Partition Magic Error 108 problem

"PCR" wrote in message ...

Check again! Write it down & post it. Post the full results to...

(a) FDISK /Status
(b) FDISK


In some cases, fdisk will write blocks of byte F6 to what it thinks
are free disk space, in anticipation of partitioning a drive. (I'm
not sure, but it may be when you enter the "Create" option.)


| Quite so. The Microsoft bullettin Q69013 also warns against using fdisk/mbr
| if there more than four partitions exist. Unfortunately I cannot remember if
| the affected hdd contained just c:, d:, e:, and f:, or g: as well. I may risk
| it...

It's the number of PRIMARY partitions that matter. An Extended partition counts
as one primary, no matter how many volumes it contains.

Right.

"Bill Blanton" wrote in message ...
| "PCR" wrote in message ...
|
| Check again! Write it down & post it. Post the full results to...
|
| (a) FDISK /Status
| (b) FDISK
|
|
| In some cases, fdisk will write blocks of byte F6 to what it thinks
| are free disk space, in anticipation of partitioning a drive. (I'm
| not sure, but it may be when you enter the "Create" option.)

I've only requested Option 4 (Display Partition Information), & I hope it won't do that. But I see you have requested he run a Partinfo. I'm willing to withdraw my request for any FDISK until you've examined it.

Can it be somehow PM has hidden his partition, & that is causing the problem? Then, would it even be visible to FDISK, anyhow?

|
|
| | Quite so. The Microsoft bullettin Q69013 also warns against using fdisk/mbr
| | if there more than four partitions exist. Unfortunately I cannot remember if
| | the affected hdd contained just c:, d:, e:, and f:, or g: as well. I may risk
| | it...
|
| It's the number of PRIMARY partitions that matter. An Extended partition counts
| as one primary, no matter how many volumes it contains.
|
| Right.
|

OK.

|
|

"PCR" wrote in message ...
"Bill Blanton" wrote in message ...
| "PCR" wrote in message ...
|
| Check again! Write it down & post it. Post the full results to...
|
| (a) FDISK /Status
| (b) FDISK
|
|
| In some cases, fdisk will write blocks of byte F6 to what it thinks
| are free disk space, in anticipation of partitioning a drive. (I'm
| not sure, but it may be when you enter the "Create" option.)

I've only requested Option 4 (Display Partition Information), & I hope
it won't do that.

Don't think so.. and I wasn't too clear. You can just enter the "Create
screen" and then back out without doing anything, but fdisk will still
write (if conditions are met).

My point was that fdisk can be dangerous to a disk that's "undefined"
(for whatever reason), and not on your specific directions. And of
course (AYK) the /mbr switch can be disasterous as well if certain
conditions are met. Fdisk =assumes= way too much.


Can it be somehow PM has hidden his partition, & that is causing the problem?
Then, would it even be visible to FDISK, anyhow?

You can hide partitions with PM, but that won't prevent PM from seeing
them. I believe fdisk may then see it as a "non-DOS" type in that case.

"Bill Blanton" wrote in message ...
| "PCR" wrote in message ...
| "Bill Blanton" wrote in message ...
| | "PCR" wrote in message ...
| |
| | Check again! Write it down & post it. Post the full results to...
| |
| | (a) FDISK /Status
| | (b) FDISK
| |
| |
| | In some cases, fdisk will write blocks of byte F6 to what it thinks
| | are free disk space, in anticipation of partitioning a drive. (I'm
| | not sure, but it may be when you enter the "Create" option.)

Sounds dangerous. But would it wipe a good partition entry? Say you've created 2 partitions & seek to create a 3rd. Can it wipe one of the good ones? Would a reboot between creating partitions be a preventative?

|
| I've only requested Option 4 (Display Partition Information), & I hope
| it won't do that.
|
| Don't think so..

Good! I'll consider that to be reinsurance, Blanton! Once I did work for a reinsurance company in Manhattan, myself!

| and I wasn't too clear. You can just enter the "Create
| screen" and then back out without doing anything, but fdisk will still
| write (if conditions are met).

I suppose FDISK has determined the partition table slot is available for use. Can it be it would write over one that was perfectly OK? Or must there be some flaw with it, anyhow? Then, what good was it, that you want to protect it from FDISK? Would MBRWork be able to fix it all up afterward?

About MBRWork, Option 5 (Install standard MBR Code), how does it know which OS to put in that code? Naturally, I want IO.sys in mine. I don't see in it's Readme that it mentions one! It does handle NTFS, it seems, which IS a foreign FS-- even XP-irradiated maybe!

|
| My point was that fdisk can be dangerous to a disk that's "undefined"
| (for whatever reason), and not on your specific directions.

Would it mess with good table entries or only malformed ones?

| And of
| course (AYK) the /mbr switch can be disasterous as well if certain
| conditions are met. Fdisk =assumes= way too much.

Here are my currently accumulated warnings, which sometimes I do omit...

(a) If you have a boot sector virus, you may lose access to all
partitions. Then
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/utilities.html MBRWork "might" help to
recover them.

(b) If you have "overlay" code in the MBR, e.g., EZ-BIOS, Maxblast, a
boot manager, then that will need to be reestablished afterwards.
http://www.aefdisk.com/ FDISK & Boot Manager
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=245162
Cannot Access Hard Disk After Booting from Floppy Disk

(c) FDISK may be buggy. So? Use MBRWork to do it, or
http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=263044
Latest FDISK, hoping this one doesn't have any bugs. (But it doesn't
solve the 55AA thing.)

(d) If for some reason the "geometry" setting in BIOS does not match the
hard drive, then any write to the drive may be destructive. So, go into
BIOS and have it "automatically detect" the proper setting. (If you can
DIR the drive in DOS, then you have proven the geometry is probably all
right, though Blanton has said it may not be so under a certain rare
circumstance.)

|
|
| Can it be somehow PM has hidden his partition, & that is causing the problem?
| Then, would it even be visible to FDISK, anyhow?
|
| You can hide partitions with PM, but that won't prevent PM from seeing
| them. I believe fdisk may then see it as a "non-DOS" type in that case.
|

When he tries to boot to Windows, he gets... "operating system was not found". I suppose the Primary may have become hidden & Windows is looking for it on the Extended. Or can the Primary have become inactive?

But, really, that PartInfo you ask for needs examination. That should be first, to certify the PM error message is not bogus.

"PCR" wrote in message ...
]"Bill Blanton" wrote in message ...

]| | (b) FDISK
]| |
]| |
]| | In some cases, fdisk will write blocks of byte F6 to what it thinks
]| | are free disk space, in anticipation of partitioning a drive. (I'm
]| | not sure, but it may be when you enter the "Create" option.)
]
]Sounds dangerous. But would it wipe a good partition entry? Say you've
]created 2 partitions & seek to create a 3rd. Can it wipe one of the
]good ones? Would a reboot between creating partitions be a
]preventative?

No it won't touch what it thinks are existing partitions.


]| I've only requested Option 4 (Display Partition Information), & I hope
]| it won't do that.
]|
]| Don't think so..
]
]Good! I'll consider that to be reinsurance, Blanton! Once I did work
]for a reinsurance company in Manhattan, myself!
]
]| and I wasn't too clear. You can just enter the "Create
]| screen" and then back out without doing anything, but fdisk will still
]| write (if conditions are met).
]
]I suppose FDISK has determined the partition table slot is available
]for use. Can it be it would write over one that was perfectly OK? Or
]must there be some flaw with it, anyhow? Then, what good was it, that
]you want to protect it from FDISK?

Suppose your partition tables have been zeroed out. The partitions are
still there but they can't be accessed until the tables are corrected.
Run fdisk and enter the "create primary" screen. Fdisk will now write
sectors full of F6(s) all over the logical drive as it "Verifies drive
integrety..." (I would guess that it's doing a write and then read.
And it seems to only affect the beginning of the perceived free space.
Possibly the boot sector and FAT area of an anticipated 100% volume size.).

But, now your "missing" but was "good" partition volume has been trashed.



]Would MBRWork be able to fix it all up afterward?

Depends on the specific circumstances. MBRWork must search for boot
sectors (at the least). In the above scenario, you'll lose at least
a good number of files and/or dirs even if you restore the tables
and boot sector.



]About MBRWork, Option 5 (Install standard MBR Code), how does it know
]which OS to put in that code? Naturally, I want IO.sys in mine. I
]don't see in it's Readme that it mentions one! It does handle NTFS, it
]seems, which IS a foreign FS-- even XP-irradiated maybe!

The MBR code just searches for and loads the "active" partition's boot
sector. The 9x boot sector is responsible for finding IO.SYS. As far
as 9x vs. NT, there isn't much difference in the MBR code. However,
one big difference is that later Win-MBRs (not sure which ones) can
use the BIOS extended disk services, and so load boot sectors above
the max addressable by CHS.


]| My point was that fdisk can be dangerous to a disk that's "undefined"
]| (for whatever reason), and not on your specific directions.
]
]Would it mess with good table entries or only malformed ones?

It won't touch defined space that way, but if the tables are corrupt,
then...



]| Can it be somehow PM has hidden his partition, & that is causing the problem?
]| Then, would it even be visible to FDISK, anyhow?
]|
]| You can hide partitions with PM, but that won't prevent PM from seeing
]| them. I believe fdisk may then see it as a "non-DOS" type in that case.
]|
]
]When he tries to boot to Windows, he gets... "operating system was not
]found". I suppose the Primary may have become hidden & Windows is
]looking for it on the Extended. Or can the Primary have become
]inactive?

Could be. Some BIOS's also give that ~message if the ending sector sig
is missing from the3 MBR. Even though that's not really an accurate message.
Either way, it's best to have a look with something that you know
won't write to the disk.


What the h3ll is "RE"insurance...?

"Bill Blanton" wrote in message
...
snip
What the h3ll is "RE"insurance...?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ne:Reinsurance
--
Glen Ventura, MS MVP Shell/User, A+
http://dts-l.org/goodpost.htm

"glee" wrote in message ...
"Bill Blanton" wrote in message
...
snip
What the h3ll is "RE"insurance...?

http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ne:Reinsurance

That's reassuring.



Google Define:""
I use that a lot too..

"Bill Blanton" wrote:


"PCR" wrote in message ...
"Phil R." wrote in message ...
| Thanks for that.

You are welcome.

| Please see interleaved remarks...
| --
| "When I am right, no-one remembers: when I am wrong, no-one forgets..."
|
|
| "PCR" wrote:
|
| Yes, get the Seagate tool as Glee suggested. Although it won't fix a partition table, it will do valuable integrity tests on the
drive & re-map bad sectors.
|
|
| Been there. Unfortunately I've not been able to get any sense from the
| "quick test" utility. I was beginning to wonder if I've had a head crash, but
| somehow I doubt it. I'm sure it's just a problem in the mbr. ... more...

I see, here & in your response to Glee,...

.......Quote..............
I downloaded the Seagate test utility and got some
information, but the tests caused my system to lock up. I guess that the
tests confirmed that my disk is "ok" but the partition record in the mbr is
corrupt.
.......EOQ................

....it is questionable the Seagate tool ran well. I don't know what to make of that. I tend to think you need a clean bill of health
from it, though, BEFORE you can proceed safely to other procedures. I doubt a bad MBR would/could cause this tool to freeze. It's
looking deeper than the Windows file system & MBR contents. It's looking to see whether the drive can hold any data, not whether the
data is correct for Windows.

(a) Did it give you a message?

No

(b) Did it say "PASSED" anywhere?

No

(c) Did you give it enough time?

Was two and a half hours enough? I thougt so, since the test was said to run
for 90 seconds. But I tried again, this time for four and a half hours.
Everything froxe after about thirty seconds.

(d) Was it waiting for you to choose another option,
by using the arrow keys & ENTER?

No definitely not.


Because you have sworn not to sue, I will continue, BUT, really, you should get that resolved. Maybe Glee can say how in his portion
of this thread.

| It's possible the PM error message is bogus. Windows may not care about it.
|
| (1) Was another utility used, such as BootIt NG, to adjust a partition after it was originally created using PM?
|
|
| No...

Too bad. It would have confirmed the message to be bogus. AIUI, BootIt NG can start a partition on a boundary that PM doesn't like.
Windows is OK with it, though.

|
| (2) Can you boot to DOS & see the hard drive?
|
| Yes...
| ISTR that the correct overall size is given, but that it seemed to be only
| one (unformatted) partition. I shall have to check again.

Check again! Write it down & post it. Post the full results to...

(a) FDISK /Status

I removed the drive I had used to access tghe internet, sorry I've been so
long when you gentlemen are good enough to help. I set to affected drive back
to primary, disk 0, and did fdisk /status, got the following:

Disk Drv MBytes Free Usage
1 19093 16 100%

[lots of lines down, then a line telling me what a MByte was in bytes, then
the a: prompt]

(b) FDISK

For (b), use option 4, thus...

(a) FDISK
(b) Press ENTER to accept Large Disk Support.
(c) Select option 4 (Display Partition Information), & hit ENTER.

I did this, got:
Partition Status Type Volume Label Mbytes System Usage
1 A Non-DOS 19077
100%
total disk space is 19093 MBytes (1 MByte = 1048576 bytes)

(d) Hit ENTER at the pre-printed "Y", to get the Extended too.

didn't get one...

(e) ESC your way OUT, after jotting it all down.
DON'T try to do any partitioning! BETTER just post what you see!

Here is what mine showed...
NOTES: "PRI" is Primary, "EXT" is Extended...
"A" under "Status" means "Active".

Display Partition Information
Current fixed disk drive: 1

Partition Status Type Volume Label Mbytes System Usage
C: 1 A PRI DOS P C R HARD 7996 FAT32 42%
2 EXT DOS 11096
58%

Total disk space is 19092 Mbytes (1 Mbyte = 1048576 bytes)

The Extended DOS Partition contains Logical DOS Drives.
Do you want to display the logical drive information (Y/N)......?[Y]

Display Logical DOS Drive Information

Drv Volume Label Mbytes System Usage
E: C TWO 7996 FAT32 72%

| Particularly I
| don't want to risk the possibility of damaging any of my recent data - (My
| last full back up was about 3 moonths ago)
|
| At DOS, enter... FDISK /Status
|
| To get to DOS, hold CTRL as you boot & select "Command Prompt Only", or boot a Startup Diskette. Get a Startup Diskette
from
| http://www.bootdisk.com/ , if you don't already have one from "Control
| Panel, Add/Remove Programs, Startup Disk tab". Put the diskette in &
| turn on the computer.
|
| (3) Where is the "bad" hard drive now, as you said...?...
| | Using another hard drive and Partition Magic 7.0

You didn't answer this question.

I have now put the bad drive back as a slave.

My results from the partinfo program follow, as pasted:

PowerQuest PartitionInfo 7.0 -- Windows 95/98/Me Version
Date Generated: 02/20/06 14:30:35
Copyright (c)1994-2001, PowerQuest Corporation
Permission is granted for this utility to be freely copied so long
as it is not modified in any way. All other rights are reserved.

PowerQuest, makers of PartitionMagic(r), Drive Image(tm), and DriveCopy(tm),
can be reached at:
Voice: 801-437-8900
Fax: 801-226-8941
Web site: http://support.powerquest.com/support.html
E-mail:

General System Information:
Total Physical Memory (bytes): 535,764,992
Used Physical Memory: (bytes): 305,590,272
Maximum Page File Size: (bytes): 1,611,714,560
Current Page File Size: (bytes): 103,952,384



================================================== ================================================== =======
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 1: 1661 Cylinders, 255 Heads, 63
Sectors/Track
System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head Sect
StartSect NumSects
================================================== ================================================== =======
C_DRIVE 0 0 80 0 1 1 0C 635 254 63
63 26,667,837
Info: Begin C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values a
0 0 80 0 1 1 0C 1659 254 63 63 26667837

================================================== ================================================== =======
Disk Geometry Information for Disk 2: 2434 Cylinders, 255 Heads, 63
Sectors/Track
System PartSect # Boot BCyl Head Sect FS ECyl Head Sect
StartSect NumSects
================================================== ================================================== =======
0 0 80 0 1 1 44 895 126 63
63 39,069,379
Info: End C,H,S values were large drive placeholders.
Actual values a
0 0 80 0 1 1 44 2431 244 55 63 39069379
Info: Partition didn't end on cylinder boundary.
ucEndHead expected to be 254, not 244.
Info: Partition didn't end on cylinder boundary.
ucEndSector expected to be 63, not 55.



================================================== ================================================== =======
Partition Information for Disk 1: 13,029.3 Megabytes
Volume PartType Status Size MB PartSect # StartSect
TotalSects UsedSects FreeSects
================================================== ================================================== =======
C:C_DRIVE FAT32X Pri,Boot 13,021.4 0 0 63
26,667,837 26,667,837 0
Unallocated Pri 7.8 None -- 26,667,900
16,065 0 16,065


================================================== ================================================== =======
Partition Information for Disk 2: 19,092.9 Megabytes
Volume PartType Status Size MB PartSect # StartSect
TotalSects UsedSects FreeSects
================================================== ================================================== =======
Type 44 Pri,Boot 19,076.8 0 0 63
39,069,379 39,069,379 0
Unallocated Pri 15.7 None -- 39,070,080
32,130 0 32,130


================================================== ================================================== =======
Boot Record for drive C: (Drive: 1, Starting sector: 63, Type: FAT32)
================================================== ================================================== =======
1. Jump: EB 58 90
2. OEM Name: MSWIN4.1
3. Bytes per Sector: 512
4. Sectors per Cluster: 16
5. Reserved Sectors: 32
6. Number of FAT's: 2
7. Reserved: 0x0000
8. Reserved: 0x0000
9. Media Descriptor: 0xF8
10. Sectors per FAT: 0
11. Sectors per Track: 63 (0x3F)
12. Number of Heads: 255 (0xFF)
13. Hidden Sectors: 63 (0x3F)
14. Big Total Sectors: 26667837 (0x196EB3D)
15. Big Sectors per FAT: 13009
16. Extended Flags: 0x0000
17. FS Version: 0
18. First Cluster of Root: 2 (0x2)
19. FS Info Sector: 1
20. Backup Boot Sector: 6
21. Reserved: 000000000000000000000000
22. Drive ID: 0x80
23. Reserved for NT: 0x00
24. Extended Boot Sig: 0x29
25. Serial Number: 0x48565DEA
26. Volume Name: C_DRIVE
27. File System Type: FAT32
28. Boot Signatu 0xAA55



|
| (4) Do you know for certain it has no drive overlay or 3rd party boot manager installed?
|
|
| ...yes...

That's good. That's one/two fewer considerations in whether "FDISK /MBR" is destructive. But WHERE is that hard drive mounted? Is it
in the Primary Master slot on the motherboard? Is it HDD0, I mean? You have to know it's letter also for "SYS".

|
| Then... "FDISK /MBR" & "SYS C:" may be the answer to the boot problem. But
| we need to know where the drive is mounted to issue the proper commands!
|
|
| http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/utilities.html MBRWork
| Free MBR utility.
....snip
|
| Quite so. The Microsoft bullettin Q69013 also warns against using fdisk/mbr
| if there more than four partitions exist. Unfortunately I cannot remember if
| the affected hdd contained just c:, d:, e:, and f:, or g: as well. I may risk
| it...

It's the number of PRIMARY partitions that matter. An Extended partition counts as one primary, no matter how many volumes it
contains. Each volume would get a separate letter in Windows. Show us the results of FDISK per above.

Windows won't recognize more than four primary partitions per hard drive. If you have more than four, they were invisible without a
3rd party boot manager.

| --
| Thanks or Good Luck,
| There may be humor in this post, and,
| Naturally, you will not sue, should things get worse after this,
|
| Certainly not!!

O-KAY-EEE, then!

|
| PCR
|
| [rest snipped]

You have contractually assumed all risk of damage to Phill R.'s partition(s), it means! Glee, too! So, go analyze his PartInfo before I do!

He originally said...

......Quote..............
I have a Seagate ST320014A “20GB� hard drive, which was partitioned (using
PowerQuest’s Partition Magic 7.0) to give one primary and one extended
partition. The extended partition contained three logical partitions. The
machine I use is old: operating at 800MHz it features a Pentium III
processor, which is incapable of dealing with even 40GB hard drives.
......EOQ................

But only one strange entity is showing up in FDISK & PartInfo. The Seagate tool seems to choke on it...


I guess, last ditch, I would say to try to recover partition code & table entries with MBRWork. It's most upsetting that the Seagate tool is choking. Can it be that tool also requires a sensible MBR? Or is the HDD physically damaged or not spinning?

Phil R.: Better wait a bit for one of them!


--
Thanks or Good Luck,
There may be humor in this post, and,
Naturally, you will not sue,
should things get worse after this,
PCR

"Bill Blanton" wrote in message ...
|
| "glee" wrote in message ...
| "Bill Blanton" wrote in message
| ...
| snip
| What the h3ll is "RE"insurance...?
|
| http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&l...ne:Reinsurance
|
| That's reassuring.
|
|
|
| Google Define:""
| I use that a lot too..
|
|
|

"Bill Blanton" wrote in message ...
|
| "PCR" wrote in message ...
| ]"Bill Blanton" wrote in message ...
|
| ]| | (b) FDISK
| ]| |
| ]| |
| ]| | In some cases, fdisk will write blocks of byte F6 to what it thinks
| ]| | are free disk space, in anticipation of partitioning a drive. (I'm
| ]| | not sure, but it may be when you enter the "Create" option.)
| ]
| ]Sounds dangerous. But would it wipe a good partition entry? Say you've
| ]created 2 partitions & seek to create a 3rd. Can it wipe one of the
| ]good ones? Would a reboot between creating partitions be a
| ]preventative?
|
| No it won't touch what it thinks are existing partitions.

That's good.

|
| ]| I've only requested Option 4 (Display Partition Information), & I hope
| ]| it won't do that.
| ]|
| ]| Don't think so..
| ]
| ]Good! I'll consider that to be reinsurance, Blanton! Once I did work
| ]for a reinsurance company in Manhattan, myself!
| ]
| ]| and I wasn't too clear. You can just enter the "Create
| ]| screen" and then back out without doing anything, but fdisk will still
| ]| write (if conditions are met).
| ]
| ]I suppose FDISK has determined the partition table slot is available
| ]for use. Can it be it would write over one that was perfectly OK? Or
| ]must there be some flaw with it, anyhow? Then, what good was it, that
| ]you want to protect it from FDISK?
|
| Suppose your partition tables have been zeroed out. The partitions are
| still there but they can't be accessed until the tables are corrected.
| Run fdisk and enter the "create primary" screen. Fdisk will now write
| sectors full of F6(s) all over the logical drive as it "Verifies drive
| integrety..." (I would guess that it's doing a write and then read.
| And it seems to only affect the beginning of the perceived free space.
| Possibly the boot sector and FAT area of an anticipated 100% volume size.).
|
| But, now your "missing" but was "good" partition volume has been trashed.

That is very bad! I was thinking the only damage would be to the partition table! But this actually writes to the data area! Very bad!

No, MBRWork wouldn't be able to repair that. Well, it won't recover the lost data, anyway.

|
| ]Would MBRWork be able to fix it all up afterward?
|
| Depends on the specific circumstances. MBRWork must search for boot
| sectors (at the least). In the above scenario, you'll lose at least
| a good number of files and/or dirs even if you restore the tables
| and boot sector.

Yea. Very bad.

|
| ]About MBRWork, Option 5 (Install standard MBR Code), how does it know
| ]which OS to put in that code? Naturally, I want IO.sys in mine. I
| ]don't see in it's Readme that it mentions one! It does handle NTFS, it
| ]seems, which IS a foreign FS-- even XP-irradiated maybe!
|
| The MBR code just searches for and loads the "active" partition's boot
| sector. The 9x boot sector is responsible for finding IO.SYS. As far
| as 9x vs. NT, there isn't much difference in the MBR code. However,
| one big difference is that later Win-MBRs (not sure which ones) can
| use the BIOS extended disk services, and so load boot sectors above
| the max addressable by CHS.

That's right. Sorry. I totally forgot the name "IO.SYS" is stored outside the MBR, & the MBR code searches for it. Thanks. So, MBRWork is fine by that.

|
| ]| My point was that fdisk can be dangerous to a disk that's "undefined"
| ]| (for whatever reason), and not on your specific directions.
| ]
| ]Would it mess with good table entries or only malformed ones?
|
| It won't touch defined space that way, but if the tables are corrupt,
| then...
|

Uh-huh. Very bad!

|
| ]| Can it be somehow PM has hidden his partition, & that is causing the problem?
| ]| Then, would it even be visible to FDISK, anyhow?
| ]|
| ]| You can hide partitions with PM, but that won't prevent PM from seeing
| ]| them. I believe fdisk may then see it as a "non-DOS" type in that case.

That seems to be what it did say...

........Quote.........
I did this, got:
Partition Status Type Volume Label Mbytes System Usage
1 A Non-DOS 19077
100%
total disk space is 19093 MBytes (1 MByte = 1048576 bytes)
........EOQ............

He also posted his PartInfo in there. But supposedly he has both a Primary & an Extended on that 20 GB drive. The one "Non-DOS" is taking the whole drive plus 1 MB. My own 20 GB WD shows only 19092 GB total...

......Quote mine.......
Partition Status Type Volume Label Mbytes System Usage
C: 1 A PRI DOS P C R HARD 7996 FAT32 42%
2 EXT DOS 11096
58%

Total disk space is 19092 Mbytes (1 Mbyte = 1048576 bytes)
......EOQ mine.........

His PartInfo may be showing two entities.

| ]|
| ]
| ]When he tries to boot to Windows, he gets... "operating system was not
| ]found". I suppose the Primary may have become hidden & Windows is
| ]looking for it on the Extended. Or can the Primary have become
| ]inactive?
|
| Could be. Some BIOS's also give that ~message if the ending sector sig
| is missing from the3 MBR. Even though that's not really an accurate message.
| Either way, it's best to have a look with something that you know
| won't write to the disk.

OK. But I think something else is involved, which YOU may spot in that PartInfo. (I should learn to read them.) Instead of "FAT32X", it says "Type 44" on the bad drive. Hidden?

|
| What the h3ll is "RE"insurance...?
|

Don't worry! I'm sure you'll see something in the PartInfo! Maybe it's just hidden!