HD not working

[Sybil]

So I hooked up an extra internal HD to my computer. At first it was working just fine, it worked just fine for about 3 months, up untill now. I was going to reinstall Windows, but I wanted to keep the data I put on the extra HD, so I unplugged it.

I reinstalled windows, went perfect. Then after I installed drivers and what not. I shut down my computer, connected the HD again, and when I reboot, the computer didn't show it anymore.
So I go to my hardware manager, and there it does show the HD, but I can't access it.

Just to sum it up:
- Working fine for about 3 months
- re-installed Windows
- disconnected HD first
- installed windows again
- connected HD
- HD is detected in hardware manager
- HD isn't accessible.

Anybody have any ideas to what might be wrong?

[toraton]

Which version of Windows?

[Sybil]

Originally Posted by toraton

Which version of Windows?

Windows xp home

[MunkeyQ]

If you're on XP, check if it shows up in Disk Management under Computer Management in the Control Panel.

Computer Management is under Administrative Tools.

[Sybil]

Originally Posted by MunkeyQ

If you're on XP, check if it shows up in Disk Management under Computer Management in the Control Panel.

Computer Management is under Administrative Tools.

Yup, it shows up there, but as I said before, I can't access it which is weird because I could access it before I reinstalled windows.

[MunkeyQ]

You might have deleted the partition by mistake when you reinstalled Windows. I've done the same thing by selecting the wrong drive before realising my mistake.

This means that the data is still there, but you just can't see it as Windows can't read it.

There are various software tools around which can rebuild the table, but I can't think of any offhand. Google "partition recovery software" and you should be able to find one.

[Sybil]

Originally Posted by MunkeyQ

You might have deleted the partition by mistake when you reinstalled Windows. I've done the same thing by selecting the wrong drive before realising my mistake.

Well no, cause as I said before, I pulled out the HD before re-installing everything so I couldn't of deleted the partition as it wasn't there.

[Sybil]

Just to clarify, if it wasn't clear enough from my initial post. It's a totally separate HD, It's not a partition.

[MunkeyQ]

Originally Posted by Sybil

Well no, cause as I said before, I pulled out the HD before re-installing everything so I couldn't of deleted the partition as it wasn't there.

Ahh, my fault, I completely skimmed over the bit where you said that you unplugged it.

Still though, being able to see it in Disk Management and not in My Computer is a symptom of a dodgy partition table. Grab a partition recovery tool and see if that can see it.

[Sybil]

Originally Posted by MunkeyQ

Ahh, my fault, I completely skimmed over the bit where you said that you unplugged it.

Still though, being able to see it in Disk Management and not in My Computer is a symptom of a dodgy partition table. Grab a partition recovery tool and see if that can see it.

Yeah, I was giving it a try, but that tool doesn't seem to do anything...and almost all the others I find are demo versions that just give you a diagnose, but doesn't give you the option to fix it...