Cannot Create a bootdisk to format old comp :(

[Guest jeffwalker9999]

my 2 cents ----

on why cannot format

if i recall correctly an harddrive over >880 megs

( value may be incorrect but close )

( fat 32 has a limit on size it can do )

(( format c: does not work ))

the harddrive has to be formated by the manufs disk util

I know western digital and maxtor and samsung and others are this way

very good post as to commands and settings

been a long time for me too to use these but very good

well thats my input - hope it helps

[php]

It's actually around 8 gigs I believe... the 1024 cylinder limit?

[cholla]

FaT_PHiL :I think I can help with the _RESTORE problem.I'm still trying to figure out why you can't format even from inside Windows.My thoughts on this are  possibly there is an administrative password & without it it won't format;I'm not sure if deleting the password list files will remove the administrator password if there is one. or somekind of out of memory problem.It could even be the _RESTORE so lets work on that first.First go to Control Panel SystemPerformanceFile SystemTroubleshooting here check "Disable System Restore" .Then OK &OK .You may already have this disabled but this is the first step.This will remove all the restore points so if a virus is hiding there it will be removed.

This is the next part:

At the command prompt type:  ATTRIB -H -R -S C:_RESTORE

If you do this inside Windows the MSDOS comand prompt will

be C:WINDOWS> you need to type: cd  at the prompt.

This will give you C:>

At the command prompt type:  ATTRIB -H -R -S C:_RESTORE

enter then close MSDOS

Open Windows Explorer(My Computer) C: drive(if thats where you have Windows)

R. click on the _RESTORE folder & delete it.

R. click again in the C: window in the white blank area Select: NewText Document

name it:  _RESTORE  with no extension

This last step keeps the _Restore folder from returning the file stays at 0KB if

you don't do this Windows will create a new _RESTORE folder & fill it the same way

the old one was.

This should completly remove the _RESTORE except for the empty file.

I leave my OS like this but if you want restore enabled you need to reverse all of this.But the virus should be removed.To close the ATTRIB you use ATTRIB +H +R +S C: _RESTORE

If you want to edit your MSDOS.SYS like the screenshot I posted above you need to do this:

If you are inside Windows select StartProgramsAccessoriesMS-DOS Prompt at the C:Windows> type cd  Enter this should give you the C:>  At the prompt type    ATTRIB -H -R -S C:MSDOS.SYS paying attention to the spaces Enter.At the prompt type EDIT MSDOS.SYS  Enter.You should be in the edit screen make the changes you wany.You have to navigate with your keyboard arrows.Add or change the settings you want.then use Alt key to go to the top menu bar pull down the File menu select Save then exit.reboot.The one to leave alone is your bootgui. I will see what I can find on the Administrator password & format.To close the ATTRIB you use ATTRIB +H +R +S C:MSDOS.SYS

[cholla]

I know I'm double posting.I just want to seperate them because both contain a lot of information.

FaT_PHiL : The first part has information on passwords.Do you want or need to save any data on this HD?If not then you might try to delete all the partitions with fdisk except the primary.Then follow the format instructions below.I'm putting in more than one set of instructions because some of them conflict on just how to do this.The .txt file at the bottom I copied from my Windows ME.

To remove a name from the list of remote administrators

Open Passwords properties in Control Panel.

Click the Remote Administration tab.

Select a name in the Administrators list, click Remove, and then click Yes to confirm the deletion.

Notes

If there is no Remote Administration tab, the computer is not set up to give others access to your files. For information on allowing others to manage your files, click Related Topics below.

If there is no Administrators list on the Remote Administration tab, your computer is not set up to control access by using a list of names. For information on controlling access with a list, click Related Topics below.

You must have at least one valid entry in the Administrators list for remote administration to be effective.

Another way to open Control Panel is to click Start, point to Settings, and then click Control Panel. If you don't see the item you want, click view all Control Panel options.

This is MS instructions .You probably already know this.

How to Format a Hard Disk

After you create the partitions, you must format the partitions: 1. Restart your computer with the Startup disk in the floppy disk drive.

NOTE: If you are using a Windows 95 Startup disk, a command prompt is displayed and you can skip to step 2. If you are using a Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, or Windows Me Startup disk, select the Start computer without CD-ROM support menu option when the Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed.

2. When a command prompt is displayed, type format c: /s, and then press ENTER. This command transfers the system files and should only be used when you format drive C (or your "active" drive). For all other partitions, type format drive: (where drive is the letter of the partition that you want to format).

NOTE: If you receive a "Bad command" or "Bad file name" error message, you may need to extract the Format.com tool to your boot disk. To do this, type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

extract ebd.cab format.com

After the Format.com tool is extracted to your boot disk, type format c: /s t a command prompt to format your active partition, or type format drive: if you want to format a partition that is not your active partition.

3. When you successfully run the Format.com tool, you receive the following message:

WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST!

Proceed with Format? 

4. Press Y, and then press ENTER to format drive C.

5. After the format procedure is finished, you receive the following message:

Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none)?

NOTE: This is an optional feature that you can use to type a name for the drive. You can either type an 11-character name for the drive, or you can leave it blank by pressing ENTER.

This set of instructions contradicts some of the above.

Format the partitions.  After creating the partitions and making sure the primary DOS partition is active, and rebooting to the floppy, an experienced tech might assume that the Windows Setup would format the drive.  Not so.  That has to be done manually.  And, by the way, It cannot be done from "4.  Minimal boot."  Issuing the Format C: command there results in the following error message:

Invalid media type reading Drive C:

Menu choices "1. Help" and "2.  Start with CD-ROM support" do allow formatting drive C: without error.

So, reboot the computer to the floppy.

Select  "2.  Start Computer with CD-ROM support," and format the C: drive as follows:

A:> format c:

Do not use the /s  (transfer system files) flag with the format command.  Win ME does not support it (by the way, Full Versions of Windows 98/SE will not install if it is done).  Also, the SYS command results in an error message.

[Guest jeffwalker9999]

He is stating it is a 8gig harddrive

I dont think that format c: is going to work for him

I think to format the drive

he will need to use harddrive manufs disk util to format it

as I recall fat 32 ( format c: ) has a size limit it can do

and are you sure that the format he copied is not fat 16

I know that a few of the boot cds have the harddrive maunf utils on them

( non-trusted site www.9down.com ) has a few that I know of

format c: is more than likely  going to error or incorrect drive size

(( please correct if wrong- but my 2 cents )))

been a long time sience commands but very very good post there ......

[Guest jeffwalker9999]

what is the status on this ????

did you get it working / fixed ??

[FaT_PHiL]

sry i really hate this comp lol. I havent had the time to devote to fixing it.

I ran FDISK and i went to partition information and it shows

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Partiition    Status    Type        Volume Label    Mbytes  System  Usage

C: 1              A        PRI  DOS        GAMES        6103    FAT32    100%

Total disk space is 6103 Mbytes (1 Mbyte = 1048576 bytes)

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

I tried showing the hidden _RESTORE folder through dos but it says access denied.

I have system restore disabled, and i went to go into Passwords.. but my virus has infected it.. and it says windows cannot open this.. etc

i have no way of obtaining the password cause the computer wasnt originally mine it was a friends who gave it to be back in NY, i now live in florida.

Is it safe to delete the only partition and then create a new one?

or is my problem deeper being that my hdd is so old .. lower than 8 gigs it cant be reformated by a boot disk?

[cholla]

FaT_PHiL : If you delete the primary partition you will lose all data or at least access to it on the disk.If you have a full Windows CD you can put Windows on the HD with & there is no data on it you need .I think I would try this.It might let if format with the startup disk after you delete the primary partition you will need to fdisk another new one.

On the passwords like iI posted I don't think ME has an administrator password unless it has ben setup for remote access.Typing .pwl in search should show the passwords I think I don't have any in my Windows only BIOS ones in my IBM so I can't test this .If .pwl turns up anything just delete it.

When you get the C:> prompt type dir /w to see exactly how your _RESTORE is named if it has caps or not then type ATTRIB -H -R -S C:_RESTORE at the prompt I put more in the previous post but make sure it is spaced the same.It has been awhile since I changed mine so you may need to do this from inside Windows with the MSDOS Prompt in Programs .Try to del _RESTORE from there then create the new Text Document _RESTORE make sure you don't leave the .txt in the name only _RESTORE.

Try this zip file .DL it to a Temp folder then extract it to a floppy.Then reboot with the floppy in the drive.It

is PCDoctor It might only work for IBM.If it does load the diagnostic screen use the Alt key to get to the pulldown menus & then use the keyboard arrow keys to navigate.Pull down Utilities & Select Full Erase Hard drive.Warning this will remove all data from the hard drive.With it clean you may be able to format it.

[FaT_PHiL]

im sure the passwords wont have anything to do with it because when i first got the computer before i got the worm on it, i was able to delete my friends login and password and put in my own and it didnt ask for any adminstrator password to do it.

I went into fdisk and deleted the primary partition and then set a new one.

booted from A: .. went to ramdrive and formated C and it seemed to be going well.. it checked drive integrity to 100% and then said formating .. and BOOM again internal stack error.

i dont have a windows cd, just my dell 98SE but it only works with the dell computer.

Im thinking this is where i should call it quits and finally either throw out the hdd .. or possibly light it on fire in an act of rage.. and then just buy a cheap hdd that i know can be formated and can install an OS on.

unless theres something else i can do i guess its over lol.. as i cant boot to C: anymore cause i cant format the drive..

[Guest jeffwalker9999]

Fat_Phil ------

cc: cholla

I think you are going to have to goto harddrive manuf

and get there util / disk  and format / low level format the drive with it

posted a few days ago - but guess you have not done it - huh?

  ~~

you will not need to do a format c: /s or any thing else

as drive will be formatted and ready for new media to be but on it

a few boot cd's have the harddrive manufs util on them  - this one does

Hiren's BootCD 7.9

   

my 2 cents ----- Again

on how to format the drive - jeff

[cholla]

FaT_PHiL : Looks like you have tried my suggestions to format & its not working.You didn't say if you were able to DL the PCDoctor & if it would work on your PC.

I would try  what jeffwalker9999 is suggesting."Go to harddrive manuf

and get there util / disk  and format / low level format the drive with it ."

I'm guessing a bit on this but maybe the amount of RAM is too low to support Windows 98se or ME.I think you have one of them on the HD.Since one of them was installed on it .The PC can't put what it needs in RAM to format the HD because the RAM is too small & you get the internal stack stack error.

My second guess on this is the clusters on the HD are corrupted & full even though your PC isn't telling you this.So only a complete erase of the HD is going to fix this.Then you can fixdisk & format.

A question is this PC supposed to be capable of using FAT32 or is it so old that you need to partition with FAT16 to make the HD work?

jeffwalker9999 : I'm going to take a look at Hiren's BootCD 7.9 .

[Guest jeffwalker9999]

Cholla ------

I think manuf harddrive format is what going to have to do

as I had to do it this way a few weeks ago on a sumsung harddrive because format c:

has giving wrong drive size and errors

fat 32 is limited in size can do as i recall

and thinking may be large block access  problem - too

or a capacity barriers may be a problem - too.

and in a prior post an 8 gig hd is said

so thats what I think should do to format it

give up on format c: and use harddrive format tool from harddrive manuf

~~~~~~

Also hd manuf  disk will format, partition and etc the harddrive

maxtor notes @ http://maxtor.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/maxtor.cfg/php/enduser/olh_adp.php?p_faqid=1327

IBM(Hitachi)

http://www.hgst.com/hdd/support/download.htm

Seagate

http://www.seagate.com/support/disc/utils.html

Maxtor

http://www.maxtor.com/en/support/downloads/index.htm

Fujitsu

http://www.fel.fujitsu.com/home/drivers.asp?L=en&CID=1

Samsung

http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/index.htm

FAQ: Low level format

Western Digital

http://support.wdc.com/download/index.asp

~~~~~ 

killer posts on the commands there - been a long time

My 3 cents - jeff 

[cholla]

jeffwalker9999 ;I think we pretty much agree on the next step.

Its kind of fun seeing if someone can get an old PC going.It seems like the only problem with this one is it won't format & has a couple of worms that the AV won't get rid of.

FaT_PHiL didn't seem to be able to get rid of the _RESTORE folder but this worked great for my OS.

Now the _RESTORE file stays at zero kb.

The FAT32 is limited in its Max partition size but I think you can create as many partitions of this size you want up to the size of the HD.With FAT 16 I think the max partition is 2G.php posted 8G as the max for FAT32 I didn't check this but it sounds correct.

Since I use ME & it still has some DOS capability I use commands where I can.I specially like the MSDOS.SYS edit because it let me eliminate all the windows logos on boot.& gives me a menu which I can select safe mode If I need too.It also reports some errors if there are any on boot.Like if settings have changed .

[Guest jeffwalker9999]

Cholla

I dont believe it - lol

agree with me

I too like to see old pc work again

and hope this works

95% sure can format drive unless damaged

the maxtor note has the values  / limits as a heads up

[FaT_PHiL]

ok i downloaded the samsung utility and i booted it up, i went to setup existing hard drive and it asked me like 4 times if i wanted to erase the data and i said yes.. then it said

..creating new partition and formating drive.

after it finished it told me to exit and install my OS by using the boot disk.

Is there anything else im suppose to do or just proceed with the same method of going to the ramdrive and typing format C:

EDIT: ive tried to format it and at 84% it gave me the stack error.

Could the memory be so bad that it cant support ME? and should i try using the samsung utility again and formatting it with 98SE?

[cholla]

FaT_PHiL ;I did some checking on system requirements.This PC should be able to use either ME or 98.

I guess with bad RAM it might do this.If you were able to use the PCdoctor77.zip I posted it has some diagnostics that you could check the RAM with.

I have a couple of questions.

When you fdisk to partition the HD do the partitions shoe FAT 16 Or FAT32 or neither?

Are you setting the Primary partition active with fdisk?

Are you using the Large disk option? If yes have you tried not usinf it?

If you don't use the large disk option  you can only use FAT 16 but this can be changed to FAT32 after Windows is loaded.If this works & you end up with FAT16 partitions I will give you some instructions to change it with Windows ME.Windows 98 has a converter.

Heres the system requirements I got from MS but I don't see a problem I just thought you might want to look at them.

The minimum hardware requirements for Windows Me include

Pentium 150-MHz processor or better

[Guest jeffwalker9999]

ok i downloaded the samsung utility and i booted it up, i went to setup existing hard drive and it asked me like 4 times if i wanted to erase the data and i said yes.. then it said

..creating new partition and formating drive.

after it finished it told me to exit and install my OS by using the boot disk.

Is there anything else im suppose to do or just proceed with the same method of going to the ramdrive and typing format C:

EDIT: ive tried to format it and at 84% it gave me the stack error.

Could the memory be so bad that it cant support ME? and should i try using the samsung utility again and formatting it with 98SE?

Fat-Phil

the samsung disk does all the formatment

so you will not need to reformat the drive

you next need to install os ( from cd-rom )

thats all that is needed

[FaT_PHiL]

after using the samsung utility, i went to fdisk and it says the partition it created is

Type PRI DOS

Volume Label DSK1_VOL1

System FAT32

i went to set active partition and it says the only startable partition on Drive 1 is already active.

how do i use the Large disk option?

EDIT:

i tried using the samsung utility again and selected Windows 98SE as my OS.. it created the partition and then asked me to put in my 98SE boot disk .. which i did.. it copied some files and it booted up into C: but the dir only showed  a few files.. so i rebooted from A: and tried to format C again from the ramdrive.. which yielded the same results as before .. stack error =/

ive decided i want to only use 98SE .. there really isnt nothing ME can offer that 98SE can and it requires less.

[Guest jeffwalker9999]

Fat_Phil

working on an answer for you

back in a few

[Guest jeffwalker9999]

Fat_Phil

from what I read at

http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/index.htm

it should set harddrive for 1 patrition c: and max size of drive

and active -----this is using the DM Creator disk you make

and then be ready for o/s install next

after using the samsung utility, i went to fdisk and it says the partition it created is

Type PRI DOS

Volume Label DSK1_VOL1

System FAT32

i went to set active partition and it says the only startable partition on Drive 1 is already active.

edit of quote

it is ready for os install you dont need to do anything else

as I recall I did not have to format - I next installed os - but that was months ago

this may help so please veiw it ( cd-rom problems work around )

http://www.anetforums.com/posts.aspx?ThreadIndex=3172

Conflict ----- Conflict --------- Conflict ----------

how ever if you go read the users guide it is saying to format c: /s

the drive

Read This URL 

Partitioning and Formatting the Drive

http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/support/Download/userguide/usersguide_05.htm

looks like you are using a wrong format proceedure - and getting stack error

I'm 99.9% sure you have to use the harddrive manuf disk to do the format of the drive

it should be on the floppy you've made  {{ DM Creator.exe  }}

http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/utilities/sutil.htm

as to large disk - it looks like you have to use the SUTIL disk

via pm ( if wanted ) I can tell you a site you can get all the service packs at for 98se

because you had a virus

you may want to look at this and do it - too

http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/support/faqs/faqs_20050422_0000115005.htm

and low level format the drive

if you have a

[ Voyager7 Series : SV0682D, SV1023D, SV1364D, SV1705D, SV2046D ]

see this page

http://www.samsung.com/Products/HardDiskDrive/support/faqs/faqs_19991203_0000239619.htm

     

Also ---- again you have to format from harddrive manufs disk / floppy should have it

or may be what is copied at last step -as you said files were copied to c:

keep us posted

I want to see an old pc work again

edit -- wrong info 

[FaT_PHiL]

just a quick question um.. ive been using the DM utility from the floppy i made and it tells me after it creates the partition to install my OS..

to install the OS from the OS boot disk.. im suppose to type format C: on the ramdrive correct?

[Guest jeffwalker9999]

no

no

forget about format

as disk is formatted by the sumsung util

Fat-Phil

the samsung disk does all the formatment

so you will not need to reformat the drive

you next need to install os ( from cd-rom )

thats all that is needed

[Guest jeffwalker9999]

if you have a chat client

aol

yahoo

msn

add me jeffwalker9999

and will help you more via it

[Guest jeffwalker9999]

now the problem is a dell based cd-rom with the os

and not a dell pc

going to get an os from someone he said via am Im chat

so thats where we are at

and he thought the boot disk  had the installer for the os

[FaT_PHiL]

ya so now the next step is to obtain an OS cd and install it,

i originally thought that the boot disk would install the main parts of the OS too and copy the files from the hard drive that were needed ..

i guess i learned a valuable piece of information there =/