WinME doesn't display all partitions

[htnmate]

I have posted this already elsewhere, but not found a solution yet.

Trying to partition a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 120GB hard drive as an
EXTERNAL mass storage drive via USB2.0 I have run into a problem that
I can't seem to resolve and I hope to find some advice in this forum.

My PC is a Dell* Dimension XPS H266, running at 300MHz and updated to
the latest BIOS v1.00.09.DT0 from Intel*.
My motherboard is Intel* PX440FX (Portland). My operation system is
Windows ME.
My INTERNAL drives are as follows:
PIIX3 Primary Master IBM-DHEA-36480 (6,4GB) - Drive Letters C: E: F:
G:
PIIX3 Primary Slave IOMEGA ZIP 100 - Drive Letter D:
PIIX3 Secondary Master HL-DT-ST RW/DVD CCC-4480B - Drive Letter H:
PIIX3 Secondary Slave IOMEGA ZIP 250 - Drive Letter I:

I have TweakUI v1.33 installed and have all drive letters enabled i.e.
last drive is Z: as confirmed in
HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Setup

Using fdisk I have succeded in partitioning this drive as one single
120GB partition and to format it. So far so good! However, I would
like to split the 120GB drive into 4 equal partitions, each ca. 30GB!
Again using fdisk, I am able to create 4 extended/logical partitions,
K:, L:, M:, N: or to create 1 primary 30GB, 1 extended and 3 logical
30GB partitions K:, L:, M:, N:. But, after restarting my PC, in each
case only the very first partition K: is visible and ready for
formatting. I can't seem to find and access the remaining 3 partitions
L:, M: and N: in the Windows Explorer, nor can I find a way to format
those three missing partitions. So I deleted all those partitions.

Then, using MaxBlast 4 for Windows I created as additional storage
device 4 new partitions, which get formated nicely and are listed in
the "HD Information Tool" as:
DRV4_Vol1=30.0GB
DRV4_Vol2=30.0GB
DRV4_Vol3=30.0GB
DRV4_Vol4=32,9GB
I did also once install additional unallocated space after partition
4. However, again and in both cases, only DRV4_Vol1 is shown in the
Windows Explorer and I can't seem to find any way to access the other
3 partitions!

After I had partitioned the drive into 4 equal partitions with
MaxBlast 4 f.W. I took both enclosure and hard drive back to the
reseller and connected both to his modern PC and within seconds the
Disk Management listed the above 4 partitions. His PC runs Windows XP!
So this shows, my PC can create the 4 partitions correctly, but is
unable to display them all.

Questions:
1.Would anybody have an idea what else I ought to try for being able
to access all 4 external partitions also on my PC?
2.Which component of my PC might be responsible for no displaying all
4 partitions?

p.s.: I tried also Partition Magic v8.0, but the USB-disk isn't shown
at all?

[Mike M]

You say you have used TweakUI and also regedit to check that you are not
blocking access to drives assigned letters beyond K but the following
quick test might be worth carrying through. Using the Device Manager
temporarily assign the letter Z to your Iomega Zip drive. Reboot. Can
you still see and access the Zip drive using Windows Explorer? If not it
would appear that the registry is perhaps corrupt and you could try
altering the data for lastdrive to say X, rebooting and then restoring it
to Z.
--
Mike Maltby MS-MVP



htnmate > wrote:

> I have posted this already elsewhere, but not found a solution yet.
>
> Trying to partition a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 120GB hard drive as an
> EXTERNAL mass storage drive via USB2.0 I have run into a problem that
> I can't seem to resolve and I hope to find some advice in this forum.
>
> My PC is a Dell* Dimension XPS H266, running at 300MHz and updated to
> the latest BIOS v1.00.09.DT0 from Intel*.
> My motherboard is Intel* PX440FX (Portland). My operation system is
> Windows ME.
> My INTERNAL drives are as follows:
> PIIX3 Primary Master IBM-DHEA-36480 (6,4GB) - Drive Letters C: E: F:
> G:
> PIIX3 Primary Slave IOMEGA ZIP 100 - Drive Letter D:
> PIIX3 Secondary Master HL-DT-ST RW/DVD CCC-4480B - Drive Letter H:
> PIIX3 Secondary Slave IOMEGA ZIP 250 - Drive Letter I:
>
> I have TweakUI v1.33 installed and have all drive letters enabled i.e.
> last drive is Z: as confirmed in
> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Setup
>
> Using fdisk I have succeded in partitioning this drive as one single
> 120GB partition and to format it. So far so good! However, I would
> like to split the 120GB drive into 4 equal partitions, each ca. 30GB!
> Again using fdisk, I am able to create 4 extended/logical partitions,
> K:, L:, M:, N: or to create 1 primary 30GB, 1 extended and 3 logical
> 30GB partitions K:, L:, M:, N:. But, after restarting my PC, in each
> case only the very first partition K: is visible and ready for
> formatting. I can't seem to find and access the remaining 3 partitions
> L:, M: and N: in the Windows Explorer, nor can I find a way to format
> those three missing partitions. So I deleted all those partitions.
>
> Then, using MaxBlast 4 for Windows I created as additional storage
> device 4 new partitions, which get formated nicely and are listed in
> the "HD Information Tool" as:
> DRV4_Vol1=30.0GB
> DRV4_Vol2=30.0GB
> DRV4_Vol3=30.0GB
> DRV4_Vol4=32,9GB
> I did also once install additional unallocated space after partition
> 4. However, again and in both cases, only DRV4_Vol1 is shown in the
> Windows Explorer and I can't seem to find any way to access the other
> 3 partitions!
>
> After I had partitioned the drive into 4 equal partitions with
> MaxBlast 4 f.W. I took both enclosure and hard drive back to the
> reseller and connected both to his modern PC and within seconds the
> Disk Management listed the above 4 partitions. His PC runs Windows XP!
> So this shows, my PC can create the 4 partitions correctly, but is
> unable to display them all.
>
> Questions:
> 1.Would anybody have an idea what else I ought to try for being able
> to access all 4 external partitions also on my PC?
> 2.Which component of my PC might be responsible for no displaying all
> 4 partitions?
>
> p.s.: I tried also Partition Magic v8.0, but the USB-disk isn't shown
> at all?

[Noel Paton]

I recently ran into what may be a similar problem on a machine of similar
age - the problem was that even with the latest BIOS update, the mobo could
not see anything above 32GB.

It was necessary to install the drive overlay software for the (internal,in
this case) Maxtor drive, then UNINSTALL it, then partition the drive to use
the 32MB (it was only a 40 GB drive) that BIOS could use before I could
utilise the maximum space - I did not want to have the hassle of the DDO
software getting in the way of potential repair aspects.

You need to check that the host case for the HD has a BIOS capable of
running a 120GB drive - I don't think the motherboard BIOS comes into the
equation here, as the drive's host is actually the USB, rather than the
motherboard.

What USB case is the HD housed in?



--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Mike M" > wrote in message
...
> You say you have used TweakUI and also regedit to check that you are not
> blocking access to drives assigned letters beyond K but the following
> quick test might be worth carrying through. Using the Device Manager
> temporarily assign the letter Z to your Iomega Zip drive. Reboot. Can
> you still see and access the Zip drive using Windows Explorer? If not it
> would appear that the registry is perhaps corrupt and you could try
> altering the data for lastdrive to say X, rebooting and then restoring it
> to Z.
> --
> Mike Maltby MS-MVP
>
>
>
> htnmate > wrote:
>
>> I have posted this already elsewhere, but not found a solution yet.
>>
>> Trying to partition a Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 9 120GB hard drive as an
>> EXTERNAL mass storage drive via USB2.0 I have run into a problem that
>> I can't seem to resolve and I hope to find some advice in this forum.
>>
>> My PC is a Dell* Dimension XPS H266, running at 300MHz and updated to
>> the latest BIOS v1.00.09.DT0 from Intel*.
>> My motherboard is Intel* PX440FX (Portland). My operation system is
>> Windows ME.
>> My INTERNAL drives are as follows:
>> PIIX3 Primary Master IBM-DHEA-36480 (6,4GB) - Drive Letters C: E: F:
>> G:
>> PIIX3 Primary Slave IOMEGA ZIP 100 - Drive Letter D:
>> PIIX3 Secondary Master HL-DT-ST RW/DVD CCC-4480B - Drive Letter H:
>> PIIX3 Secondary Slave IOMEGA ZIP 250 - Drive Letter I:
>>
>> I have TweakUI v1.33 installed and have all drive letters enabled i.e.
>> last drive is Z: as confirmed in
>> HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows\Curr entVersion\Setup
>>
>> Using fdisk I have succeded in partitioning this drive as one single
>> 120GB partition and to format it. So far so good! However, I would
>> like to split the 120GB drive into 4 equal partitions, each ca. 30GB!
>> Again using fdisk, I am able to create 4 extended/logical partitions,
>> K:, L:, M:, N: or to create 1 primary 30GB, 1 extended and 3 logical
>> 30GB partitions K:, L:, M:, N:. But, after restarting my PC, in each
>> case only the very first partition K: is visible and ready for
>> formatting. I can't seem to find and access the remaining 3 partitions
>> L:, M: and N: in the Windows Explorer, nor can I find a way to format
>> those three missing partitions. So I deleted all those partitions.
>>
>> Then, using MaxBlast 4 for Windows I created as additional storage
>> device 4 new partitions, which get formated nicely and are listed in
>> the "HD Information Tool" as:
>> DRV4_Vol1=30.0GB
>> DRV4_Vol2=30.0GB
>> DRV4_Vol3=30.0GB
>> DRV4_Vol4=32,9GB
>> I did also once install additional unallocated space after partition
>> 4. However, again and in both cases, only DRV4_Vol1 is shown in the
>> Windows Explorer and I can't seem to find any way to access the other
>> 3 partitions!
>>
>> After I had partitioned the drive into 4 equal partitions with
>> MaxBlast 4 f.W. I took both enclosure and hard drive back to the
>> reseller and connected both to his modern PC and within seconds the
>> Disk Management listed the above 4 partitions. His PC runs Windows XP!
>> So this shows, my PC can create the 4 partitions correctly, but is
>> unable to display them all.
>>
>> Questions:
>> 1.Would anybody have an idea what else I ought to try for being able
>> to access all 4 external partitions also on my PC?
>> 2.Which component of my PC might be responsible for no displaying all
>> 4 partitions?
>>
>> p.s.: I tried also Partition Magic v8.0, but the USB-disk isn't shown
>> at all?
>

[Rolf Wissmann]

I just assigned temporarily drive letter Z: to my ZIP250 drive and after
rebooting I could access the ZIP250 without any problems i.e. drive letter
Z: appears to be valid and recognized. However, after assigning drive letter
Z: to my ZIP250 drive, K: is still assigned to the primary partition of my
external hard drive, inspite of freeing up drive letter I:, while my
extended, logical partition (called L: in fdsik!) on the external drive is
still invisible in the Windows Explorer.

Why doesn't I: get assigned to the primary partition of my external drive
and K: to the extended, logical partition of the external drive after
reassigning ZIP250 from I: to Z:?

After reassinging the drive letters, fdisk suddenly displays a 3rd drive,
238MB of size, which is the Z:-assigned ZIP250 drive, before the external
hard drive 4. With I: assigned to ZIP250 fdisk did not show this 238MB
drive!

I can only assign a new drive letter to my ZIP250 drive. The other drives
appear to have fixed drive letters.

Mike M wrote:
> You say you have used TweakUI and also regedit to check that you are
> not blocking access to drives assigned letters beyond K but the
> following quick test might be worth carrying through. Using the
> Device Manager temporarily assign the letter Z to your Iomega Zip
> drive. Reboot. Can you still see and access the Zip drive using
> Windows Explorer? If not it would appear that the registry is
> perhaps corrupt and you could try altering the data for lastdrive to
> say X, rebooting and then restoring it to Z.

[Rolf Wissmann]

By "drive overlay software" do you mean MaxBlast 4 for Windows, which is
what I used ...

The enclosure is supposed to support a maximum HD-capacity of 200GB and to
support all versions of Windows higher than Win95, including WinME! Its is
driverless, except for Win98.

Again, for clarity: when I partition the external HD as one, single
partition of 120GB I can format it and see it in Windows Explorer, without
problems. Only when I partition the external HD into smaller partitions, for
example 4 times 30GB, I can only format and see the very first of those 4
partitions in the Windows Explorer.

Noel Paton wrote:
> I recently ran into what may be a similar problem on a machine of
> similar age - the problem was that even with the latest BIOS update,
> the mobo could not see anything above 32GB.
>
> It was necessary to install the drive overlay software for the
> (internal,in this case) Maxtor drive, then UNINSTALL it, then
> partition the drive to use the 32MB (it was only a 40 GB drive) that
> BIOS could use before I could utilise the maximum space - I did not
> want to have the hassle of the DDO software getting in the way of
> potential repair aspects.
>
> You need to check that the host case for the HD has a BIOS capable of
> running a 120GB drive - I don't think the motherboard BIOS comes into
> the equation here, as the drive's host is actually the USB, rather
> than the motherboard.
>
> What USB case is the HD housed in?

[Noel Paton]

Inline......

--
Noel Paton (MS-MVP 2002-2005, Windows)

Nil Carborundum Illegitemi
http://www.btinternet.com/~winnoel/millsrpch.htm

http://tinyurl.com/6oztj

Please read http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm on how to post messages to NG's

"Rolf Wissmann" > wrote in message
...
> By "drive overlay software" do you mean MaxBlast 4 for Windows, which is
> what I used ...
Yes


>
> The enclosure is supposed to support a maximum HD-capacity of 200GB and to
> support all versions of Windows higher than Win95, including WinME! Its is
> driverless, except for Win98.
>
> Again, for clarity: when I partition the external HD as one, single
> partition of 120GB I can format it and see it in Windows Explorer, without
> problems. Only when I partition the external HD into smaller partitions,
> for
> example 4 times 30GB, I can only format and see the very first of those 4
> partitions in the Windows Explorer.
>
> Noel Paton wrote:
>> I recently ran into what may be a similar problem on a machine of
>> similar age - the problem was that even with the latest BIOS update,
>> the mobo could not see anything above 32GB.
>>
>> It was necessary to install the drive overlay software for the
>> (internal,in this case) Maxtor drive, then UNINSTALL it, then
>> partition the drive to use the 32MB (it was only a 40 GB drive) that
>> BIOS could use before I could utilise the maximum space - I did not
>> want to have the hassle of the DDO software getting in the way of
>> potential repair aspects.
>>
>> You need to check that the host case for the HD has a BIOS capable of
>> running a 120GB drive - I don't think the motherboard BIOS comes into
>> the equation here, as the drive's host is actually the USB, rather
>> than the motherboard.
>>
>> What USB case is the HD housed in?
>
>

[Jack E Martinelli]

This kind of inexplicable Drive letter invisibility in Explorer problem can
often be readily repaired by examining the "My computer" tab of TweakUI,
where checkboxes afford the option of hiding the volumes.

Tweak UI 1.33 for Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows Millennium
Edition, Windows 98 or Windows 95.
Details at: (may wrap)
http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/downloads/powertoys/networking/nttweakui.asp

For more of what TweakUI can do, see
http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=tweakui&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000 .

Note: there are several problems that may occur with the new version:
1) Do *not* change the first icon (My Computer) on the Desktop tab
2) Do *not* uncheck: Search Results on the Desktop tab
3) Do *not* hide the Tweak UI icon on the Control Panel tab
4) Do *not* uncheck: Show Control Panel on Start Menu on the IE tab
5) Do *not* uncheck: Shell enhancements on the IE tab
-- -- -- -- -- --
Mike Burgess Microsoft MVP DTS

--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
In Memorium: Alex Nichol
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/nichol.mspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"Rolf Wissmann" > wrote in message
...
> I just assigned temporarily drive letter Z: to my ZIP250 drive and after
> rebooting I could access the ZIP250 without any problems i.e. drive letter
> Z: appears to be valid and recognized. However, after assigning drive
letter
> Z: to my ZIP250 drive, K: is still assigned to the primary partition of my
> external hard drive, inspite of freeing up drive letter I:, while my
> extended, logical partition (called L: in fdsik!) on the external drive is
> still invisible in the Windows Explorer.
>
> Why doesn't I: get assigned to the primary partition of my external drive
> and K: to the extended, logical partition of the external drive after
> reassigning ZIP250 from I: to Z:?
>
> After reassinging the drive letters, fdisk suddenly displays a 3rd drive,
> 238MB of size, which is the Z:-assigned ZIP250 drive, before the external
> hard drive 4. With I: assigned to ZIP250 fdisk did not show this 238MB
> drive!
>
> I can only assign a new drive letter to my ZIP250 drive. The other drives
> appear to have fixed drive letters.
>
> Mike M wrote:
> > You say you have used TweakUI and also regedit to check that you are
> > not blocking access to drives assigned letters beyond K but the
> > following quick test might be worth carrying through. Using the
> > Device Manager temporarily assign the letter Z to your Iomega Zip
> > drive. Reboot. Can you still see and access the Zip drive using
> > Windows Explorer? If not it would appear that the registry is
> > perhaps corrupt and you could try altering the data for lastdrive to
> > say X, rebooting and then restoring it to Z.
>

[Rolf Wissmann]

Jack E Martinelli wrote:
> This kind of inexplicable Drive letter invisibility in Explorer problem can
> often be readily repaired by examining the "My computer" tab of TweakUI,
> where checkboxes afford the option of hiding the volumes.
>
> Tweak UI 1.33 for Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows Millennium
> Edition, Windows 98 or Windows 95.
> Details at: (may wrap)
> http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/downloads/powertoys/networking/nttweakui.asp
>
> For more of what TweakUI can do, see
> http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=tweakui&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000 .
>
> Note: there are several problems that may occur with the new version:
> 1) Do *not* change the first icon (My Computer) on the Desktop tab
> 2) Do *not* uncheck: Search Results on the Desktop tab
> 3) Do *not* hide the Tweak UI icon on the Control Panel tab
> 4) Do *not* uncheck: Show Control Panel on Start Menu on the IE tab
> 5) Do *not* uncheck: Shell enhancements on the IE tab
> -- -- -- -- -- --
> Mike Burgess Microsoft MVP DTS
>

.... but I did already check this ...

[Jack E Martinelli]

I recommend simplifying your system temporarily by uncabling the Zip and
CD-RW drives, so they are not detected at boot.
Restart and examine the assigned volume letters, in light of:

"How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or
Repartition a Hard Disk"
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];255867

"Order in Which MS-DOS and Windows Assign Drive Letters"
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;[LN];51978


In particular, note that you can have four primary, or primary/Extended
volumes. It's not clear to me what your current confuguration is, so your
attempt to use the USB 2.0 storage may be exceeding this requirement.
Furthermore, if your USB 2.0 hardware is old, the drivers may not be
compatible with PM 8.0, and newer hardware and drivers may resolve the
issue.

HTH,
--
Jack E. Martinelli 2002-05 MS MVP for Shell/User / DTS
Help us help you: http://www.dts-L.org/goodpost.htm

http://www.microsoft.com/athome/security/protect/default.aspx
In Memorium: Alex Nichol
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/expertzone/meetexperts/nichol.mspx
Your cooperation is very appreciated.
------
"Rolf Wissmann" > wrote in message
...
> Jack E Martinelli wrote:
> > This kind of inexplicable Drive letter invisibility in Explorer problem
can
> > often be readily repaired by examining the "My computer" tab of TweakUI,
> > where checkboxes afford the option of hiding the volumes.
> >
> > Tweak UI 1.33 for Windows 2000, Windows NT, Windows Millennium
> > Edition, Windows 98 or Windows 95.
> > Details at: (may wrap)
> >
http://www.microsoft.com/ntworkstation/downloads/powertoys/networking/nttweakui.asp
> >
> > For more of what TweakUI can do, see
> > http://search.atomz.com/search/?sp-q=tweakui&sp-a=0008002a-sp00000000 .
> >
> > Note: there are several problems that may occur with the new version:
> > 1) Do *not* change the first icon (My Computer) on the Desktop tab
> > 2) Do *not* uncheck: Search Results on the Desktop tab
> > 3) Do *not* hide the Tweak UI icon on the Control Panel tab
> > 4) Do *not* uncheck: Show Control Panel on Start Menu on the IE tab
> > 5) Do *not* uncheck: Shell enhancements on the IE tab
> > -- -- -- -- -- --
> > Mike Burgess Microsoft MVP DTS
> >
>
> ... but I did already check this ...