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Can't format with a win98 disk? to fat32

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11 replies

by przemekf

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I have Windows 2000 Pro on my machine, which is the only OS residing .. it is and always has run on fat 32. I wanted to format and again use fat 32 using a Win98 boot disk, yet this time it I get a message "missing ntoskrnl.exe" when using the Win98boot dsk.. I've even low level formatted, and nothing. unless I boot with DOS 6.1 or later its doesn't boot to dos. I have been told that NT base systems lock the bios into "ntfs mode", and there's a DOS command ("lock c:") which locks the system out of the bios thereby enabling the FAT32 format to go ahead.. can anyone help with some suggestions. PS I've used Partition magic in the past, but I does all sorts of things I don't like to the system. besides its a somewhat flawed appl. Will flashing the bios work maybe ?
Can anyone help with any suggestions.
And how can I prevent this in the future?
Thank you in advance

11 replies

by rsoft

The win98 disk boots? Use the format command on the disk, rather than the one on c: (version conflict)

If want to be able to start Win98 on the newly formatted system, you should first clean the Master Boot Record (fdisk /mbr, undocumented feature).

If you format now, it should be possible to get a clean partition.

BTW: low level formatting shouldn't have helped you, since it doesn't destroy data on the disk. Since IDE low level formatting is no longer required and in fact it is discouraged.

Good luck

by mmcdade

There's also a very easy (and useful) tool that comes as part of the Windows NT 3.1 Resource Kit called "delpart.exe". It's a small file that you can copy onto any WIN98 boot disk, boot to the disk, and then run "delpart.exe" from the command line and wham!, the partitions you want (including any NTFS partitions) will be reomoved, and you can continue with your format.

See Article # Q103049 at support.microsoft.com to read a little about it. From there, you can download the Resource Kit itself, which includes "delpart.exe"(scroll down to the lower half of the page), copy "delpart.exe" to your Win98 ERD, boot to the disk, and then run it. You can then, obviously, delete the Resource Kit after that if you have no further use for it.

Good luck!

- Mark

by jimjennings

Using fdisk to delete all your partitions and then create primary partition should work also. Make sure that when you re-bot to format the drive that you use the WIN98 boot disk (or if your cd ROM is bootable you shpould be able to go right into install if you boot from there. Check the BIOS settings for the boot sequence and make sure the cd ROM is listed.)

by scally

ensure the boot sequence is A,C,SCSI.
boot to a dos prompt and run fdisk /mbr to clear the master boot record.
the drive should then format, there are switches you can use to aid it:
u = unconditional
q = quick
s = will copy system files
e.g. format /u/s

by Member 25445959

if u want to format again why not boot from the CD Pro.Fat or Fat32 is depend on how u partition u'r hard drive (fat only support up to 2G if u partition u'r hard drive more than 2G then it become FAT32. Please keep me updated.
Goodluck

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