fdisk can't delete extended dos partition
Richard Mak
to Win98. I run FDISK to start from scratch but an Extended
DOS partition refuses to be deleted:
1. The EXT DOS partition is the only partition shown in
FDISK.
2. I select to delete it and am told that I can't because
a Logical Drive exists.
3. I choose to delete log drive but am told there is none.
4. Choose to display log drives and am told there is none.
5. Back to step 2 again.
Does this have to do w/ Win2K being istalled at one time and
FDISK can't handle NTFS? Solution? I tried combinations of
creating a new Primary partition, deleting a non-DOS
partition, etc, but nothing works.
Thanks.
Rich
Doug Hassell
the newer MBR and/or partition info being used with Win2K (besides, it's
still in beta...)
Tell ya what... since you're not in a position to lose anything critical
(except your sanity ;), let's bring-out the "big guns".
- Boot to your Win98 disk (select "No CD-ROM Support", if shown)
- Just enter the following command:
FDISK /MBR
- The A: prompt will return after a short moment. Now, try using FDISK
again.
Beyond this, I can only suggest looking for a utility (or DEBUG script) that
will erase Track Zero on the drive. That way, FDISK can start "from
scratch".
I have an idea for that, but it's a stretch. My company makes disk
utilities, but we don't have anything so destructive available to the
public. There is, however, a product of ours that can do this, except you
have to download a 12MB installer in order to get to it (evaluation copy,
expires in 30 days). Go to the following address and select the "download"
link...
(http://www.imagecast.com/)
When you get it and install, run the app' called "ClientBuilder", select
"Standalone Disks", pick "No network ... Local Media Pull" from the
drop-down box, then just keep clicking "Next". You will need to have a
bootable, 3.5" floppy on-hand. When that's done, boot from the disk that
was made and a program called "ImageCast Client" will start automatically.
Look at the menu on-screen and you'll see "Wipe Partition Table" (exactly
what you need).
... like I said, it's a stretch. Otherwise, good luck!
---
Regards,
- Doug
Richard Mak <ri...@mknetcorp.com> wrote in message
news:3820ECF9...@mknetcorp.com...
Chia Ah Tee, Joseph
2GB.
Try check your hdd parameter in cmos setup.
Richard Mak
one to have run across this (?)
I tried the "/MBR" procedure and it had no effect. I still
have 6G (50% of the HD) to play w/. I will try your next
suggestion a bit later & let the ng know what happens.
Thanx.
Rich
Doug Hassell wrote:
>
> I don't think we're talking about a FAT16 limitation here. It's probably
> the newer MBR and/or partition info being used with Win2K (besides, it's
> still in beta...)
>
> Tell ya what... since you're not in a position to lose anything critical
> (except your sanity ;), let's bring-out the "big guns".
>
[del]
Georg Seibel
Try delpart.exe (A NT-Utility for deleting Partitions, running under
Dos). With this Utility I solved a problem similar to yours.
Greetings
Georg
Rez
>
> I don't think we're talking about a FAT16 limitation here. It's probably
> the newer MBR and/or partition info being used with Win2K (besides, it's
> still in beta...)
Could be a bug in Win98's FDISk, it's known to sometimes make invalid
partitions if the drive has ever had linux on it, and maybe other times
for all we know.
> Tell ya what... since you're not in a position to lose anything critical
> (except your sanity ;), let's bring-out the "big guns".
>
> - Boot to your Win98 disk (select "No CD-ROM Support", if shown)
> - Just enter the following command:
> FDISK /MBR
> - The A: prompt will return after a short moment. Now, try using FDISK
> again.
Might make a mess, but that might be interpreted as "no partitions"
> Beyond this, I can only suggest looking for a utility (or DEBUG script) that
> will erase Track Zero on the drive. That way, FDISK can start "from
> scratch".
I have not used this, but the following was passed on to me as a method
for returning the hard disk to a factory-blank state:
=======================================================================
The following must be put into a text file exactly as shown, including =
the blank line:
===============snip here============
a
mov ax,330
mov cx,1
mov dx,80
mov bx,3800
mov es,bx
int 13
int 3
g=3D100
q
===========snip here============keep above blank line============
The file must be redirected into debug using the following syntax:
debug < filename.ext
This will nuke everything in sight.
======================================================================
Also look for a util called overkill, it does the same thing.
~REZ~
cbfal...@my-deja.com
execute interrupt 13 (hex) with the parameters just loaded. Note that
this should be with the machine in MSDOS mode, not windows, otherwise I
believe the whole thing will be intercepted.
> q
>
> ===========snip here============keep above blank line============
> The file must be redirected into debug using the following syntax:
>
> debug < filename.ext
>
> This will nuke everything in sight.
> ======================================================================
>
> Also look for a util called overkill, it does the same thing.
>
> ~REZ~
>
>
--
Chuck Falconer
(cbfal...@my-deja.com)
Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Before you buy.
Outsider (6.22/3.11)
>
> ===========snip here============keep above blank line============
> The file must be redirected into debug using the following syntax:
>
> debug < filename.ext
>
> This will nuke everything in sight.
> ======================================================================
>
> Also look for a util called overkill, it does the same thing.
Overkill only deletes the C: partition. I have a debug routine that
deletes all partitions, but I haven't tried it yet. It's reputed to
come straight from M$.
Regards,
Outsider
Rez
>
> In article <3822A1...@earthlink.net>,
> Rez <rividh.min...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> > g=3D100
> ^^^^^ This has got to be wrong. Try just plain "g". This will
> execute interrupt 13 (hex) with the parameters just loaded. Note that
> this should be with the machine in MSDOS mode, not windows, otherwise I
> believe the whole thing will be intercepted.
Don't ask me, I don't grok ASM-type stuff :)
However, it's known to work in real DOS. Note that "restart in MSDOS
mode" on a Windows machine is SHELLED out of Windows and may not behave
quite like real DOS. (It feels enough different that I could tell right
away it was shelled, when I first tried "restart in DOS mode")
~REZ~
fuddb...@my-deja.com
i am having the same problem. in my nt book it
says that if this happens (not in so may words)
that you deleted the partition in the wrong
order. i wasn't aware there was a specific order
to delete ext, logical, dos, ntfs. but it makes
sense, recreate the partion with a new install
not a repair. set it up again then delete in the
proper order of deletion. inquire again on the
board for the order of deleting partitions.
enduser
Richard Mak wrote in message <382236F0...@mknetcorp.com>...
>Wow! seems quite involved. I can't be the 1st or the only
>one to have run across this (?)
>
No , you're not the first one. I had the same problem twice last week, on
different machines. Although I'm not sure fdisk is entirely at fault (could
be) , the utility
you need is DELPART. It's a small DOS utility and it did the job without a
hitch.
eu
>I tried the "/MBR" procedure and it had no effect. I still
>have 6G (50% of the HD) to play w/. I will try your next
>suggestion a bit later & let the ng know what happens.
>Thanx.
>Rich
>
>Doug Hassell wrote:
>>
>> I don't think we're talking about a FAT16 limitation here. It's probably
>> the newer MBR and/or partition info being used with Win2K (besides, it's
>> still in beta...)
>>
>> Tell ya what... since you're not in a position to lose anything critical
>> (except your sanity ;), let's bring-out the "big guns".
>>
>[del]
Mark Blain
>In article <3820ECF9...@mknetcorp.com>,
> Richard Mak <ri...@mknetcorp.com> wrote:
>> I inherited a PC running Win2K. I'm trying to
>bring it back
>> to Win98. I run FDISK to start from scratch but
>an Extended
>> DOS partition refuses to be deleted:
>>
>> 1. The EXT DOS partition is the only partition
>shown in
>> FDISK.
>> 2. I select to delete it and am told that I
>can't because
>> a Logical Drive exists.
>> 3. I choose to delete log drive but am told
>there is none.
>> 4. Choose to display log drives and am told
>there is none.
>> 5. Back to step 2 again....
I had the same thing happen to me last night. I was trying to re-partition
a drive that had been split between Win95 and Linux. The MS-DOS 7 version
of FDISK could not display the Linux partitions inside the EXT DOS
partition, but it knew they were there.
I slapped myself in the forehead, then booted a Linux recovery disk and ran
the "Linux" version of FDISK. It knew how to see and delete ALL the
partitions. MS-DOS used to list primary partitions it didn't understand as
"foreign"... I don't know why it can't do that in the extended partition
too.
Is there a Windows 2000 version of FDISK, or something similar, that you
can still access and use instead of MS-DOS FDISK? If not, the recovery
disk setup I used was from
http://www.clark.net/pub/toehser/tomsrtbt-1.7.185.dos.zip
but that seems like the long way around if you're not into Linux.
----- Mark R. Blain