how to fdisk my compaq pc

been told i should fdisk my hard drive to solve the problem i have trying
to system restore? how do you fdisk? i have compaq deskpro EXMs c850
system.trying to use the recovery disc and keep getting read error 0x0B
when almost finished.please some one help before i go mad. thanks

First question is what operating system are you installing?

If you are installing Windows 95, 98, or ME, go to www.bootdisk.com , download
the bootdisk image for your operating system, prepare the boot disk floppy and
boot the system with it.

Next, enter the command FDISK at the A: prompt. Respond Y to the question about
large hard drives, then chose number 4 (?) to see if any partitions exist on the
disk. If so, delete them (all except the smallest partition which usually has
the Compaq diagnostics on it), then create a single partition occupying the
whole disk.

Next, reboot and format the partition with the command FORMAT C: .

After the drive is formatted, you are ready to restore.

If you are installing Windows 2000 or XP, download the Windows 98 (!) boot disk
image, create a boot floppy diskette, boot with it, enter the FDISK command, and
delete all except the diagnostic partition. Then reboot and restore.

If you are using WIndows NT, that's another story... Ben Myers

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 17:31:08 -0400, "topmech0" wrote:

been told i should fdisk my hard drive to solve the problem i have trying
to system restore? how do you fdisk? i have compaq deskpro EXMs c850
system.trying to use the recovery disc and keep getting read error 0x0B
when almost finished.please some one help before i go mad. thanks

One more thing. The system's hard drive may be defective. You can download
diagnostics from the web site of the drive manufacturer and run the diagnostics.

.... Ben Myers

On Thu, 26 Aug 2004 17:31:08 -0400, "topmech0" wrote:

been told i should fdisk my hard drive to solve the problem i have trying
to system restore? how do you fdisk? i have compaq deskpro EXMs c850
system.trying to use the recovery disc and keep getting read error 0x0B
when almost finished.please some one help before i go mad. thanks

thanks for the advice ben. i have win98se. have downloaded the program from
bootdisk but when try and boot pc with it i get message saying missing or
bad disc? this problem is really getting to be pain now,bloody kids. any
other advice or things to try apart from the obvious, kicking the machine.

further to problems i have. i have now got win 98se on floppy and changed
boot order to have A drive 1st but just comes up invalid disc. any furter
advice?

You have to run the program (98BOT10A.EXE ?) with an error-free floppy diskette
in the A: drive. This creates the bootable floppy you need. Once the floppy
is created, boot the system with it in the A: drive... Ben

On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 15:23:59 -0400, "topmech0" wrote:

thanks for the advice ben. i have win98se. have downloaded the program from
bootdisk but when try and boot pc with it i get message saying missing or
bad disc? this problem is really getting to be pain now,bloody kids. any
other advice or things to try apart from the obvious, kicking the machine.

ben_myers_spam_me_not @ charter.net (Ben Myers) wrote in message ...
: You have to run the program (98BOT10A.EXE ?) with an error-free floppy diskette
: in the A: drive. This creates the bootable floppy you need. Once the floppy
: is created, boot the system with it in the A: drive... Ben
:
: On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 15:23:59 -0400, "topmech0" wrote:
:
: thanks for the advice ben. i have win98se. have downloaded the program from
: bootdisk but when try and boot pc with it i get message saying missing or
: bad disc? this problem is really getting to be pain now,bloody kids. any
: other advice or things to try apart from the obvious, kicking the machine.
:
:
My almost 4 year old Presario 7PL290 (786K1 ROM) http://tinyurl.com/5q8ch has IDE hard disk diagnostics in the ROM, no need for a boot disk or fdisk

--
Rob Fruth - Houston, Tx



---
Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
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That's all well and good, but the OP does not need to run diagnostics. He needs
to boot from floppy in order to run the FDISK progam and either see what
partitions already exist on the hard drive and/or create new ones.

.... Ben Myers

P.S. How about not posting to usenet newsgroups in HTML? The usenet convention
has been text only, forever.

On Fri, 27 Aug 2004 22:16:25 GMT, "Rob F. in Houston"
wrote:

SNIP all the encoded junk
:
My almost 4 year old Presario 7PL290 (786K1 ROM) =
http://tinyurl.com/5q8ch has IDE hard disk diagnostics in the ROM, no =
need for a boot disk or fdisk

--=20
Rob Fruth - Houston, Tx
=20


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Outgoing mail is certified Virus Free.
Checked by AVG anti-virus system (http://www.grisoft.com).
Version: 6.0.744 / Virus Database: 496 - Release Date: 8/24/2004
------=_NextPart_000_0009_01C48C59.A0942D60

tried booting with system restore cd. tried booting with downloaded win98se
floppy. tried booting with another downloaded floppy and no matter what i
do it comes up same error "invalid system disc" remove disc and restart
pc. wont let me input anything in ms dos then it comes up with messages in
german? i am getting to my wits end and looks like i will have to take it
in for repair estimate.any other ideas for me to try before i do this?