This topic has been discussed in many tech forums countless times and there are many reasons why it occurs and quite a few ways to resolve the problem. Some advise disconnecting other hard drives before reinstalling the O/S. Some use partition and data recovery software, either paid for or freeware (latter are usually limited in features or amount of data that can be recovered) when all known tricks are exhausted. I will go over two (2) ways of resolving the issue described in this thread's title: Plan A (easy) and Plan B (easy, but not as short as Plan A) without using technobabble.
Plan A:
- Use a partition tool from DTIDATA or PartitionGuru (freeware) to record all hard disks’ partition information
- In the event of an O/S reinstall, use the partition tool to revert the hard disks’ partition information
- Reboot the PC
- Start reusing the PC with all of its data intact
It, really, is that simple. No data recovery.
Plan B:
- Remove Disk 1 (drive not recognized by new O/S)
- Install a scratch disk with identical drive specifications as Disk 1
- Initialize the scratch disk
- Create one (1) extended partition
- Create one (1) logical volume in the extended partition
- Format the logical volume in NTFS format
- Use a partition tool from DTIDATA or PartitionGuru (freeware) to display scratch disk partition information
- Remove the scratch disk
- Reinstall Disk 1 (drive not recognized by new O/S)
- Use a partition tool to from DTIDATA or PartitionGuru (freeware) to change the partition information of Disk 1 to match that of the formatted scratch disk
- Reboot the PC
- Start reusing the PC with all of its data intact
It is, still, that easy. No data recovery.
The moral of the story: use “DTIDATA_Partition_Recovery_Tool” or “PartitionGuru” freeware to record partition information of your hard drives(s) before you perform any O/S reinstall (otherwise, use Plan B).
Attached is a .pdf detailing Plan B. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask. Use the freeware mentioned within to perform the indicated tasks wholly at your own risk. The indicated tasks, other than use of the freeware, are performed using tools available with WinXP.
The freeware depicted in the .pdf is "DTIDATA_Partition_Recvoery_Tool.exe" is a tiny 48 KB utility. Seriously. It performs only two (2) main functions: display a hard disk's partition information, change a hard disk's partition information.
The procedure will work for 3rd, 4th, etc. additional drives. I do not use dual-boot/multi-boot PCs, so I always configure the system with only one (1) primary partition. All additional drives are configured as one (1) extended partition containing one (1) logical volume per drive.
If you only have one (1) large hard drive, you can create one (1) primary partition with, say, 60 GB to 100 GB for the O/S and applications, and the rest as one (1) extended partition with one or more logical volumes for data.
Use the freeware mentioned within the attached .pdf to perform the indicated tasks wholly at your own risk.
Plan A:
- Use a partition tool from DTIDATA or PartitionGuru (freeware) to record all hard disks’ partition information
- In the event of an O/S reinstall, use the partition tool to revert the hard disks’ partition information
- Reboot the PC
- Start reusing the PC with all of its data intact
It, really, is that simple. No data recovery.
Plan B:
- Remove Disk 1 (drive not recognized by new O/S)
- Install a scratch disk with identical drive specifications as Disk 1
- Initialize the scratch disk
- Create one (1) extended partition
- Create one (1) logical volume in the extended partition
- Format the logical volume in NTFS format
- Use a partition tool from DTIDATA or PartitionGuru (freeware) to display scratch disk partition information
- Remove the scratch disk
- Reinstall Disk 1 (drive not recognized by new O/S)
- Use a partition tool to from DTIDATA or PartitionGuru (freeware) to change the partition information of Disk 1 to match that of the formatted scratch disk
- Reboot the PC
- Start reusing the PC with all of its data intact
It is, still, that easy. No data recovery.
The moral of the story: use “DTIDATA_Partition_Recovery_Tool” or “PartitionGuru” freeware to record partition information of your hard drives(s) before you perform any O/S reinstall (otherwise, use Plan B).
Attached is a .pdf detailing Plan B. If you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to ask. Use the freeware mentioned within to perform the indicated tasks wholly at your own risk. The indicated tasks, other than use of the freeware, are performed using tools available with WinXP.
The freeware depicted in the .pdf is "DTIDATA_Partition_Recvoery_Tool.exe" is a tiny 48 KB utility. Seriously. It performs only two (2) main functions: display a hard disk's partition information, change a hard disk's partition information.
The procedure will work for 3rd, 4th, etc. additional drives. I do not use dual-boot/multi-boot PCs, so I always configure the system with only one (1) primary partition. All additional drives are configured as one (1) extended partition containing one (1) logical volume per drive.
If you only have one (1) large hard drive, you can create one (1) primary partition with, say, 60 GB to 100 GB for the O/S and applications, and the rest as one (1) extended partition with one or more logical volumes for data.
Use the freeware mentioned within the attached .pdf to perform the indicated tasks wholly at your own risk.