I loved this line

[:FI:WillieOFS]

from the WINDOZE troubleshooter
" Yes, I want to use more than four IDE/ESDI devices. I will research the configuration issues or seek professional help. "

I think seeking professional help is ALWAYS a good option.. NOT.

especially since I'm only running ONE IDE device on this rig. All the BS information says my IDE hard disc is working properly. However, it's not on the list of drives.. It shows up on the hardware list and says it OTAY Bu-Wheat. but the damn thing isn't there.. Disconnected it, booted up and shut down, reconnected it and the damn thing shows on the flash screens but it still isn't accessable. It has no OS and was used for storage on the wife's comp. I'd like to get it running and see what was lost. LOL It's a 160G MAXTOR and I think it's TOAST.

I may hook it up to the other IDE channel and see if it's still invisible. GOt a new/different cable on it so there is one less thing to worry about.

Haven't bothered to pull it and try it in another machine yet. Might end up using it for decoration..

Might have to put a kicker on it and kick start the damn thing.

Oh well, my NEW SATA DVD/CD burner thingy installed nicely anyway.

[:FI:Heloego]

You got me confused.

Are you attempting to install it as a second HD?
If so, verify the jumper is set to "Slave" or "Cable Select".

[:FI:Sneaky_Russian]

If it's the only IDE drive , surely "master" should work. (it does on my rig)

If it shows in POST test and bios, see if you can read it in DOS startup mode. (if you have an old 98 recovery floppy)

[:FI:WillieOFS]

it was working and I started getting file errors and finally UNABLE TO READ........

I think it's toast.

[:FI:Heloego]

...running a Scandisk on it.

It will tell you whether you have a lot of surface errors. But it already sounds toasted.

Once you start getting any surface errors the prob just gets worse until the disk is unreadable.

Same thing happened to my Fujitsu 20Gb.