Help on format....

rodos1979 · Post by **rodos1979** » Fri Dec 06, 2002 8:12 pm

Hello!

I finally got my new DAW and the SFP3.1 CD-ROM from CW!...although I face some problems I cant deny that I am very happy!

Ok, here is one of my problems, which has to do with HD formating.
I have 2 HD on my system, one dedicated to audio. The drive letters are:
C: (30GB) contains the WinXP and Program files
D: (90GB) (C: and D: are partitions of one single physical disk, 120GB in total)
E: (40GB) (a separate physical disk dedicated to audio)
Both physical disks are on separate EIDE channels...
Now, what I want to do is format D: and E: with 64K clusters. I managed to format D: but Windows do not let me format E: because for a strange reason it happens to be the "system disk", while drive C: is the "boot disk". It says that system and boot disks cannot be formated (which makes sense).

Now, my question is:
What can I do in order to make C: to be both system and boot disk so that I can format afterwards drive E: with the cluster size I want?...I want to avoid options like reinstalling Windows and all programs and plug-ins, or opening the PC and fiddling with cables and jumper settings. Is there a way to do it in the BIOS (I have an ASUS P4T533-C mobo) or in Windows? Any ideas?

Thank you

Tony B · Post by **Tony B** » Sat Dec 07, 2002 4:48 am

The partition that has the OS installed obviously would be the booth partition. That should be C unless the drives are incorrectly named. To format D or any drive partition in Win ME or 98 make a startup disk. If you are using a floppy disk choose "booth from floppy" in bios. If none choose "booth from CD Rom". Wait for the A promp then type in:
format D: and hit enter. In Win 2K and XP the drives should show up use the arrows keys to select the drive to format. There must be a space after the word "format".

[ This Message was edited by: abre on 2002-12-07 04:51 ]

[ This Message was edited by: abre on 2002-12-07 04:52 ]

rodos1979 · Post by **rodos1979** » Sat Dec 07, 2002 8:07 am

Hello!

Thank you for replying, abre

I think that in WinXP there is not such thing like creating a bootup disk (to the best of my knowledge). So, I must use a Win98 bootup disk, which might let me format a drive but in FAT32...I want it to be formated in NTFS with 64K clusters. The problem I have is with my E: drive. I had a look in my BIOS and the E: drive (the single physical audio disk) is on the primary eide channel...for that reason it is recognized as the "system" disk by Windows and Windows dont let me format it.
Basically what I am asking is if there is a way to make that drive (the E: audio drive) to be on the secondary eide channel and bring the other physical drive (C: OS and D: Samples) to be master on the primary eide channel, without having to reinstall Windows and programs. If I manage that (i.e. make drive C: to be both "system" and "boot" disk) then I will be able to format my audio drive E: with the command "format E: /a:65536" in order to get 64K clusters.
Please post any ideas.

Thank you

w_ellis · Post by **w_ellis** » Sat Dec 07, 2002 8:37 am

I recommend using Partition Magic (made by Powerquest). Before using it I didn't really know a great deal about how to handle multiple partitions, but it is really easy. I'm pretty sure you can set cluster size and it will format to any type you could think of.

[ This Message was edited by: w_ellis on 2002-12-07 08:39 ]

Tony B · Post by **Tony B** » Sat Dec 07, 2002 9:12 am

I said if the OS was Win 2K or XP set "Booth from CD rom" in BIOS. 98 or Win ME use booth disk and set " Booth from floppy" in BIOS. You must change the IDE cables around. Primary Master for drive C(Booth) and Secondary Master for the other HD. Set the jumpers on both drives to master.

kensuguro · Post by **kensuguro** » Sat Dec 07, 2002 11:32 am

try running WINDOWSsystem32diskmgmt.msc. That does a much better job at handling formating disks, etc. If not, then you should try Partition Magic.

I'm tellin' ya... Partition Magic is the way to go. It does things you'll never be able to do with default Windows tools. Like, set the "active" partition, etc. Which is probably what you're trying to do.

[ This Message was edited by: kensuguro on 2002-12-07 11:35 ]

rodos1979 · Post by **rodos1979** » Sat Dec 07, 2002 4:59 pm

Hello!

Thank you all for replying and for giving me your ideas! I ll try to find Partition Magic and see what I could do with that...Meanwhile, if I change the cables and the jumper settings of my drives and set them the other way round, will I have to reinstall *everything* again?

Thank you

P.S. Abre, sorry for having misunderstood what you said

[ This Message was edited by: rodos1979 on 2002-12-07 17:00 ]

Post by **garyb** » Sat Dec 07, 2002 6:18 pm

i would guess that there's at least one more reinstall coming since things are not quite right........if so then don't fight it.resistance increases the delay towards completion and increases suffering.....

rodos1979 · Post by **rodos1979** » Mon Dec 09, 2002 8:44 pm

Hello!

After "fighting" the problem for 3.5 hours and playing around with MBR settings fixmbr, bootcgf etc etc with no favourable results, I decided to wipe off everything, change cables inside the PC and reinstall....
Garyb, I am not sure if it was completely pointless to "fight" it....I may have been "defeated" but at least I fought!

Thank you

P.S. "I ve lost the battle but not the war!"