Slave HD frustration

Forewarning... Not a TECH! Really frustrated at this end... Have Gateway 1.4GHz PIV with 60GB ATA 100 HD, other bells + whistles... Recently installed Maxtor DiamondMax Plus 30GB UATA / 133 as slave (desig "F" drive) when problems got the better of me on my 60GB. Thought I formatted & partitioned as per install disk. Initial reboot read Maxtor as "F". (Had "D" and "E" - CD and CDRW). Transferred number of files from "C" to "F" (o.k., I thought). Reformatted "C" and reloaded WinME. Now can't read slave 30GB. BIOS shows Primary IDE as my 60GB Quantum and Primary slave as Maxtor 30GB. Would like to recover files (downloaded sample shareware data recovery program - recovered files <64Kb, so I know they exist) prior to trying to reinstall slave HD again. Anyone know how I can get my system to recognize 30GB HD? Sys Properties Device Mgr shows "Disk Drive" and "Generic IDE Disc Type 47" ("no letter" and "C" designations). BTW - Have Norton 2003 AV loaded - do I need to take off in the interim (does it interfere with reloads)? Thanks much for any assistance!!