XP and unreadable/corrupt partition

[anto]

I have a 160GB hd, WIn XP Home running on an Athlon 2800.

I have the machine about 3 weeks. I had to create a partition of 27GB (drive f:) as XP would only recognise the first 127GB (drive c:).

I installed avg 6.0 (anti-virus) a coupe of days ago and then uninstalled it as I was getting a message that WIndows could not start properly and it gave me start in safe mode or start in last correct configuration.
I booted with the Win XP CD-ROM and went into recovery console - it checked the hard disk and then restarted, but same error again. I then got the message could not find/or corrupt hal.dll and then system.ini.

I re-installed XP (onto the c drive:). Win explorer can see the F: partition exists but when I go to open it is says it is corrupt or inreadable. In Disk Manager, it can see partition F and it says that it is healthy, but the file system on F is now RAW as opposed to NTFS on drive C.

I have some stuff on the partition tht I would really like to recover - what can I do? is there any software out there that can help me

thanks for any help,

Anthony.

[Paleo Pete]

What did you use to create the new partition? Usually a new partition must be formatted before use, with the possible exception of using a utility like Partition Magic, but even then if everything does not work perfectly you have to format it anyway.

My best guess is you'll have to format it before it can be used, but you lose any information on the drive.

WHen you installed AVG did you have another antivirus program installed and enabled? Usually if that is the case you will have problems. Installing programs while an antivirus app is running is always risky at best, and installing another antivirus app is asking for trouble.

Last, but probably most important, you've only had the computer for a few weeks, so use your warranty, that's what it's for.

[anto]

When I got the system, XP formatted the first 127GB of the drive before installing. I then downloaded Win XP Service Pack 1 which recognises more than 127GB hard drives. I went into the Win XP Computer Manager (Disk manager?) and formatted the remaining 27BG and created it as a new partition. It was working fine.

I didn't have any other virus software before installing AVG.

I had connected my an old 13GB (FAT32) drive and had copied my digital camera files over onto the new partition - this worked fine. Would this have anything to do with it? What does RAW mean in the file system properties.
thanks for your help.
Anto.

[Paul Komski]

TRUE raw partitions (http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/createdb/cm_8_des_03_4ar7.asp) are generally only used for certain database support. They contain NO FILE SYSTEM.

If you havent upgraded your new installation of WinXP to SP1 then you will not have the support required for properly viewing HDD drives greater than 137GB.

You will need to re-enable 48bit LBA support by reinstalling SP1 again. (http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=303013)

If all else fails you will probably need to use recovery software to reclaim any mislaid data/files.

[anto]

Worse has happened. Sorry for this long post.
I got disk investgator but it could not even read partition F. I re-connected my old drive (to install pc inspector on it to scan my new hard drive to detect any errors) but that wouldn't let me even start windows - as it kept giving me 'disk read error occured' - even though my new drive was still the boot drive in the bios. I had to un-connect my old drive again.

I started through the win cd-rom and tried to repair the xp installation but that didn't work. I tried re-installing xp which worked with problems - it couldn't find (1) VIA USB 2.0 enhanced host controller, (2) VIAAGP1.SYS file or (3) AIW 128 Pro (my graphics card) -this didn't happen when I first instlled Win Xp - but I had then updated with Service Pack 1A so that might be the cause of htese problems?

When xp finally loaded; I tried to connect to the internet - but it wouldn't find my dial up connection through IE 6. I couldn't start the Remote Access Connection Manager (RACM) in the services box - first it said error 711 and then error 5 (access denied). When I click on properties of RACM I get 'Service dependecies - class not registered'.

So to summarise:
1. cannot get internet connection working
2. cannot read partition F (btw in cmd prompt this is seen as drive E)
3. cannot connect my old drive (which I had successfully connected for the last 3weeks)

The changes that I have made that may be relevant (and was done just before the problems started).
1. Installed AVG 6.0 free edition and then un-installed it
2. Activated Windowes XP (Home Edition) - my edition is version 2002, I updated to Win SP1 and then activated - would that be the problem?

thanks for all your help,
Anto.

[Paul Komski]

First try and get your data back using GetDataBack (http://www.runtime.org/) - no guarantees since attempting to incorrectly access a drive beyond the 137GB threshold can result in data loss.

There are software solutions for enabling these drives to use 48bit rather than 24bit LBA for ATA - (but IMHO these will always leave one a bit vulnerable).

I would go the hardware route by getting an
appropriate pci controller card with support for 48bit LBA (http://maxtor.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/maxtor.cfg/php/enduser/olh_adp.php?p_faqid=960)

Promise/Maxtor Ultra ATA/133 PCI Controller Card

Installation Option 3: Attach the large hard drive to an add-in Ultra ATA PCI adapter card with a 48-Bit LBA compliant BIOS and controller driver. The adapter card bypasses the system BIOS and operating system?s controller driver and uses its own BIOS and controller driver.

Using an IDE ATA/ATAPI controller that has a 48-Bit LBA compatible controller driver will allow safe use of large drives beyond the previous limits of 137 GB capacity. Additional controllers that do not have 48-Bit compliant drivers cannot safely access drives larger than 137 GB. A compatible card such as the Maxtor Ultra ATA/133 PCI for Windows and Sonnet Tempo ATA/133 PCI Card for MACs can be purchased at http://www.maxstore.com (U.S. only) or at a local retailer

Then start over with a clean installation of WinXP.

Good luck - with your data especially!