Windows 7 Files on second HDD

[africancanadian]

Hello ,
I have a Dell xps 730 pc.
It has two HDDs,
Drive 0 is partitioned into 3.
Disk 1, the second disk has 4 partitions.
I had Vista ultimate which got all haywire. I installed Windows 7 ultimate on partition C of 1st HDD.
I did not touch the second HDD.The second HDD is recognised by Win 7.
on computer, I can see there is space used in these partitions.
But, I can not see my files /folder and can not open them.[/COLOR](they were created in Vista)
If I click a partition on this second HDD, I get a Folder is empty message.
I can save new file on second drive and read and use them.
How can I configure so I can read files on my second drive in the new installed Win 7?
(note Vista is gone, it is not a dual boot)
Thanks you for help

 

[kemical]

Hi,
you say that the partition is showing that something is there but you just can't see it?

''I can see there is space used in these partitions.''

Hmm.. Have you tried changing the setting to show hidden files and folders? My screenshots will show you how..

 

[OldTimer]

At the risk of being considered OFF TOPIC, I'd like to interject something here.

If you're setting up a new system, from scratch, and you plan on having a second hard drive for dead storage (things you don't have to access every day) then you will be dollars and sense ahead by formatting that second drive in FAT-32 mode. NO, you can't do that from within Windows. Windows (any version) won't do that for you. You'll have to use a DOS boot disk, with FDISK and Format.com on it.
Or, you'll need to run some program like Partition Magic 8 or maybe Easus Partition Manager to partition the drive and format it FAT-32.

Don't just keep making partitions on a storage drive. It's not necessary and wastes space.
Folders work just fine for separating data files. You only need partitions for separating OS's or OS's from data.

The beauty of having your data disk or backup disk in FAT-32 mode, is that you can read it with anything, DOS or any version of Windows all the way back to Windows 95. (Like who would ever want to do that?)

With your data on a FAT-32 formatted HD, you'll never get hung up on permissions or ownership, etc. It will always be right there, fully accessible when you need it.

Oh, by the by, if you're installing Windows XP on a new hard drive, XP will run like a scalded dog on a FAT-32 formatted HD. That's the way I've run mine since the day I upgraded from windows 98SE to XP-Pro. When the upgrade program asked me if I wanted to keep my old format I said "YES" and I've never regretted it for a second.
I've even been given a computer or two that had Windows XP on it and was in NTFS format.
Partition Magic 8 will convert NTFS to FAT-32 if there are NO errors on the drive. I've done it several times.

Now I'm rambling. Sorry!

Old Timer