Can you remove ez-drive w/o corruption of data???

[Banti]

Here is some info I got from Western Digital at http://www.westerndigital.com/service/FAQ/ezdrive.html#un


Hope this helps...
Banti

My system now has a BIOS that provides proper LBA translation to the hard drive(s). How do I Remove EZ-BIOS?

NOTE: This process requires EZ-Drive 9.06 W
or later

1.Insert the EZ-Drive disk in drive A
then reboot the system.
2.From the EZ-Drive main menu, select
Advanced Options, then select EZ-BIOS
Setup.
3.Highlight Controlled by EZ-BIOS and
press ENTER to toggle the selection to
Disabled. (If EZ-Drive displays the
message "Your ROM BIOS is not set up to
correctly handle this drive" see the
note below).
4.Select Exit - Save Changes. Exit
EZ-Drive (your system will now reboot).
5.Verify that the hard drive boots
properly and that your data is
accessible (if not, see the note
below). If so, reboot the system again
with the EZ-Drive disk in drive A.
6.From the EZ-Drive main menu, select
Advanced Options, then select EZ-BIOS
Setup.
7.Select Uninstall EZ-BIOS and press
ENTER. EZ-Drive will display the
following message:

"Be absolutely sure that your BIOS can
access all of the drives correctly
before uninstalling EZ-BIOS."

"Press Y if you really want to
uninstall EZ-BIOS.
Press ESC to cancel uninstalling
EZ-BIOS."

8.Press Y to uninstall EZ-BIOS. EZ-Drive
will display the message:

"EZ-BIOS has been removed from drive
1."

9.Press any key to continue, then exit
EZ-Drive. EZ-BIOS has now been
uninstalled.

NOTE: If, after EZ-Drive releases control of
the drive, your drive/directories are NOT
accessible, then the BIOS LBA translation is
different from the translation EZ-Drive
used. In this case, enter your BIOS Setup
and disable LBA translation. Leave the drive
parameters as they are. Boot to a floppy
boot diskette, then insert the EZ-Drive
diskette and run EZ. Have EZ-Drive regain
control of the drive. Backup your data. Once
your data is backed up, re-boot to a floppy
(make sure the boot sequence in your BIOS
looks to the floppy drive first), run FDISK
/MBR, re-partition and format the drive
using FDISK and Format, then restore your
data.



[This message has been edited by Banti (edited 12-20-1999).]

[Axel]

Banti - we need an archive of stuff like that on the board here for reference. Wish there was some sort of archive resource out here.

GV - one reason I like several smaller drivers over one big one.....

I think, at the moment, these huge drives just encourage people to keep everything and keep loading stuff without ever removing the clutter. Then, when a loss occurs, they lose so much at once, they'll never recover everything.

One thing you might want to explore in the future is SCSI equipment with a RAID 5 controller with {5} 4.3 GB disks. Access speed will improve because you are reading from multiple drives, you don't have to partition anything, and, unless your house explodes or falls into the sea, you'll never lose data again and don't have to back anything up. I love that type of hardware solution.....

So - back up all of your data files - dump or, better yet, uninstall all of your application files, and get out everything to prepare for a re-install after the partition. Best way to back up your data files would be to buy a CD-R burner and a stack of media and start burning.... 640MB per disk - take you a few hours depending on how much is worth saving.

[GVolosky]

Axel And Banti:

THANKS.....I didn't have a lot of time to research this for a client (his machine)and it looks like I'll get the project of upping his BIOS and converting his overlay...Just what I want to do for Christmas...

Thanks again...someone always comes thru here....

Merry Christmas, Happy Holidays and a Happy Y2K..

g

[BBA]

Ummm...Yes...it can be safely removed with no data loss...I've done it many times!

Banti's procedure looks fine.


[This message has been edited by BBA (edited 12-20-1999).]

[GVolosky]

Can I upgrade an Abit BIOS and remove the HD Overlay without losing or corrupting the 13 gig HD data....?????
TIA
G.

[Banti]

I don't think so. Everytime I removed an overlay, my data has been corrupted and/or erased. But it has been quite a while since I used an overlay. There has to be a share ware program that does this (if it is possible)