Partition is there, but Windows can't see it

[quaxo]

Alright, I was resizing and moving some partitions to make room on another partition using Partition Magic 8. I've used this program for a long time but it's never done this to me.

The drives involved were C:, D:, and K:... the three partitions on my main disk. C: is my Windows partition, D: is a files partition where I store backups, K: holds my games.

This is the procedure PM8 was to follow:

Resize C: from 30GB to 20GB
Move D: to start after C:'s new end
Resize D: from 60GB to 40GB
Move K: to start after D:'s new end
Resize K: to take the rest of the space at the end of the disk.

C: resized and is working fine. D: didn't resize, and during its move, I received 2 errors:

Error 1608
File record marked used, file 48872

Error 1508
Bad directory buffer signature

And with that, PM8 said it couldn't continue with the rest of the operations until this error was fixed. I clicked ok, and decided to scan D: for errors, here's where the problem is. Windows can no longer see D:. Everest Home and Partition Magic still see the partition there, but both show it without a drive letter.

Everest's report on the drive:

Partition       Partition Type   Drive   Start Offset    Partition Length
#1 (Active)          NTFS            C:           0 MB             20002 MB
#2                       NTFS                       40005 MB        65005 MB
#3                       NTFS            K:       115012 MB       37613 MB

Any ideas?

-=EDIT=-
I made some corrections to this... the drive DIDN'T resize. Sorry for the typo, not sure what I was thinking 
Oh, and the move came before the resize.

[patio]

I have not used it in sometime but if you use the PM bootdisk and bypass Windows is it shown there ? ?
Were the partitions all defragged prior to the operation ? ?
Sorry, grasping at straws here...

[quaxo]

This computer doesn't have a floppy drive. I don't think I've used a floppy disk in several years. I don't think I have any around here, and if I did, I don't think they would still be working.

Yes, everything was defragmented before carrying this out.

I'm not crazy about recovering that drive. Like I said, it's the backup and the files can easily be replaced with the originals. PM8 sees the partition without a problem. I can use PM8 to browse through the partition and alter it.

That was weird. After restarting again (which I tried before) to see if Windows would pick it up during start up and give it a letter, it still hasn't. I can assign it a drive letter in Windows because, like I said, Windows can't see it. However, I forgot that I can do that same thing with PM8. I had PM8 assign it D:, clicked OK, and Windows immediately added it to the drives listed in My Computer and sees it fine now.

Ok, now I need to find out what led to this happening in the first place and whether or not I need to scrap the partition and rebuild the backup or if this can be corrected.

-=UPDATE=-
Just had CHKDSK do a read-only check:

CHKDSK is verifying files (stage 1 of 3)...
File verification completed.
CHKDSK is verifying indexes (stage 2 of 3)...
Correcting error in index $I30 for file 19705.
Correcting error in index $I30 for file 19705. (Yes, it said this twice).
Deleting index entry Korean in index $I30 of file 48855.
Indexing verification complete.

Errors found. CHKDSK cannot continue in read-only mode.

I found what the Korean was, it's a directory containing a Korean language manual. No loss there. If it's not English, Chinese, or Thai, I can't read it anyway.

[patio]

Are all 3 partitions NTFS ? ?
If so you can use the /x switch in chkdsk which dismounts the drive first and assumes the /f switch...
But this shouldn't have mattered with PM8.

[quaxo]

I intentionally told it to go into read-only mode, I didn't want it to alter anything at that time.

I've since unmounted and rescanned and repaired the errors. Everything appears as it should now.

Weird how it just dropped the drive letter like that though, I still haven't figured what cause all this in the first place, but at least it appears fixed.

[patio]

Good to hear...PM used to give me fits and i quit using it sometime ago.
If i need re-sizing for any reason now i create an image of the partitions individually with Acronis first.
I then delete and re-size as needed and restore the data from the image files. Fewer headaches this way.
I also didn't like how PM rewrote the MFT at times and if you got in a bind their rescue disk was the only choice.
I hate any utilities that put restrictions/conditions on what i use them for.

[quaxo]

I used to have problems with my earlier version of Partition Magic (several versions ago, 3? 4?). I've been on 8 for a long long while now. It gets used quite a bit and I've not once had a problem with it until now. Luckily, no major loss. Ain't no Koreans on this computer so it doesn't matter if I lost that manual. Most of that stuff is garbage anyway. It's like one of those boxes in the attic: it's been there forever and you don't even know what's in it anymore. I really need to sort it out, delete what I don't need, keep what I do, and free up the space.

[quaxo]

Ok, now I'm sure I broke something 

I think PM8 has screwed up the partition table. My drives read fine and work fine, but when I try to start PM8 it says "Init Error 100: Partition table is bad".

Any suggestions as to the best way to restore the partition table?

[patio]

Tryin to cheer you up here cause Symantec suggests using FDisk and starting over...

Link

I just HAD to laugh....man can they RUIN good software or what ? ?

 

[quaxo]

hahaha that's funny.

They might as well say "Should our program not perform as it is designed to, you paid $80 for nothing, sucker! Use fdisk."

They also recommend using PartitionInfo (a tool that comes with PM8). PartitionInfo doesn't list either of my physical drives though.

Everything is working fine though. There are no hard drive errors (aside from the mentioned), no bad sounds from the drive, no read errors, nothing.

I was actually going in to install Linux on this computer again, that's how I discovered the problem in the first place. I was going in to create some free space so Linux could make its partition. If I wasn't going to do that I would have never noticed anything was wrong with the partition tables.

[patio]

Here Ya Go

This is a link to Paragon's Free offer for Partition Manager...rumor has it it's still free even though it says April 11

I snagged it awhile ago but just did a cursory Test...nothing extensive. It's still on my ToDo list.

 

[quaxo]

Thanks Patio, I'll give that one a try.

[quaxo]

PM8 still tells me something is wrong, but Paragon doesn't see any problems nor did it have any problems resizing a partition to make free space for my Linux partition.

Which makes me wonder... is there actually something wrong with the partition table or is PM8 just being stupid?

-=EDIT=-
This is actually a nice program for $50. I might ditch my old PM8 and go with this from now on. Has all the features I need.

I've scanned the drive with several programs and none of them are seeing any problems with the drive. I think PM8 just wants to be a pain in the *censored*.

[patio]

The  version you DLoaded is full featured and if it installed correctly there's no reason to shell out 50 bucks...
As far as the drive itself i suspect that the partition table is PM propietary and or corrupt which is why i got so aggravated with the program a ways back...i DO NOT want programs doing things i can't undo or not telling me what it is they do.
This was my main reason for walking away from the program in the first place.

Personally i'd wipe that drive with everything under the Sun including FDisk, Darek's Boot Nukem and any other wipe utility i could find in order to eradicate any changes PM made to the disk...

Sorry for the mini-rant but that's how i see it.

[quaxo]

Yeah, most likely that's what I'll do. All of my important files are stored on a second physical disk, just in case stuff like this happens. Makes formatting or repartitioning the main drive easier.