Error reading Fixed Disk

[Selene]

I am trying to perform an fdisk on my computer and am receiving "Error reading Fixed Disk" after displaying the fat32 screen. I am (and have been) using the computer and have had no trouble retrieving or saving data to/from the hard disk.

Any responses would be greatly appreciated. I would like to get this fixed today if possible.

Thanks

[d_blinkhorn]

Have you reformatted lately? Make sure that you have a FAT32 partition on your HD. Also make sure that in BIOS it finds your HD. If that is all done then I don't know.

[Selene]

I reformatted about october last year when I had a new hard drive put into the computer. I haven't check BIOS though - what should I look for?

[CCs]

Can you run scandisk?

what type of hard drive do you have? it might be worth using the software that came with it to partition/format the drive.

[daverme]

You haven't given us much to work from so I'll make a few assumptions cuz it's late here on the East Coast and I'm going to bed as soon as I submit this.

Why do you want to FDISK? One only does this to wipe out everything on the drive and start over.

First, to FDISK a drive you must boot to DOS from a floppy (or a CD if your machine supports it). The boot disk must have the DOS FDISK and FORMAT commands on it.

When the machine boots, go into BIOS setup, usually (but not always; read your manual) by hitting the DEL key a few times. Choose "standard CMOS setup". For each hard disk, set "type" and "mode" to AUTO. Hit the ESC key then choose "exit and save settings". The BIOS should then recognize the drive correctly.

If at this point you still get the error then there is a hardware issue of some kind like maybe the drive is to large for the BIOS on the mobo.

When the boot completes, you will have a DOS prompt, type FDISK and follow the directions. After creating the partition(s), FORMAT them and you are set.

LOL, Dave

[Selene]

I've run scandisk from Windows (thorough) and it didn't come up with any errors.

I'm not sure what sort of hard disk it is but the computer is an IBM Aptiva. I have never used the software that came with it cos it put too much **** on my machine and used a fair chunk of memory. I have just been using Win98 with a startup disk and only using the Aptiva disks when I need a driver.

[Selene]

To Dave:

I find I have to fdisk every couple of months cos it starts loosing dll files and throws up blue screens like there is no tomorrow.
I do use the computer alot and am constantly adding & removing programs - although I do scandisk & defrag I should probably do it more often I suppose.

I have yet to go into BIOS so I will check that out when I get off the net. I just wasn't sure what to look for.

How can I tell if the hard drive is too big for the mobo? It originally had 8Gb but the new one is 13Gb. I did fup when I formatted it last time and it is currently only formatted to 8Gb - another reason for fdisk so I can use the whole 13Gb.

[thxmanu]

Sounds like you might have to upgrade your BIOS or use an overlay program. Last time you tried to fdisk, did it only see 8gig?

[Selene]

I'm sure it saw 13Gb but I can't remember how I screwed it up - it was something to do with specifing the size of each partition instead of just using the percentages & letting it figure it out for itself.

If I have to upgrade BIOS how do I go about that?

[Selene]

There is a command to check the status something like fdisk /status ?

can I run this from the msdos prompt or do I have to exit windows?

[thxmanu]

Go into your BIOS and see if it sees all 13 gigs (there should be an "auto detect hard drives" section). If it sees all of it, then you won't need to upgrade. I'll check back.

[Selene]

I can't get into BIOS. When the computer starts up a blue IBM Aptiva screen comes up and the next thing to come up is the win98 screen. I've tried pressing delete numerous times on the IBM screen (and a few other various keys in frustration) but nothing happens - its goes straight into win98!

are there any other key strokes that different computers use to get into BIOS?