My only options in Disk Mgmt is to convert to "Dynamic Disk" which I am reluctant to do.

I think I need to format the drive - do you do this during bootup?

 

[hectorsm]

Following up on what AnnoyedGrunt said you can go to Disk Management to partion and format your drive.

Goto to:

1. Start -> right click "My Computer"
2. Select "Manage"
3. Select "Disk Managment"
4.Right click on the HD(from the lower section) and create a partition. You can always delete and re-create the partion or you can create more that one partion to your drive.
5. Right click on the HD and select format. It would be best to do a normal format (Not quick format). Be patient it will take a long time to do the format.

You should be able to see and open the drive from Windows explorer. If not, reboot to see if it show up.


Hope it helps.

Edit: You may need to make the partion "Active" if your partion does not say "Healthy". I can't remember this part very well.

 

[FastEddie]

But you won't be able to format the drive if it hasn't been partitioned first.

To solve this, boot to the WinXP CD, and simply partition the drive. You can then format it from MyComputer once the OS loads.

 

[AnnoyedGrunt]

To clarify what was said above:

If your drive is currently "Unallocated" then before you can format it you must first partition it.

Partitioning the drive basically divides the physical HDD into as many computer drives (c:\, d:\, etc.) as you want - within certain limits.

You do not need to change the drive to Dynamic, although you could if you wanted to.

Anyhow, you can partition as part of the windows install, but you should also be able to partition through the Disk Management Utility.

Once you get to the Disk Management Util, you should be able to right-click on the Disk 0 drive in the lower or upper window (the unallocated space should have a black bar in the lower window, while the other, working, drive should be a dark blue). You should see an option to add a logical drive or create a logical drive or something like that.

You can then create a number of partitions in that unallocated space, and each partition will have a different drive letter (you probably only need to create a single one, unless you have a drive arrangement you prefer that requires more than one).

Once you partition the drive, you should be able to format it. Right-click again to format. Be sure to format using NTFS instead of FAT. FAT is old school DOS/Win 95 and is not as robust as NTFS.

After formatting, you should be able to see the drive in explorer.

Now, these steps should apply on WinXP Home and WinXP Pro, but I'm going from memory, so you should check out the help in the Disk Management window. It has very good walk thru steps for setting up a new HDD.

Hope this helps.

-D'oh!

 

[obald1]

Originally posted by: AnnoyedGrunt
To clarify what was said above:

If your drive is currently "Unallocated" then before you can format it you must first partition it.

Partitioning the drive basically divides the physical HDD into as many computer drives (c:\, d:\, etc.) as you want - within certain limits.

You do not need to change the drive to Dynamic, although you could if you wanted to.

Anyhow, you can partition as part of the windows install, but you should also be able to partition through the Disk Management Utility.

Once you get to the Disk Management Util, you should be able to right-click on the Disk 0 drive in the lower or upper window (the unallocated space should have a black bar in the lower window, while the other, working, drive should be a dark blue). You should see an option to add a logical drive or create a logical drive or something like that.

You can then create a number of partitions in that unallocated space, and each partition will have a different drive letter (you probably only need to create a single one, unless you have a drive arrangement you prefer that requires more than one).

Once you partition the drive, you should be able to format it. Right-click again to format. Be sure to format using NTFS instead of FAT. FAT is old school DOS/Win 95 and is not as robust as NTFS.

After formatting, you should be able to see the drive in explorer.

Now, these steps should apply on WinXP Home and WinXP Pro, but I'm going from memory, so you should check out the help in the Disk Management window. It has very good walk thru steps for setting up a new HDD.

Hope this helps.

-D'oh!

Hey - Thanks to everyone - That did it. I used Disk Manager to Partition / Format in one step. That was the issue. Now it shows up as "Healthy" and in Win Explorer.

Thanks!