changing drive letter freezes xp32 and xp64

[acgraham]

in computer management i have trouble changing drive letters from j: to g: when i boot into xp32 or xp64. the hourglass pops up and nothing ever happens. when i use partition magic instead the program freezes. im guessing this is because its trying to use the same function as disk management does and its getting into and endless loop.

its a strange problem i've never encountered before and can't find anything on the web that describes it.
im running an intel d975xbx2. i also have had problems formatting another wd750gb drive - when it gets to 100% it never completes.

thanks for any help guys.

[Áedán]

Is there a process/program that's running from that drive letter that's perhaps causing an issue?

[MUff1N]

I used to use Partition Magic until I found Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.
This by far is the best HD management software I have ever used and it's fast too.
Also, since using it I've never had any problems like I've had using Partition Magic such as the one you are describing here.

[PorPorMe]

Originally Posted by MUff1N

I used to use Partition Magic until I found Acronis Disk Director Suite 10.
This by far is the best HD management software I have ever used and it's fast too.
Also, since using it I've never had any problems like I've had using Partition Magic such as the one you are describing here.

Ditto to that. I couldn't believe how much better Acronis is. Faster, easier, does more, and i haven't had a single problem with it-can't say that with partition magic.

PS: As a matter of fact, I think I got Acronis to fix a problem that PM either couldn't fix or had caused. Never installed it agian.

[acgraham]

thanks guys, ill try it out and let you know how it goes.

[Rondog]

I might be a few hours late, but are you by any chance trying to change the drive letter that windows is installed to?

I have seen attempts to change the windows drive letter cause these symptoms, i've also seen it cause blue screens and all sorts of fun problems.

It may not be frozen completely, it may be just taking along time due to a large ammount of data.

Anywho, post back and let us know if Acronis fixes the issue.

[acgraham]

no i wouldn't dare try anything like that. however i've tried acronis now and it takes ages to load and complete simple operations, sometimes it stops too. when it analyses partitions on starting up it can just take forever, but it is a little better.

i have never had any problems in the past changing the drive letter of a 750gb drive that is almost full. but now its next to impossible.

i tried reimaging my windows install but it hasn't removed the problem. im wondering if something has become corrupted to cause these issues.

[Rondog]

Try booting off a windows cd and going to recovery console and running "chkdsk x: /r" where x: is whatever drive letter is the offending party. Sounds like there might be some problems on your HDD.

[acgraham]

is there anything wrong with just doing a chkdsk from cmd prompt instead?

[MUff1N]

Originally Posted by acgraham

no i wouldn't dare try anything like that. however i've tried acronis now and it takes ages to load and complete simple operations, sometimes it stops too. when it analyses partitions on starting up it can just take forever, but it is a little better.

i have never had any problems in the past changing the drive letter of a 750gb drive that is almost full. but now its next to impossible.

i tried reimaging my windows install but it hasn't removed the problem. im wondering if something has become corrupted to cause these issues.

IF you still have Partition Magic still installed this has to be completely uninstalled first otherwise it will cause bad driver conflicts with Acronis!!!
Acronis needs "Exclusive Access" to the Windows OS for it to run fast and smooth & not have to fight with another program trying to do the same thing.

Also, what you are describing is indicative of BAD driver conflicts.
All it takes is one nasty driver to mess up all kinds of stuff including what you are trying to accomplish here.
Acronis on my system takes 2 seconds (or less) to analyze my HD's and be on it's marry way.

So you got some drivers that are not happy at all working together with some programs you got in there.
It even can be a Leftover driver in the Windows driver cab that wasn't uninstalled properly like it should have been with a previous program that was removed.

[acgraham]

thanks for that information man. how on earth would i find out what driver it could be though? do you think i should reinstall windows completely? that means ill have to trash all my wonderful images.

but im really appreciative of you solution, i have a feeling your right.

[PorPorMe]

Originally Posted by Rondog

Try booting off a windows cd and going to recovery console and running "chkdsk x: /r" where x: is whatever drive letter is the offending party. Sounds like there might be some problems on your HDD.

Did you do what Rondog suggested? And yes it does does make a differerence.

[acgraham]

I ran a chkdsk from cmd on one of my many drives last night. its going to be a slow process. i have two 750gb drives, and two 200gb drives.

but if you think running it from the windows disk does make a difference then i will do it. over each night over the next few days.

thanks for all your support guys, this forum rocks.

[PorPorMe]

Once in a while there is some one around here that is smarter than a box of hammers. Not often, but once in a while.

[acgraham]

another thing i should have mentioned is i have a few partitions formatted as osx journalled for osx86. however, these problems were popping up before i was messing around with any osxstuff, and there are drives that slow down without any osx partitions on them too.

[PorPorMe]

Now you are getting a little over my pay grade-I'll bow out and let the others continue. Good luck!

Fixing errors on a HDD is always best done from boot. That way the HDD is open. The program is working from disk and there is nothing to interfere with it accessing the drive. When you are able, make your rescue disks. I have 2 other boot disks that have dozens of programs to run from boot when things go bad.Hirums boot cd is my best one. Do a search for those. A dos boot disk can still come in handy at times.

[Rondog]

PorPorMe is refering to Hiren's Boot CD.

Yes, it makes a lot of difference running chkdsk from Windows CD, because if you run it from within Windows, or from start up, its running chkdsk from the HDD, running it from the boot cd means there is nothing actually running on the HDD while the chkdsk is run and therefore it is much more effective.

It takes time, but is always my first point of call on a misbehaving HDD.

[PorPorMe]

That's the one! I also have The Ultimate Boot CD, which it isn't and SuperGrub. While it's a boot loader, I have used it as an emergency disk to put the MBR back together.

[acgraham]

thanks for you help guys. it appears deleting the osx partitions off my system drive and putting them on a seperate one was the thing to do. im guessing partition management doesn't like osx and windows on the same drive and i was also having mbr problems too with that. now im all good.
man osx is a sexy interface. now i can get away with using it without engaging in apple snobbery.

[PorPorMe]

As long as you got the problem taken care of, that's what counts!