Is this boot sector fried?

You need different utilities to work on an NT drive than a DOS drive.

NT uses the NTSF file system.

Do you have another computer with NT on it that you could add this drive to?
That would be the easiest way to recover the data if it is easy to recover.

You may need a third party disk recovery tool to recover the data on the drive.

Check out www.pcwiz.com and Ontrack data software.

Is this an older computer that you are trying the drive in?
It sounds more like a BIOS HDD size limit than a boot sector problem.

It is also possible that something has happened to the electronics on the drive.

First check the CMOS panel by inserting a windows startup disk and when the startup screen shows,press the key to enter the CMOS panel,look for the configuration to drive setup and make sure that it is set to AUTO,press Exit and save changes
Use the disk and boot computer,at the command prompt type FDISK,select the option to view drive information,you should be able to see the partition.
If the system was not setup with NTFS,which may be thereason you cannot see the partition with a 98 startup disk
Hopefully you did not use fdisk to delete the partition,which would then explain the no hard drive attached to system
One the BIOS needs to be flashed to accomodate the large HD,which can be done by downloading SP6 with the updated ATAPI files
Try using the WINNT setup disk as though you are installing the OS,when you get to the screen to Continue to install choose the option to Repair,previous and then proceed,hopefully you have not deleted the partition and this is why no active partitions comes up being that the drive has been deleted

Here are my suggestions:
Go into bios setup during boot. (usually F1, F2 or DEL).
If there is an automatic detection for the hard drive setup..use it. It should say the size you are expecting..unless the bios is old. If there isn't an automatic detection feature in the Bios, you may need to pull the hard drive and look for the information:
Cylinders, heads..etc on the face plate of the hard drive and manually enter these into the bios hard drive setup.
Last possible fix. Boot from a floppy formatted as a system floppy (from a windows 9x machine) and when you get to the A: prompt, type fdisk /mbr. The machine will appear to do nothing and the A: prompt will show up again. Pull the floppy and reboot. This will allow the boot sector to be reset. Hopefully then the disk is recognized properly.

Hi,

Hmmm.... at this stage, I think it would be worth thinking about using something like Norton Ghost to backup the whole hard drive so that if something goes wrong when you're trying to fix it, you wont lose the lot!

Cheers,
Tim.

Ok, Here is what I think Navy man! I am sure that all teh other suggestions are good for check and check again purposes. I will assume you already know the basic mechanics of putting in a hard drive, otherwise you wouldn't be doing it in the Navy.The first step I would take to this dilema, is to Note the make, model, and maufacturer of the Hard Drive, Next Go directly to that manufacturer's web site, and get their DIRECT disk utility for installing hard drives. They all have one. If it is aWestern Digital, go to www.wdc.com, and download their Installation and Diagnostic utility. or www.seagate.com for Seagate drives.....it will still interface/route with the BIOS, but at least you are using a direct designated company utility disk.
2.) If you are sure, almost definate that you are having master boot record or general sector problems, I recommend 3 utilities I use Regularly:

Easy Recovery Version 5.11 Pro (Search for it, free to use, available for download)

Lost & Found 1.06 Utility (Downloadable as well, but if you need the diskettes, I can arrange something)

RECON Disk Utility (Boot Sector Repair/Replacement Utility, Downloadable)

***Last Resort Attempt****

If All else fails, and you want to have one lastattempt at saving the data on this hard drive:

Bang the TOP of the Hard Drive (Label side down, bottom circuits up) on a Hard, Flat Surface gently, not too hard, and place the hard drive in a Freezer for 30 minutes....no more, no less. I have found that 30 minutes is the perfect amount of time for it to stay in there, and has helped me save over a dozen hard drives with this technique. The drive should be fully recognized by the BIOS at that point, but Still very unstable! Ghost it or Image it to backup ASAP.

Best of Luck to you!

Paul M. Chavez

Do this. First go into CMOS and enter the numbers on the drive or in the manual that came with the drive. Set it as "Primary Master" or "cable Select" (see manual). If you have other IDE/SCSI drives you need to use, set them as "Primary Slave" or "cable select" (again, see manual). Now try booting to the hard drive as you normally would, and record the message.

If it is something similar to "Insert book disk and press enter" then it appears that your hard drive IS screwed up.

If it is something similar to "Missing operating system" then your drive settings in the bios are incorrect. See your manuals or go to the manufacturers websites.

If it is something similar to "Invalid System disk." and "press any key to continue" comes on the next line OR "enter the path where command.com is" then your data can be recovered. Insert a boot disk.

In every case, back up the data when and if possible. It looks that the hard drive is fried until you use FDISK which wipes out all the old data (including the fried data).