currupt hard drive table

[darktower]

my friend loaned his 80gb hard drive to his mate when the guy put it in his pc he forgot to change the 80gb to slave so his master a 20gb hhd and the 80gb hhd are both set as masters when he turn on his pc it crshed.But now my frieds 80gb hhd reads as a 20gb. can this be reset to 80gb again theyve tried fdisk+ partion magic but no luck. cheers darktower

[DMR]

But now my frieds 80gb hhd reads as a 20gb.

It does this even when properly reinstalled in the computer it originally came out of?

[darktower]

Thanks for your replie DMR. yes even when its reformated it still only a 20Gb. Ive even tried retabling software but no luck.If you are trying to retable must the hhd being retable be the master
as Ive tried it as slave.Hope you can help us with this. cheers dt.

[DMR]

What is the exact make/model of the drive? You may need to attack it with a low-level diagnostic/formatting utility from the manufacturer (if you haven't tried that already).

[darktower]

thanks again for your help. no havent tried that one yet .the model is samsung model numuberSP0802N / sn S00jj10x573848.what would I be asking for from samsung. or do I just see if they have a retable software . Bit green in this field. cheers again dt

[DMR]

Thanks for the model #; Samsung does have a downloadable diagnostic and low-level formatting tool for that drive. A download link for the utility, as well as a graphical description/tutorial, can be found here.

The instructions are a bit sketchy grammatically-speaking, but the basic upshot is this:
* The utility runs from a bootable floppy disk, so you'll need to prepare one of those ahead of time.
* Download the utility program's installer (Hutil_creator.exe) and copy it to the floppy.
* Run Hutil_creator.exe to extract the actual program files to the floppy.
* Boot the system from the floppy, and when presented with the DOS "A:\" prompt, type the following command and then hit Enter:
Hutil.exe

The utility can perform a low-level format, which resets the Master Boot Record and Partition Table, but I'd try the Recover Native Size option first; it looks like just the thing you need:
"If you want to recover to the original size of drive, perform RECOVER NATIVE SIZE by pressing Enter Key. DISPLAY CURRENT STATUS represents the current size of drive."

Try the utility, and be sure to post any questions you might have before proceeding with any steps that you are unsure of.