Problem formatting hard drive

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  1. Posts : 1,557
    XP, Seven, 2008R2
       #11

    In that case you should be able to shut down the computer, unplug the D: drive, power back on and boot into Windows. Can you do it? (as a test)
      My Computer


  2. Posts : 38
    Win 7 Ultimate RC1
    Thread Starter
       #12

    Yes, I just did that. See attached picture.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Problem formatting hard drive-diskstatus.jpg  
      My Computer


  3. Posts : 38
    Win 7 Ultimate RC1
    Thread Starter
       #13

    Got to go to the store now. I will check back later for your answer.

    Thanks for all the help you have given me. I really appreciate you taking the time.

    Regards
      My Computer


  4. Posts : 1,557
    XP, Seven, 2008R2
       #14

    Alright, good job. We are almost home.

    See, now your C: drive says "System", "Boot", and "Active", which is everything we were striving for.

    Now shut down and reconnect the other hard drive. Power on, go into the BIOS and make sure the correct disk (the one with the C: drive) is set as the first boot device (or just after the DVD is fine too).

    Then the system will boot from the C: drive and you can format your other hard disk.
      My Computer


  5. Posts : 38
    Win 7 Ultimate RC1
    Thread Starter
       #15

    This is strange.
    I went to BIOS and verified the boot sequence is:
    1. CDROM
    2. C Drive

    But when I reboot, the "System" goes back onto the D drive as shown on the attached picture.
    You saw my last picture, and I did too. C: drive said "System", "Boot", and "Active". Now the "System" is back on the D: drive ??
    Why is it jumping drives ?
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Problem formatting hard drive-diskstatus.jpg  
      My Computer


  6. Posts : 1,557
    XP, Seven, 2008R2
       #16

    psteege said:
    I went to BIOS and verified the boot sequence is:
    1. CDROM
    2. C Drive
    Can you be a little more specific? I've never seen where you can select a partition letter in the BIOS.

    Can you go into the D: drive and rename the hidden boot folder to boot_bak?

    If you really are selecting the correct drive then your BIOS is ignoring it. Perhaps it is booting from the drive in the first ATA slot. You can try switching the cables around. Or you can boot from the Windows 7 DVD and delete the boot files off of the "backup" partition using the command-line.
      My Computer


  7. Posts : 38
    Win 7 Ultimate RC1
    Thread Starter
       #17

    I have a Dell Dimension 4600i PC and the BIOS does say C drive.
    The C drive is on the IDE slot and the D drive is a SATA drive, so I can't switch around the cables.

    I opened a command windows and did a cd to D: but I did not find any files. My CLI skills are pretty weak.

    I don't know what you mean by deleting files off the backup partition.
      My Computer


  8. Posts : 38
    Win 7 Ultimate RC1
    Thread Starter
       #18

    Update


    I located the files on D: I used "dir /a" and saw all the files.
    This is what is locate there:

    Volume in drive D is 80GB Backups
    Volume Serial Number is B469-A5C7
    Directory of D:\
    10/05/2009 09:55 AM <DIR> $RECYCLE.BIN
    10/03/2009 09:26 PM <DIR> Boot
    10/03/2009 09:26 PM 354 boot.ini
    04/22/2009 01:28 AM 383,200 bootmgr
    10/03/2009 09:26 PM 8,192 BOOTSECT.BAK
    08/04/2004 08:00 AM 47,564 NTDETECT.COM
    05/28/2009 12:36 PM 250,048 ntldr
    10/03/2009 03:00 PM <DIR> RECYCLER
    12/13/2008 04:01 PM <DIR> System Volume Information
    6 File(s) 689,358 bytes
    4 Dir(s) 76,917,702,656 bytes free

    I do not know how to rename a folder
      My Computer


  9. Posts : 38
    Win 7 Ultimate RC1
    Thread Starter
       #19

    Final Solution


    I fixed it so I only boot from C:

    1. Booted with my Linux System Rescue CD.
    2. Used Linux command "fdisk" to remove all partitions and create a new one.
    3. Rebooted back into Windows 7.
    4. Used Disk Management to format D: drive

    Thanks for all your help, but I am more familiar with Linux so I used it. I did learn a lot about Windows from you and I thank you for taking the time to help me.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails Problem formatting hard drive-diskstatus.jpg  
      My Computer


  10. Posts : 1,557
    XP, Seven, 2008R2
       #20

    Good idea using Linux to fix that. Nice work, I'm glad you got everything sorted out :)
      My Computer


 
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