How do I access info on 2nd drive thats not being recognized?

I've been reading up on why Vista 64 won't recognize my SATA 2nd drive.
(I'm new to all this and trying to figure it out as I go...)

I've read that I need to format the drive in 'Computer Management',
however, I'm not wishing to format it, I'm wishing to get the info from
it.

Computer Management shows -
Disk 1 (C 935 GB NTFS
Disk 2 149 GB Unallocated

Previously, when I bought this computer, it had 2 HDD, both the 149 in
SATA. One went bad so I bought the 1TB thinking I'd be better off. Had
to buy a new Vista 64 bit, but since then I can't figure out how to
access the other disk.

Thanks in advance!


--
oduinn

Hi, oduinn.

When we move a previously-formatted HDD to a different computer, Windows may
have trouble recognizing the HDD and the partitions on it. To Vista, now
that you've installed it on your new 1 TB HDD, it's a "new computer" and
your 149 GB HDD is a "foreign disk", which must be "imported" so that your
"new computer" can recognize it and work with it.

The Help file for Disk Management says:
"On the new computer, open Disk Management. Click Action and then click
Rescan Disks. Right-click any disk marked Foreign, click Import Foreign
Disks, and then follow the instructions on your screen."

Try Rescan Disks and see if it sees your 149 GB HDD as a "foreign disk".

It you need help to go from there, please post back. In any case, please
post back and let us know how it goes.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64

"oduinn" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> I've been reading up on why Vista 64 won't recognize my SATA 2nd drive.
> (I'm new to all this and trying to figure it out as I go...)
>
> I've read that I need to format the drive in 'Computer Management',
> however, I'm not wishing to format it, I'm wishing to get the info from
> it.
>
> Computer Management shows -
> Disk 1 (C 935 GB NTFS
> Disk 2 149 GB Unallocated
>
> Previously, when I bought this computer, it had 2 HDD, both the 149 in
> SATA. One went bad so I bought the 1TB thinking I'd be better off. Had
> to buy a new Vista 64 bit, but since then I can't figure out how to
> access the other disk.
>
> Thanks in advance!
>
>
> --
> oduinn

Thanks for the reply! :

I rescanned and nothing really changed
Disk Management window looks like this now

Disk 0
Basi
931.51 G
Onlin
(Healthy, NTFS, etc

Disk 1
Unknow
149.05 G
Not initialize

Disk 2
Unknow

Not initialize

(then 2 CDRom - 0 & 1

What to do now? Does 'initialize disk' format it? (I'm trying to avoi
loosing my info

--
oduinn

Hi, oduinn.

> What to do now? Does 'initialize disk' format it? (I'm trying to avoid
> loosing my info)

I certainly understand and agree with your caution!

No, "initialize disk" does not format the disk. It just gets it ready to be
formatted. I THINK it only writes a single byte into the MBR, indicating
that this disk uses the MBR (Master Boot Record) rather than the GPT (GUID
Partition Table) - but I can't find a reference that clearly says this.

<rant>
Disk Management's Help file is not as helpful to us users as prior versions
were. :>( It always was written as a reference, not a tutorial, so we
never could just read it like a textbook. And it always has covered topics
that I won't need for years, if ever. I'm just a one-man one-computer kind
of guy, like most users who come to these newsgroups for help - including
yourself, I would guess. So I don't yet need to know about GPT disks and
don't need to know much about dynamic disks. The current Help file spends
most of its efforts on those esoteric subjects and it's very hard for me to
"drill down" to get the basic everyday information that I need.
</rant>

From that Help file:
<paste>
A basic disk's status is Not Initialized.
Cause: The disk does not contain a valid signature. After you install a new
disk, the operating system must write a disk signature, the end of sector
marker (also called signature word), and a master boot record or GUID
partition table before you can create partitions on the disk. When you first
start Disk Management after installing a new disk, a wizard appears that
provides a list of the new disks detected by the operating system. If you
cancel the wizard before the disk signature is written, the disk status
remains Not Initialized.

Solution: Initialize the disk. The disk status briefly changes to
Initializing and then Online status. For instructions describing how to
initialize a disk, see Initialize New Disks.

For more information about disk status descriptions, see
http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=64112.
</paste>

I THINK that this means your disk will then be ready to use, with all your
partitions and files intact - but I can't guarantee that!

I followed the link at the end into TechNet, and from there into
"Troubleshooting Disk Management"
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/l...0).aspx#BKMK_1

which hasn't been updated since January 21, 2005 - two years before Vista
came to market! The language there is just about identical to what I've
pasted above.

NONE of this tells us if Initializing the disk will preserve or destroy
existing data. :>( I THINK it just writes the "disk signature", a single
byte ("a unique number" like a serial number for the HDD itself) at offset
0x01B8 in the MBR. Maybe it updates the MBR code itself, but I don't think
it touches the Partition Table - but I can't find confirmation of this.

It has been a couple of years since I moved a disk and I can't recall the
details. Maybe someone else can chime in here and assure us both.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX

Microsoft Windows MVP
Windows Live Mail 2009 (14.0.8089.0726) in Win7 Ultimate x64

"oduinn" <> wrote in message
news:...
>
> Thanks for the reply!
>
> I rescanned and nothing really changed.
> Disk Management window looks like this now:
>
> Disk 0:
> Basic
> 931.51 GB
> Online
> (Healthy, NTFS, etc)
>
> Disk 1:
> Unknown
> 149.05 GB
> Not initialized
>
> Disk 2:
> Unknown
>
> Not initialized
>
> (then 2 CDRom - 0 & 1)
>
> What to do now? Does 'initialize disk' format it? (I'm trying to avoid
> loosing my info)
>
>
> --
> oduinn