I have 2 HDs on my XP sysyem.Suddenly,I cannot access the slave,boot up locks up on"verifying DMI pool data".
If I disconnect D: all is well.If I define d: as master and diconnect c:,I can then boot up from floppy and access the drive. The drive (20GIG) has partitions primary 8,extended 19+ and I cannot through fdisk,delete them and format.It is probably simple,but so am I.Help please?

Sounds like a controller issue. Is the secondary drive on the same cable? Will it work on the other cable?

Thanks Scott.If I boot up the slave as master,it can be read but I cannot format all of it.If I try to delete extended partition,it say that it cannot be deleted whilst logical drive exists and then if I try to delete log.drive,it tells me none has been defined.I can access as master but only format the 8 gig partition.
Thanks,
Mike Ward

OK try this. Put things back as master and slave the way you originally had it. Once you check all your basics are OK, like RAM, bios settings, jumpers, right hard drive cables config. And so forth, disable or turn off the "RESTORE" settings on WIN XP, go to START->PROGRAM->ACCESSORIES->SYSTEM->RESTORE. Also disable any anti-virus, firewalls, and any other special programs you have. REBOOT and see what happens. If this doesn't work, and you want to format your slave drive, you may need to do a FIXMBR or FIXBOOT command, BUT only do these as last resorts. Before using these commands, replace all your hard drive cables with an 80-pin, instead of the usual 40-pin, if you don't have the 80-pin yet. Next, if you are using any Y-splitter connector, remove those and connect directly.
Use FIXBOOT or FIXBMR using WIN XP CD, and on start-up, go to REPAIR, go into MMC. If these don't work, you may have to do a low-level format.

www.bootdisk.com if you can't still boot after fixing yer hardware problem. :D :cool:

Just a tidbit to add:
If you have the slave back in, listen very closely when you try to access it.
Do you hear any clicking, or any other odd noise?

I sure hope not, cause that means the HD may have physically failed.