lost hard drive
I am basically computer challenged. I am running windows xp. I am running Nortons Internet security with no virus. Underneath my desk was very dusty so, I took out the computer and blew out all the dust. Now I start up my computer and I am missing my hard drives, D and E. Where did they go, and how do I get them back. Any help would be appreciated. Thank you!
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Welcome to Icrontic
Can you please give us some more info about the computer. eg. Make, Model and specs if you have them. I am going to assume that you are confident opening up the computer case if you have to.
How many hard drives do you have? have you lost all of them or just one? Do you get any error messages? How far can you boot before you get a problem.
Thanks
Rich
It looks like your PC has two physical hard drives. I assume that as you can still see your C:\ you can boot up into Windows. It is possible to take one physical hard disk and configure it in Windows to display as more than one drive. Think of it as a filing cabinet: you have piece of furniture but several draws (in computer terms "partitions") in which to store things. Given that your PC has two hard disk (one at 80GB and one at 160GB) I think it is most likely that your C:\ drive contained as a single 60GB Partition on the first drive (effectively a one draw filing cabinet) and your D:\ and E:\ were both stored on the second, 160GB drive as two 80GB partitions (A two draw filing cabinet).
If you have used a can of compressed air I assume that you opened up the PC case rather that just blowing the air into the front?
Unfortunately it sounds like your second Hard drive is on its way out. It is quite possible that while you were cleaning you unknowingly dislodged one of your cables connecting your hard drive, but I think this is unlikely as your E:\ disappeared before your D:\. If it was a loose cable I would expect them both to go at the same time. However, I would first suggest that you check the cables are all connected correctly. There should be two cables plugging into the back of your drive. One connects to your motherboard and carries the actual data, the other is the power cable and that should be connected to a big square box with a fan on it.
try disconnecting and reconnecting these cables and see if that works. If it doesn't please post back and I will talk you through the next stage of diagnosis.
Rich
Thank you for taking time to explain to me about the partitions. That makes sense! I took the PC case outside and used a small compressor( I think it is more powerful than the compressed canned air), maybe I did dislodge the cables, that makes sense. Once my 5 year old goes to bed I will unhook everything again and try disconnecting and reconnecting the cables. Hopefully that will cure the problem. I be back with the results. Thanks for you help!