Invalid Partition on HD

[Roel]

Guys anyone can help me regarding this, I got my old 4.3GB Western D. But it is detected as Invalid Partition or not valid FAT32.

Can some body tell me how to elliminate this or how to re format this.

I have tried to use it as slave but my PC didn't boot up. When booting on dos mode using floppy Im not able to format it... Need Help pls.

[Jumby]

Is it the only hard drive in the system? If so, go here http://www.bootdisk.com and get a boot disk then fdisk, format, whatever you need to do. I can't remember whether I liked Worm's or User Friendly's better, but either will do the trick --- just make sure you get a 98 or Me to get FAT32.

[Roel]

Jumby

It used to be a single HD in my system. but I got another bigger HD now. As far as I remember this HD got some virus in MBR. I re format it but I dont know what happened why Its not getting recognized..

[mjc]

Have you tried doing fdisk_/mbr on it? (space instead of the underscore)

Also something to look for is a little program called delpart (it is an old NT program) that does a very good job of removing non-standard partitions, it is small enough to fit on the boot floppy and it is a good idea to only have the drive you want to erase hooked up when using it........

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Roel]

MJC

Regarding FDISK_/MBR I have tried this that's why I had this problem now. Can you tell me what Im supposed to see after typing this command coz I didn't get anything after typing that, and the problem started.

[mjc]

After typing it....the drive spins for a few seconds and you will still be at the prompt where you typed it from......nothing really to see, it is supposed to rebuild the Master Boot Record.....

Have you tried just the fdisk command and then selectiong "view" (number 4 I believe)?

I know that XOSL will make a backup copy of the mbr and the partition info....not sure if PM does that too, would be an option if it did, restore the backup...

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mjc
Links list:Computer Links (http://www.dreamwater.org/tech/mjc/index.htm)

Celts are the men that heaven made mad, For all their battles are merry and their songs are all sad.

[Roel]

MJC

Well that's what Im wondering I didn't see anything after typing FDISK /MBR
But if I type FDISK alone Im getting some selection.. about dos or some thing like partition selection (which I don't Know).. What ever I select its just the same.. Any More suggestion about this

[Reid]

FDISK can sometimes have problems with a partition affected by a virus or other means. I have used this <A HREF="http://www.firmware.com/support/bios/hdclear.htm" TARGET=_blank>
DEBUG Script to Clear Partition Sector of Hard Drive</A> a couple of times. You just need to have DEBUG on a bootable floppy.

Check this link for Notes on FDISK (http://www.firmware.com/support/bios/fdisk.htm) for help once you get the partition cleared.

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You pay attention to somethin' here. These kids ain't the same anymore.
You know what's behind it all?
Rock and Roll

[Reid]

Originally posted by Roel:
I have tried to use it as slave but my PC didn't boot up.

Was your bootable C: drive still attached and were the jumpers set properly on both drives? If so, then the drive may have an electrical problem. As far as I know, the condition of the D: drive's partition should not matter when you are booting the C: drive.

Note: If you run the debug script, remove the good drive so its partition cannot get erased.

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You pay attention to somethin' here. These kids ain't the same anymore.
You know what's behind it all?
Rock and Roll

[This message has been edited by Reid (edited 02-08-2002).]

[Roel]

Reid
I think you scared me yes I jumpers was set accordingly, That's what I also beleived the System will boot as long as one drive is having OS and in good condition. So in case that its an electrical problem.. is there any solution I can do.??

[Reid]

I suppose there is a slight chance that there could be a problem with the ribbon cable, but it sounds more like a failure in the drive's electronics. A repair would not be cost-effective.

You could try installing the suspect drive by itself as the Primary Master and run the debug script (after booting with a floppy) and then run fdisk. If the drive does not respond, then I'd say it became a paperweight http://www.PCGuide.com/ubb/smile.gif

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You pay attention to somethin' here. These kids ain't the same anymore.
You know what's behind it all?
Rock and Roll

[This message has been edited by Reid (edited 02-09-2002).]

[Roel]

Reid

Thanks for your reply and concern, I have a bit confusions here since Im not a programmer, I find some difficulties working on dos mode. Can you pls elaborate to me step by step. How to do this de bugging..It sounds very interesting to me. But Honestly I don't have any idea where and how to start. Your help will be greatly appreciated.

[Reid]

Roel,

You just need to start your computer with a bootable disk in the floppy drive. You may already have debug on the disk you used to try fdisk before. At the A:\ prompt, type DEBUG, then press ENTER. Type in the remaining lines as they appear on the script, pressing ENTER for each line.
You can ignore the segment:offset values, debug puts those in.

Good luck

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You pay attention to somethin' here. These kids ain't the same anymore.
You know what's behind it all?
Rock and Roll

[This message has been edited by Reid (edited 02-09-2002).]

[Roel]

Reid
How I will know if I got a Debug on my floppy. Im only using a windows start up disk, Anyway I haven't check yet if the boot up disk is having that file. I'll see if its available. Thanks for the help. For sure I'll come back to you for futher instructions..

[Reid]

A normal Windows StartUp disk will create a ramdrive (drive emulator in memory), then expand compressed files into it. Debug should be in the ramdrive.

If you have one drive installed in your system and it is detected by the BIOS, then the ramdrive should be D:.

[Dinosaur]

If the master/slave jumpers are set properly and the cables are okay, it is highly unlikely that a bad slave disk would prevent the system from booting.

A common error is to put the Slave disk at the end of the cable. The Master should be at the end.

Once you get the system to boot, you should be able to run Fdisk to delete and them create partitons on the second disk. The problem with the older disk is probably due to the use of an Fdisk not compatible with the Fdisk that came with your current OS.

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Gouverneur, the Dinosaur from pre-compter era.
Eschew Obfuscation!
If one hundred million people believe a foolish idea, it is still a foolish idea.