What happened to my hardrive?

sgtdog · 08-24-2005, 05:05 PM

I used "WipeDrive" software to erase/overwrite my Western Digital serial ATA, 120 GB, hardrive. When I tried to partition and format using my Windows XP disk, it would not recognize the hardrive as a storage device; the bios listed it as an unknown device. Did I erase something vital that would identify the device? I noticed when I first used the WipeDrive software that it indicated the drive as having two storage partitians, one holding the bulk of the 120 GB and the other with a very small storage amount. Since I erased both, could I have erased drive info stored in that smaller area?

Incidentally, I did purchase and install sucessfully a new drive, so I know it has nothing to do with my Dell XPS, or its connections. The old drive was functioning perfectly, before I erased it. Is there anyway I can fix my drive? Thanks!

lynx6200 · 08-24-2005, 05:17 PM

Your drive should b fine. Make sure when its connected, that it is done so porperly, as a master or slave, and that all the connections are secure. It shoudl show up. If you already have a drive in your computer working now, hook this other one up as a salve and see if it shows up, it doesnt need an OS for this.

sgtdog · 08-25-2005, 08:24 AM

I did get the drive to show up, and even loaded the operating system. during the process I got several error prompts that referred to it as "unknown partition." I still wonder if it is possible to accidentally erase the boot info from a hardrive so that it is no longer recognizable.

**Praetor** · 08-26-2005, 04:20 PM

Have you tried deleting all the partitions and repartitioning the drvie?

08-24-2005, 05:05 PM	#1 (permalink)
sgtdog New Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 3	What happened to my hardrive? I used "WipeDrive" software to erase/overwrite my Western Digital serial ATA, 120 GB, hardrive. When I tried to partition and format using my Windows XP disk, it would not recognize the hardrive as a storage device; the bios listed it as an unknown device. Did I erase something vital that would identify the device? I noticed when I first used the WipeDrive software that it indicated the drive as having two storage partitians, one holding the bulk of the 120 GB and the other with a very small storage amount. Since I erased both, could I have erased drive info stored in that smaller area? Incidentally, I did purchase and install sucessfully a new drive, so I know it has nothing to do with my Dell XPS, or its connections. The old drive was functioning perfectly, before I erased it. Is there anyway I can fix my drive? Thanks!

08-24-2005, 05:17 PM	#2 (permalink)
lynx6200 Platinum Member Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: NC Age: 26 Posts: 791	Your drive should b fine. Make sure when its connected, that it is done so porperly, as a master or slave, and that all the connections are secure. It shoudl show up. If you already have a drive in your computer working now, hook this other one up as a salve and see if it shows up, it doesnt need an OS for this. __________________ [size=2][size=1][color=DarkGreen][color=Navy] CoolerMaster Case Asus A8N SLI- Deluxe AMD athlon 64 3400+ 1GB Ultra DDR ram XFX 7600 GT 256mb videe 230GB SATA HD Combo drive

08-26-2005, 04:20 PM	#4 (permalink)
Praetor Administrator Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Canada Age: 25 Posts: 19,954	Have you tried deleting all the partitions and repartitioning the drvie? __________________ ASUS P5K Premium WiFi-AP, Q6600@3.7 / ASUS P5ND, E6400@3.8 4GB OCz Platinum XTC 8500 / 4GB CorsairXMS2 6400 5x500GB Seagate 7200.10 / 2x500 Seagate 7200.10 OCz 8800GTX 768MB @ 630/800 / 2x Galaxy 8800GT SLI

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08-25-2005, 08:24 AM	#3 (permalink)
sgtdog New Member Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 3	I did get the drive to show up, and even loaded the operating system. during the process I got several error prompts that referred to it as "unknown partition." I still wonder if it is possible to accidentally erase the boot info from a hardrive so that it is no longer recognizable.