I tried option #1 using FreeDos. I ran into more or less the same problems. Maybe that would give some hint to your very deep research. PS: Just a word of caution to anyone using method #1. Do not use FreeDOS. Use a DOS bootable disk derived from XP. Fdisk.exe in this has a limitation in changing the primary partition. Use fdisk.exe from FreeDos to overcome this problem. Do not use anyother files form FreeDos....