How to read harddrive that was once too big for mobo.

[mm]

How to read harddrive that was once too big for mobo?

I have a hard drive that was too big for the mobo that I first used it
on. I think it is 800 Meg (but I'll check again if it matters) and
when I bought it, I think Western Digital had a remapping program that
allowed the drive to pretent to the mobo that its geometry was
different from reality.

I tried connecting it as a slave, setting the jumpers correctly, and
iirc, it wasn't recognized at all. I bought an enclosure and hooked
it up to the USB port, and although the computer seees the enclosure
and installs or loads the HDUSB stuff, the drive never shows up on any
drive list.

Conecting it as a master drive has its own problems, which see below,
and furthermore, I have another drive from the same persion which was
never a master drive and doesn't have an OS on it. So I can't connect
it as the master drive. Wot should I do?

I have a Promise card that would have iiuc enabled me to run these
drives without the remapping software that it uses, but wouldn't the
remapping software still run since it is there, regardless of whether
it is plugged into the new, powerful mobo, or the Promise card?


When I was using this drive as my master drive, when the computer
booted up, just after the very beginning of start-up, a white box with
blue text, or something, displayed, giving notice that this software
was running.

Now I have a newer mobo and much bigger hd's, but I want to get some
data off of this HD. I tried last October, and iirc I couldn't use it
as a slave drive. So I used it as the master and made my primary a
slave. It gave all kinds of warnings at the start that convinced me
it wouldn't start, but somehow it did, and I got the data I needed
then. However after I shut down, and removed the drive, and reset my
real drive as Single Drive, it wouldn't start. (I was leaving on a
long business trip the next day and had a friend coming in to download
my email, so I was really bothered. ) I controlled my panic and booted
from a floppy, and sys'ed the HD and bingo, it worked again.

How did the old HD un-sys or de-sys or re-sys the newer HD while it
was temporarily a slave? How can I avoid this from happening
altogether.

Thanks a lot.

If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM

 

[Jeff Richards]

Re: How to read harddrive that was once too big for mobo.

When the old drive was the master, it was installing drive management
software as part of the boot process. This software should be specific to
each drive - that is, it was needed for that old drive (and the fact that it
wasn't being installed was the reason that your couldn't access the content
when it was a slave) but it shouldn't be needed for the new drive. But,
from your description, it seems that the system decided that the management
software was also needed for the new drive when it was a slave, and
configured the drive accordingly. As it wasn't configured as a boot drive,
when you changed things back you had a drive configured to use the
management software, but that software wasn't being loaded. By SYSing it
again you removed this configuration and made is accessible as a non-managed
drive.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:0v8cr3p16472160udvu81ue44mcus7usu5@4ax.com...
> How to read harddrive that was once too big for mobo?
>
> I have a hard drive that was too big for the mobo that I first used it
> on. I think it is 800 Meg (but I'll check again if it matters) and
> when I bought it, I think Western Digital had a remapping program that
> allowed the drive to pretent to the mobo that its geometry was
> different from reality.
>
> I tried connecting it as a slave, setting the jumpers correctly, and
> iirc, it wasn't recognized at all. I bought an enclosure and hooked
> it up to the USB port, and although the computer seees the enclosure
> and installs or loads the HDUSB stuff, the drive never shows up on any
> drive list.
>
> Conecting it as a master drive has its own problems, which see below,
> and furthermore, I have another drive from the same persion which was
> never a master drive and doesn't have an OS on it. So I can't connect
> it as the master drive. Wot should I do?
>
> I have a Promise card that would have iiuc enabled me to run these
> drives without the remapping software that it uses, but wouldn't the
> remapping software still run since it is there, regardless of whether
> it is plugged into the new, powerful mobo, or the Promise card?
>
>
> When I was using this drive as my master drive, when the computer
> booted up, just after the very beginning of start-up, a white box with
> blue text, or something, displayed, giving notice that this software
> was running.
>
> Now I have a newer mobo and much bigger hd's, but I want to get some
> data off of this HD. I tried last October, and iirc I couldn't use it
> as a slave drive. So I used it as the master and made my primary a
> slave. It gave all kinds of warnings at the start that convinced me
> it wouldn't start, but somehow it did, and I got the data I needed
> then. However after I shut down, and removed the drive, and reset my
> real drive as Single Drive, it wouldn't start. (I was leaving on a
> long business trip the next day and had a friend coming in to download
> my email, so I was really bothered. ) I controlled my panic and booted
> from a floppy, and sys'ed the HD and bingo, it worked again.
>
> How did the old HD un-sys or de-sys or re-sys the newer HD while it
> was temporarily a slave? How can I avoid this from happening
> altogether.
>
> Thanks a lot.
>
> If you are inclined to email me
> for some reason, remove NOPSAM

 

[philo]

Re: How to read harddrive that was once too big for mobo.


"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:0v8cr3p16472160udvu81ue44mcus7usu5@4ax.com...
> How to read harddrive that was once too big for mobo?
>
> I have a hard drive that was too big for the mobo that I first used it
> on. I think it is 800 Meg (but I'll check again if it matters) and
> when I bought it, I think Western Digital had a remapping program that
> allowed the drive to pretent to the mobo that its geometry was
> different from reality.
>
> I tried connecting it as a slave, setting the jumpers correctly, and
> iirc, it wasn't recognized at all. I bought an enclosure and hooked
> it up to the USB port, and although the computer seees the enclosure
> and installs or loads the HDUSB stuff, the drive never shows up on any
> drive list.
>
> Conecting it as a master drive has its own problems, which see below,
> and furthermore, I have another drive from the same persion which was
> never a master drive and doesn't have an OS on it. So I can't connect
> it as the master drive. Wot should I do?
>
> I have a Promise card that would have iiuc enabled me to run these
> drives without the remapping software that it uses, but wouldn't the
> remapping software still run since it is there, regardless of whether
> it is plugged into the new, powerful mobo, or the Promise card?
>
>
> When I was using this drive as my master drive, when the computer
> booted up, just after the very beginning of start-up, a white box with
> blue text, or something, displayed, giving notice that this software
> was running.
>
> Now I have a newer mobo and much bigger hd's, but I want to get some
> data off of this HD. I tried last October, and iirc I couldn't use it
> as a slave drive. So I used it as the master and made my primary a
> slave. It gave all kinds of warnings at the start that convinced me
> it wouldn't start, but somehow it did, and I got the data I needed
> then. However after I shut down, and removed the drive, and reset my
> real drive as Single Drive, it wouldn't start. (I was leaving on a
> long business trip the next day and had a friend coming in to download
> my email, so I was really bothered. ) I controlled my panic and booted
> from a floppy, and sys'ed the HD and bingo, it worked again.
>
> How did the old HD un-sys or de-sys or re-sys the newer HD while it
> was temporarily a slave? How can I avoid this from happening
> altogether.
>
> Thanks a lot.
>


If you used drive overlay software, it must be uninstalled before you use
the drive elsewhere.

Put it back as it originally was, then re-run the drive overlay program...
when you run it , there will be an option to uninstall it.

 

[mm]

Re: How to read harddrive that was once too big for mobo.

On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 08:46:29 -0600, "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote:

>
>"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
>news:0v8cr3p16472160udvu81ue44mcus7usu5@4ax.com...
>> How did the old HD un-sys or de-sys or re-sys the newer HD while it
>> was temporarily a slave? How can I avoid this from happening
>> altogether.
>>
>> Thanks a lot.
>>
>
>
>If you used drive overlay software, it must be uninstalled before you use
>the drive elsewhere.
>
>Put it back as it originally was,
>then re-run the drive overlay program...
>when you run it , there will be an option to uninstall it.

OK, that sounds good. Do you mean from the CD that came with the
drive, after the Windows has started?

Every WD drive I have bought comes with a CD, of course.

For the sake of this removing, do you think either the CD I used at
the time (5 or 7 years ago) or any more recent CD (this year) should
work??

Or do I need to figure out which CD I used to install?

I hate to ask stupid questions, but the whole drive is at stake.

Thanks, to you and Jeff.


If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM

 

[philo]

Re: How to read harddrive that was once too big for mobo.


"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news00er3t5gems8irfv93vtbmgiedv97ul83@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 08:46:29 -0600, "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote:
>
> >
> >"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
> >news:0v8cr3p16472160udvu81ue44mcus7usu5@4ax.com...
> >> How did the old HD un-sys or de-sys or re-sys the newer HD while it
> >> was temporarily a slave? How can I avoid this from happening
> >> altogether.
> >>
> >> Thanks a lot.
> >>
> >
> >
> >If you used drive overlay software, it must be uninstalled before you use
> >the drive elsewhere.
> >
> >Put it back as it originally was,
> >then re-run the drive overlay program...
> >when you run it , there will be an option to uninstall it.
>
> OK, that sounds good. Do you mean from the CD that came with the
> drive, after the Windows has started?
>
> Every WD drive I have bought comes with a CD, of course.
>
> For the sake of this removing, do you think either the CD I used at
> the time (5 or 7 years ago) or any more recent CD (this year) should
> work??
>
> Or do I need to figure out which CD I used to install?
>
> I hate to ask stupid questions, but the whole drive is at stake.
>
> Thanks, to you and Jeff.
>
>


Before we get too far here...
put the drive back in the original machine and watch it boot up.

If it has drive overlay software you will see a message indicating that it's
using EZ BIOS or EZ Drive

You will have to run the original software that came from the drive...
if you are not sure, go to the website of the manufacturer.

The drive overlay software does have to be uninstalled in order to use the
drive elsewhere...

 

[mm]

Re: How to read harddrive that was once too big for mobo.

On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:44:28 -0600, "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote:

>
>"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
>news00er3t5gems8irfv93vtbmgiedv97ul83@4ax.com...
>> On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 08:46:29 -0600, "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote:
>>
>> >
>> >"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
>> >news:0v8cr3p16472160udvu81ue44mcus7usu5@4ax.com...
>> >> How did the old HD un-sys or de-sys or re-sys the newer HD while it
>> >> was temporarily a slave? How can I avoid this from happening
>> >> altogether.
>> >>
>> >> Thanks a lot.
>> >>
>> >
>> >
>> >If you used drive overlay software, it must be uninstalled before you use
>> >the drive elsewhere.
>> >
>> >Put it back as it originally was,
>> >then re-run the drive overlay program...
>> >when you run it , there will be an option to uninstall it.
>>
>> OK, that sounds good. Do you mean from the CD that came with the
>> drive, after the Windows has started?
>>
>> Every WD drive I have bought comes with a CD, of course.
>>
>> For the sake of this removing, do you think either the CD I used at
>> the time (5 or 7 years ago) or any more recent CD (this year) should
>> work??
>>
>> Or do I need to figure out which CD I used to install?
>>
>> I hate to ask stupid questions, but the whole drive is at stake.
>>
>> Thanks, to you and Jeff.
>>
>>
>
>
>Before we get too far here...
>put the drive back in the original machine and watch it boot up.
>
>If it has drive overlay software you will see a message indicating that it's
>using EZ BIOS or EZ Drive
>
>You will have to run the original software that came from the drive...
>if you are not sure, go to the website of the manufacturer.
>
>The drive overlay software does have to be uninstalled in order to use the
>drive elsewhere...

Will do. Thanks.
>
>


If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM

 

[Jeff Richards]

Re: How to read harddrive that was once too big for mobo.

I have had mixed success with uninstalling the overlay. My preference would
be to get the drive installed alongside another drive that is not using the
overlay, copy the contents off, and then completely erase that disk and
FDISK and reformat it.

Of course, that sounds like what you were trying to do when you somehow got
the new disk re-sysed, so obviously that approach has problems of its own.
--
Jeff Richards
MS MVP (Windows - Shell/User)
"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:egter39ofq7iqocvepmmak7ia6vmjln2do@4ax.com...
> On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 15:44:28 -0600, "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote:
>
>>
>>"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
>>news00er3t5gems8irfv93vtbmgiedv97ul83@4ax.com...
>>> On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 08:46:29 -0600, "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote:
>>>
>>> >
>>> >"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
>>> >news:0v8cr3p16472160udvu81ue44mcus7usu5@4ax.com...
>>> >> How did the old HD un-sys or de-sys or re-sys the newer HD while it
>>> >> was temporarily a slave? How can I avoid this from happening
>>> >> altogether.
>>> >>
>>> >> Thanks a lot.
>>> >>
>>> >
>>> >
>>> >If you used drive overlay software, it must be uninstalled before you
>>> >use
>>> >the drive elsewhere.
>>> >
>>> >Put it back as it originally was,
>>> >then re-run the drive overlay program...
>>> >when you run it , there will be an option to uninstall it.
>>>
>>> OK, that sounds good. Do you mean from the CD that came with the
>>> drive, after the Windows has started?
>>>
>>> Every WD drive I have bought comes with a CD, of course.
>>>
>>> For the sake of this removing, do you think either the CD I used at
>>> the time (5 or 7 years ago) or any more recent CD (this year) should
>>> work??
>>>
>>> Or do I need to figure out which CD I used to install?
>>>
>>> I hate to ask stupid questions, but the whole drive is at stake.
>>>
>>> Thanks, to you and Jeff.
>>>
>>>
>>
>>
>>Before we get too far here...
>>put the drive back in the original machine and watch it boot up.
>>
>>If it has drive overlay software you will see a message indicating that
>>it's
>>using EZ BIOS or EZ Drive
>>
>>You will have to run the original software that came from the drive...
>>if you are not sure, go to the website of the manufacturer.
>>
>>The drive overlay software does have to be uninstalled in order to use the
>>drive elsewhere...
>
> Will do. Thanks.
>>
>>
>
>
> If you are inclined to email me
> for some reason, remove NOPSAM

 

[philo]

Re: How to read harddrive that was once too big for mobo.


"Jeff Richards" <JRichards@msn.com.au> wrote in message
news:OGPVSxPcIHA.1376@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> I have had mixed success with uninstalling the overlay. My preference
would
> be to get the drive installed alongside another drive that is not using
the
> overlay, copy the contents off, and then completely erase that disk and
> FDISK and reformat it.
>
> Of course, that sounds like what you were trying to do when you somehow
got
> the new disk re-sysed, so obviously that approach has problems of its own.


Those overlays are hard to get rid of...
even fdisk /mbr will not remove them.

But IIRC either utility EZ Bios or EZ drive will remove the other

 

[mm]

Re: How to read harddrive that was once too big for mobo.

Do you think there is less chance of infesting a USB drive, re-sysing
it, than a slave drive??

More details below.

On Sat, 16 Feb 2008 19:02:02 -0600, "philo" <philo@privacy.net> wrote:

>
>"Jeff Richards" <JRichards@msn.com.au> wrote in message
>news:OGPVSxPcIHA.1376@TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
>> I have had mixed success with uninstalling the overlay. My preference
>would
>> be to get the drive installed alongside another drive that is not using
>the
>> overlay, copy the contents off, and then completely erase that disk and
>> FDISK and reformat it.
>>
>> Of course, that sounds like what you were trying to do when you somehow got
>> the new disk re-sysed, so obviously that approach has problems of its own.

Yes, that's what I tried to do first, but it couldn't read the 9od
overlaid drive iirc. So I had to make it the boot drive and then it
sys'ed the other one. It's like a horror movie where one demon
infests the others. I had noticed this years ago, so I bought the
Promise card and was relieved when it didn't infest the drive
connected through the card.

The new plan -- maybe I'll do it tomorrow if I have time -- is to make
it the only start-up drive, and then plug a backup drive in via the
USB port. I wouldn't think it would try to sys a USB drive.

Maybe I should ask you. Do you think there is less chance of infesting
a USB drive, re-sysing it, than a slave drive??

If not, maybe I should only use the old overlaid drive and should just
install Nero on it and write all the files I want to a CD.


Then to copy everything to the backup drive, and also to run the
system for a while to see what programs I had installed that I wish I
had now, make a note of them, and make sure I have the installation
files, or at least know what I'm should look for on the web.

Then I"ll go back to my current boot drive and copy everything I need
from the USB backup drive to the current boot drive.

And then I guess I should just reformat the old one like you say
above.

>Those overlays are hard to get rid of...
>even fdisk /mbr will not remove them.

I guess they are like vampires.

>But IIRC either utility EZ Bios or EZ drive will remove the other

I get it! It removes the other so it can then install itself. Of
course, what other programs have as much motive.

Thanks again.

If you are inclined to email me
for some reason, remove NOPSAM

 

[philo]

Re: How to read harddrive that was once too big for mobo.


"mm" <NOPSAMmm2005@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:8cdfr3hfvk2uhfco455vbcecbnm13a044l@4ax.com...
> Do you think there is less chance of infesting a USB drive, re-sysing
> it, than a slave drive??
>
>

<snip>

First you must determine for sure if it does have a drive overlay.
if so, it *must* be uninstalled...