a 200gb pata hdd that is partitioned into (approx) 170 and 30 gb NTFS partitions using norton partitionmagic is showing up as one unformatted hdd with 0 space and no file system in win2k. the 170gb partition is the primary master hdd where xp was installed in a separate rig -one now dead due to an unrelated problem.

the jumper is correctly set.

i've HEARD from multiple sources that it's common for partitioned hdds to show up as unformatted in windows, particularly in xp, but sadly no one remembers precisely how this problem is fixed. apparently the partition table needs to be reset or something -however, i'm very hesitant to proceed without knowing exactly what to do to recover all my data (hopefully without having to use something like norton getdataback, which requires a separate hdd); i'm especially wary of using some random app that could mess up the data that i'm SURE is still secure on the hdd. i'm considering installing norton partitionmagic on this pc, but i believe the proprietary formats norton uses may be the cause of this problem.

help?It's unclear how you arrived at this point...
Was it originally all one partition and you used norton to resize them with data already on the drive ? ?
You say you don't have norton installed so did you run this from a boot disk ? ?
More details...the 200gb hdd in question was used as the primary master hdd in a separate computer running windows xp pro. norton partionmagic was used there to create two new ntfs partitions, one 172.2Gb in size and the other 25.5Gb. unfortunately, that computer is no longer accessible due to a slipup (-literally; during cpu heatsink reattachment, i accidentally dislodged some components from the mobo when my screwdriver slipped :/) -and my backup pc running win2k sees neither partition and instead reports a single unlabelled hdd with 0 space and no file system.

i can confirm that all the data is still on the hdd and is perfectly accessible; i'm currently viewing the files using a linuxmint livecd (which, by the way, is pretty sweet).

what i would like to do now is to find some way to make both partitions on this hdd accessible on my win2k machine (which i must continue using for now because there are programs i use which require a windows os). i do not intend on 'upgrading' this pc to xp or vista.

EDIT: here's a screenshot of the partitioned drive in gparted, if it may help any:

i have another WEIRD thing to report: gparted, the partitioning software in linuxmint, reports the 172.2GB partition as being 160.40GiB and the 25.5GB partition as being 25.91GiB; in other words, unlike the file browser, gparted reports the size of the larger partition as being smaller and the smaller partition is reported as being slightly larger... now that is really weird. can anyone explain this WTFery?Is the Win2K system setup NTFS ? ?
If not there's your culprit.

BTW GParted size #'s will never match what Windows reports...win2k is updated to service pack 4 and ntfs is being used.

why should the partition sizes quoted in gparted not be trusted?

EDIT: i meant to say, the sizes gparted reports conflicts with the sizes the linux file browser reports; compared to what the file browser reports, the larger partition is quoted as being quite a bit smaller in gparted and the smaller partition is quoted as being slightly bigger. the fact that there is no consistency here is kind of troublesome.I didn't say it's not to be trusted.
ALL file managers use a slightly different method for reporting drive/partition sizes...
If you use 4 different file managers you will get 4 different results...

For example if a Windows system has prefetch data on it or a swap file existing a Linux app may not see them properly and mis-report it accordingly...

WELL that's a bad example but you get the idea.

GParted once told me my MBR was 172Mg.i feel i am one step closer to understanding my problem. from the wikipedia article on partitionmagic: "PartitionMagic is ... not compatible with Windows NT, 2000, or 2003 server EDITIONS."

urgh... never noticed that before. sadly, i'm still not entirely clear on how next to proceed. also, unfortunately, i am no longer in possession of any windows install disks. is there some other way to enter the recovery console without them (and in my case, which one should i use, the win2k disk or the xp disk?)?

i have made a message in symantic's forums and am also awaiting response from them.

@patio: are the sizes gparted reports in any way significant? i still don't quite get how it's giving me that kind of result, where the larger partition is reported as being smaller than it should be and the smaller one is slightly larger (but not enough to compensate for the reported size difference on the larger partition), but if it really doesn't matter in the realm of making these partitions error free and accessible on win2k, i think i can live with not knowing :p

at the end of the day, i just want things to work... well.Unfortunately when tou use a 3rd party partition app you are stuck with what you created...they all work differently.
I have had partitions/drives that could not be recovered using PQMagic...a wipe and fresh start was the only solution.
As far as recovery i don't understand when you state Win2K or XP...
A Win2K partition if repairable can only be done with the Win2K RC tools...these are available as a 4 floppy DLoad from MS.
Same with XP...to repair/recover you can only use the XP RC tools ...also available as a DLoad from MS.
Best of Luck.