On Fri, 11 Sep 2009 15:09:41 -0700 (PDT), SlickRCBD
put finger to keyboard and composed:

On Sep 11, 4:59*pm, SlickRCBD wrote:
As mentioned in the MPW98.disks.general, I just replaced the HD in my
old 98 machine. However, in spite of formatting it with the /s swtich,
XCOPYing everything, and doing sys D: for good measure, I couldn't get
the comptuer to boot.

Some (all?) Dell machines have a hidden partition, either in the user
area on the HD, or in the HPA.

See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_Protected_Area

I'm not exactly sure what is, or has, happened in your case, but you
may like to read the following article.

Understanding the Dell MediaDirect Partition:
http://www.goodells.net/dellrestore/mediadirect.htm

It explains why cloning will fail.

You can unhide the HPA using utilities such as HDAT2 or MHDD:
http://www.hdat2.com/
http://hddguru.com/content/en/software/2005.10.02-MHDD/

This FAQ has info on Dell's HPA:
http://www.hdat2.com/hdat2_faq.html

If the hidden partition is in the user accessible area, then a tool
such as MBRtool may show it:

http://www.diydatarecovery.nl/mbrtool.htm

Use MBRtool to look at the partition table at the bottom of LBA-0. How
many partitions do you see?

MBRtool will also allow you to save track 0 to a file. Look at LBA-3.
Dell sometimes uses this sector to access the HPA.

Not having a CD for this OEM install, I went to c:\windows\options
\cabs and ran setup.exe
It acted like I used an answer file and ran MUCH faster than I
expected. Once it was finished, it asked me for a product key. I had
anticipated this and extracted it before this ever began. I entered
it, and was taken to my desktop. I haven't hooked anything but the
keyboard, moue, and monitor up nor have I screwed in the drives yet,
but everything looks like it's running fine. One thing I noticed is
that it no longer says "Dell" on the bootup screen, but instead has a
standard win98 bootup screen. Is there any way to bring that back by
extracting a file from my old HD? It's a minor thing, but I thought it
was nice to have the OEM one to remind me it's NOT a retail product
key when somebody asks me if I have one.

For that matter, what format is this custom boot screen and can I
customize it myself? First priority is to get the old one that the
computer came with back up, then worry about further customizations. I
didn't expect this, but surprisingly I haven't ahd to revert to
running setup the entire time I"ve owned this system.

I don't udnerstand why the step of running setup was necessary, I was
able to make a working virtual PC virtual hard drive that booted just
fine using the exact same procedure only mapping networked drives
instead of copying real drive letters.

I forgot to add, here's a picture of what I'm trying to bring back,
taken from said Virutal PC backup I made prior to obtaining the new
drive
http://www.flickr.com/photos/10736018@N05/3910124663/
Now when I boot up the actual computer, the Windows 98 screen lacks
the words in the upper corners of the screen. No "Distributed by Dell"
and no "Microsoft"

Look for files that are the same size as logos.sys and logow.sys, ie
about 129,000 bytes.

I notice that the first three bytes in these files are either BM6 or
BM8 which suggests that they are BMP files.

Go to Start - Find - Files/Folder and search for files Containing
text BM6 or BM8. If you find a likely one, make a copy and rename it
to logo.BMP and view it with Paintbrush or your preferred image
viewer.

While I'm at it, is it possible to modify the file after extracting it
from the backup? Can I add "SE" to the Windows 98 and maybe put
something to ID the computer as belinging to SlickRCBD?

I've hacked explorer.exe so that my Start button says "Franc".

- Franc Zabkar
--
Please remove one 'i' from my address when replying by email.