I sometimes switch hard drives between computers. As far as I know, this is not a drive with an OS on it-- just data files. I plugged it in after it was unused in another computer for quite a while. The drive shows up in Device Manager has a drive letter assigned and is listed in the BIOS. When I click on it in My Computer to see the contents, I get the following message:
"The disk in drive D is not formatted"
"Do you want to format it now?"
When I look at the Disk Properties page for that drive--the file system says RAW
Before I try a program to recover files from it--I seem to remember that it could be a Master Boot Record (MBR) problem on the drive. The files should still be there--just the locators and pointers to files and folders directories are missing--such as drive tables?
Is there a safe way to get Windows to recognize the drive contents by using a DOS command to rewrite MBR---such as FIXMBR without destroying the files on drive?
What DOS commands and switches should I use? I have a Windows XP CD or I can use a floppy disk. Is it better to try the time consuming file recovery process first before attempting to write to the drive using DOS FIXMBR commands?
I will start a scan now to see if there is any recoverable data while I wait for any helpful info and replies
Thank you, in advance, for any help that anyone can provide!
I am using Windows XP SP2 and drive is a Samsung hard drive showing as 32 GB RAW
I'll keep checking this post frequently tonight--while I work on issue
"The disk in drive D is not formatted"
"Do you want to format it now?"
When I look at the Disk Properties page for that drive--the file system says RAW
Before I try a program to recover files from it--I seem to remember that it could be a Master Boot Record (MBR) problem on the drive. The files should still be there--just the locators and pointers to files and folders directories are missing--such as drive tables?
Is there a safe way to get Windows to recognize the drive contents by using a DOS command to rewrite MBR---such as FIXMBR without destroying the files on drive?
What DOS commands and switches should I use? I have a Windows XP CD or I can use a floppy disk. Is it better to try the time consuming file recovery process first before attempting to write to the drive using DOS FIXMBR commands?
I will start a scan now to see if there is any recoverable data while I wait for any helpful info and replies
Thank you, in advance, for any help that anyone can provide!
I am using Windows XP SP2 and drive is a Samsung hard drive showing as 32 GB RAW
I'll keep checking this post frequently tonight--while I work on issue