formatting hard drive

Ok, I thought it was the other way around, that you had to first format it
and then partition it. Well I glad that question has been answered.
I using only 1 drive per PC. The only reason I put a slave in is to format
it and erase the drive when it's in the slave position. I see there is
another easier way to format the drive using a boot disk floppy or CD? I
thought any drive with the existing master operating system that the computer
is using right now cannot be messed with. Anotherwords, no formatting while
it's being used as the primary OS. If I'm wrong there, then tell me please.
Thanks, attilathehun1
--
attilathehun1


"philo" wrote:


"attilathehun1" wrote in message
...
Oh, that's probably the problem. I didn't partition the drive, I just
formatted it. Ok, I'll give that a shot.
I think I partition the drive during the Setup process, right?
I not even getting to that point. Let me check again, hold on. Nope, it's
still where it says to remove any floppy disks..etc
I know a new drive is partitioned while your loading up the OS.
If I'm wrong about the partition process, please tell me.
Thanks,
attilathehun1



No!

It is *impossible* to format a drive unless it has been partitioned first.
Since you have not answered the question that I asked you, there is no way I
can help you
nor is it likely anyone can guess how you have setup your primary harddrive.

"attilathehun1" wrote in message
...
Ok, I thought it was the other way around, that you had to first format it
and then partition it. Well I glad that question has been answered.
I using only 1 drive per PC. The only reason I put a slave in is to
format
it and erase the drive when it's in the slave position. I see there is
another easier way to format the drive using a boot disk floppy or CD? I
thought any drive with the existing master operating system that the
computer
is using right now cannot be messed with. Anotherwords, no formatting
while
it's being used as the primary OS. If I'm wrong there, then tell me
please.
Thanks,
attilathehun1



Thank you for clarifying. I think I was about to take a guess and ask if
maybe you removed the
primary drive...or had put the slave in another machine.

If you plan to just have *one* drive per machine...
take that particular drive and put it in the machine in which you intend to
use it.
I guess it does not really matter, but you really should jumper it as
master.

Since it was a slave drive I don't know if it was set active...
so with your boot floppy run fdisk and if it is not set active...be sure to
do so...
but make no more changes.

Now your installation of Windows should work.

I am still not 100% sure of what you have done...
but you are correct that when you have a main drive in your machine
and you want to put in a second drive...just to format it (for example)
you are smart to remove the main drive so there is no chance of accidentally
destroying your data

No, no, no.... You partition the disk first, then format the partition. And,
as I said, you don't normally move a hard drive to another machine to format
it (or partition it, for that matter.) You use a Windows Startup disk,
usually a bootable floppy, but you can also get a bootable CD version.

Boot to the floppy startup disk and start without CDROM support. When you
get to the A:\ prompt, run FDISK. When asked about large drive support, say
yes. At the menu, choose 4. to display partition info. It should say
"Current fixed disk drive: 1" and then a list of partitions that should only
include one:

C: should be Partition 1, its Status should be Active, its Type should be
PRI DOS. Is all that true?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"attilathehun1" wrote in message
...
I tried doing maybe 5 times over. I removed any floppies or CDs from the
PC.
I think your right with having to partition the drive ahead of time. I
presume I can partition the drive after formatting as a slave?
Anotherwords,
after I format the drive as a slave, I can then start the partition
process?
Any response will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, attilathehun1
--
attilathehun1


"Gary S. Terhune" wrote:

I see what you were getting at -- no, an OS can't format its own
partition.
But using a floppy-based OS like that on a Windows Startup floppy (or a
CD
version) is MUCH easier than moving the drive to another machine and
back.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"Gary S. Terhune" none wrote in message
...

"attilathehun1" wrote in
message
...
Ok, I took the drive. Western Digital 20 GB, out that had Window ME OS
running on it and stuck it into the PC as a slave that had Windows 98
SE
operating system on it. The Windows 98 SE PC has a 10 GB Seagate hard
drive.
This is usually how I format my drives. Stick them into a PC as a
slave
and
then format. I presume that's is how it's done. If there is an easier
way
to
format a drive that is a master or single drive, then please tell me.
A
drive
that has the primary operating system or only operating system on it
can't be
formatted, right?
Ok, so now I did the quick format (erase) and stuck the Western
Digital
back into the PC that has 320 MB of RAM and a Pentium III. When I
tried
to
reinstall the Windows ME OS into the Western Digital it gets to the
point
where it says:
Please wait while Setup initializes.
Scanning system registry...
Copying files needed for Windows Setup...
Please remove any floppy disks from your drives and press any key to
restart your system.

And did you press any key? And if that doesn't do anything, did you try
restarting manually after removing all discs, CD and floppy (and
bootable
USB stick, whatever...)? And if that didn't work, did you try running
SETUP again?

Maybe you should start over: Actually, the easy way to format a drive
is
to use a floppy Windows boot disk. If you don't have one, go to
bootdisk.com, download the WINME version
http://vcic.com/vault/bootme.exe
and make sure you have a handful of floppies to try, since floppies are
getting older and older and less trustworthy.

You should make such a disk, boot to it on the machine that has the
"problem" drive in it. I presume you have re-jumpered the drive and it
is
now Primary Master. RIGHT? When you get to the question, choose
"without
CDROM support." When it gets to the A:\ prompt, run the following
command:
FORMAT C:

Since there was a problem, do a full format. (Otherwise you'd use the
following command for "quick" format:
FORMAT C: /q

Yes, you can format a drive with an OS on it. Formatting wipes
EVERYTHING
and leaves you with a blank, usable disk.

When the formatting is done, remove the floppy, insert the WinME CD,
and
use
Ctrl-Alt-Del to restart the system. The WinME disc should crank up and
you
can go from there.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com



Then it just keeps blinking. I mean the symbol hyphen keeps on quickly
blinking. That's as far as I get.
I'm using a burnt Window ME OS disk. It's not from the Manufacturer.
I've
used this copy about 25 times. I don't think that's the problem.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, Attilathehun1


--
attilathehun1


"Don Phillipson" wrote:

"attilathehun1" wrote in
message
...

I formatted my slave hard drive and did a quick format (erase),
instead of
a
complete format. I wanted to put another operating system on the
hard
drive
and now I'm having problems loading it up. It says: Invalid system
disk,
replace the disk and press any key. I tried to get into BIOS but
this
message
comes up. When I put Windows ME OS disk into it then it says: Boot
from
CD-ROM or boot from hard drive. When I chose CD-ROM and ran the
operating
system it got to the point where it says something to this natu
make
sure
to remove any floppy diskette and press any key to restart your
computer.
That's as far as I get. Maybe I should've done a complete format?
Does
a
quick format leave the operating system on the disk? I want to
erase
the
whole disk and have it completely clean.

Better repost with fulll details. It looks as if you want to instal
a second operating system: if so you need a boot manager
(as found in most Linux distros and WinXP but not in Win98:
I do not know about WinME.)
1. What hard drives are installed, with what OS, and what
do you want to instal?
2. BIOS menus are usually reached by interrupting reboot
process with the DEL key. How did you attempt (and fail) to reach
BIOS menus?

--
Don Phillipson
Carlsbad Springs
(Ottawa, Canada)

"attilathehun1" wrote in message ...
I formatted my slave hard drive and did a quick format (erase), instead of a
complete format. I wanted to put another operating system on the hard drive
and now I'm having problems loading it up. It says: Invalid system disk,
replace the disk and press any key. I tried to get into BIOS but this message
comes up. When I put Windows ME OS disk into it then it says: Boot from
CD-ROM or boot from hard drive. When I chose CD-ROM and ran the operating
system it got to the point where it says something to this natu make sure
to remove any floppy diskette and press any key to restart your computer.
That's as far as I get. Maybe I should've done a complete format? Does a
quick format leave the operating system on the disk? I want to erase the
whole disk and have it completely clean.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Go to http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm and create a Windows ME
boot floppy. Use it to start the computer in question, type "sys c:" and press
"Enter". Then remove the floppy, insert the Windows ME CD, restart the
computer and rerun Windows setup. Also, make sure the drive is jumpered
correctly, probably "Master, slave not present".

Ben

--
attilathehun1


"philo" wrote:


"attilathehun1" wrote in message
...
Ok, I thought it was the other way around, that you had to first format it
and then partition it. Well I glad that question has been answered.
I using only 1 drive per PC. The only reason I put a slave in is to
format
it and erase the drive when it's in the slave position. I see there is
another easier way to format the drive using a boot disk floppy or CD? I
thought any drive with the existing master operating system that the
computer
is using right now cannot be messed with. Anotherwords, no formatting
while
it's being used as the primary OS. If I'm wrong there, then tell me
please.
Thanks,
attilathehun1



Thank you for clarifying. I think I was about to take a guess and ask if
maybe you removed the
primary drive...or had put the slave in another machine.

If you plan to just have *one* drive per machine...
take that particular drive and put it in the machine in which you intend to
use it.
I guess it does not really matter, but you really should jumper it as
master.

Since it was a slave drive I don't know if it was set active...
so with your boot floppy run fdisk and if it is not set active...be sure to
do so...
but make no more changes.

Now your installation of Windows should work.

I am still not 100% sure of what you have done...
but you are correct that when you have a main drive in your machine
and you want to put in a second drive...just to format it (for example)
you are smart to remove the main drive so there is no chance of accidentally
destroying your data

You mean to tell me that Windows ME setup doesn't start by doing it's own
SYS operation? If true, that would be really, really dumb.

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"Ben Myers" wrote in message
...
"attilathehun1" wrote in message
...
I formatted my slave hard drive and did a quick format (erase), instead of
a
complete format. I wanted to put another operating system on the hard
drive
and now I'm having problems loading it up. It says: Invalid system disk,
replace the disk and press any key. I tried to get into BIOS but this
message
comes up. When I put Windows ME OS disk into it then it says: Boot from
CD-ROM or boot from hard drive. When I chose CD-ROM and ran the operating
system it got to the point where it says something to this natu make
sure
to remove any floppy diskette and press any key to restart your computer.
That's as far as I get. Maybe I should've done a complete format? Does a
quick format leave the operating system on the disk? I want to erase the
whole disk and have it completely clean.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Go to http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm and create a Windows ME
boot floppy. Use it to start the computer in question, type "sys c:" and
press
"Enter". Then remove the floppy, insert the Windows ME CD, restart the
computer and rerun Windows setup. Also, make sure the drive is jumpered
correctly, probably "Master, slave not present".

Ben

"Gary S. Terhune" none wrote in message
...
You mean to tell me that Windows ME setup doesn't start by doing it's own
SYS operation? If true, that would be really, really dumb.




I have fooled around with Windows ME briedly
and I hate it.

If one installs WinME it's no different from any other version of Win9x...
it will of course "sys" the drive and the machine should boot just fine
after an installation.

But the one thing that's different about WinME is that you cannot
necessarily SYS the drive
by simply using a WinME bootdisk. IIRC , if the system files are already in
place...it will not allow one to re "sys" the drive

http://mirror.href.com/thestarman/asm/mbr/SYSCOM.htm

On Mon, 5 May 2008 19:43:31 -0700, "Gary S. Terhune" none put finger
to keyboard and composed:

You mean to tell me that Windows ME setup doesn't start by doing it's own
SYS operation? If true, that would be really, really dumb.

Is it possible that the SYS command also refreshes the boot sector
whereas the setup procedure may not? I recently got stung when I
trashed the boot sector on an XP system (using Fixboot). The XP OS had
been installed on a FAT32 partition that originally contained Win98SE.
Normally I would have been able to restore the damaged XP boot sector
from a backup at logical sector 6, but the XP setup procedure had not
refreshed this location. Instead it left the old Win98SE backup boot
sector intact.

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

Well, I would expect the SYS command to be run, plain and simple, first
thing during setup. SYS the drive, copy over the installation files, leave a
startup command to restart setup once it reboots... (Presumes drive is
properly partitioned and formatted, which Setup should ALSO check.) Does
anything else make sense to you?

Anyway, the drive at issue DID have ME running on it just fine. All he did
was use Win98 to format the repartition, which AFAIK doesn't touch the boot
sector. No, I think it's as simple as the drive not being set Active, which
I can see happening when the formatting was done the way it was. When the
system reboots, it can't find the Active partition and that's that. OP is
looking at an OEM splash screen, not the underlying BIOS screen, which I
would bet says it can't find any bootable media.

Which, if true, is another huge black mark against ME. How hard can it be
for Setup to make sure the drive/partition, whatever, are suitable and in
the proper state to support the OS?

--
Gary S. Terhune
MS-MVP Shell/User
www.grystmill.com

"Franc Zabkar" wrote in message
...
On Mon, 5 May 2008 19:43:31 -0700, "Gary S. Terhune" none put finger
to keyboard and composed:

You mean to tell me that Windows ME setup doesn't start by doing it's own
SYS operation? If true, that would be really, really dumb.

Is it possible that the SYS command also refreshes the boot sector
whereas the setup procedure may not? I recently got stung when I
trashed the boot sector on an XP system (using Fixboot). The XP OS had
been installed on a FAT32 partition that originally contained Win98SE.
Normally I would have been able to restore the damaged XP boot sector
from a backup at logical sector 6, but the XP setup procedure had not
refreshed this location. Instead it left the old Win98SE backup boot
sector intact.

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

"attilathehun1" wrote in
message ...
| I formatted my slave hard drive and did a quick format (erase),
instead of a
| complete format. I wanted to put another operating system on the hard
drive
| and now I'm having problems loading it up. It says: Invalid system
disk,
| replace the disk and press any key. I tried to get into BIOS but this
message
| comes up. When I put Windows ME OS disk into it then it says: Boot
from
| CD-ROM or boot from hard drive. When I chose CD-ROM and ran the
operating
| system it got to the point where it says something to this natu
make sure
| to remove any floppy diskette and press any key to restart your
computer.
| That's as far as I get. Maybe I should've done a complete format? Does
a
| quick format leave the operating system on the disk? I want to erase
the
| whole disk and have it completely clean.
| Any help would be greatly appreciated.

In order for a partition to boot, its PBR (Partition Boot Record) drive
number must be x'80'. Myers has your cure... SYS the partition!

When you moved the hard drive to be a slave on another computer, it
likely became drive D:. Therefore, you should have...

FORMAT D: /S

/S does the same as SYS. I guess you left that out, & you got an x'81'
for drive number, instead of x'80'. SYS or /S will always put an x'80'
in there, whether/not the drive actually is the Primary Master on the
Primary IDE connector of the motherboard. To boot it absent a fancy BIOS
or a 3rd party boot manager, you need nevertheless to move it back to a
Primary Master on the Primary IDE connector.

It's also possible, as Terhune said, you forgot to rejumper the drive to
be a Master after you moved it back to the original computer.

REALLY... it's best to do it all as Terhune said on the original
computer using a Startup Diskette-- to avoid the possibility you format
the wrong drive! Get the drive letter right!

FDISK must precede FORMAT only the first time. Then, do the FDISK only
to change size or type of partition or when you suspect there may
otherwise be a need for it.

| Thanks,
attilathehun1

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