jaclaz

No, as said before, Ranish is an "advanced" FDISK utility, it DOES NOT FORMAT. What you can do easily with Ranish is: 1) Set start and end point of partitions 2) Select TYPE of partition Type of partition is a 1byte value, here is a list of possible values: http://www.star-tools.com/partitionstar/en...manual/bid.html Example: If you have just one primary partition, FAT32 type, the value "0B" is written to the partition table. If you want to change that partition to Solaris, you need to replace that value with either (depending on WHICH solaris) "82" or "BF". The above procedure DOES NOT change ANY data on the hard disk except that 1 byte. If you try to access data from windows, it won't be able to, but if you just write back the "0B", the drive will return as it were. (You can do the same with ANY hex/disk editor) Read these articles here: http://www.win.tue.nl/~aeb/partitions/partition_types.htm http://www.ranish.com/part/primer.htm http://thestarman.pcministry.com/asm/mbr/95BMEMBR.htm http://www.ptdd.com/aboutpt.htm jaclaz

Have a look at this thread here too: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=26612 jaclaz

Personally I use Registrar Lite, by using ERUNT: http://home.t-online.de/home/lars.hederer/erunt/ (FREEWARE) I get the backup/restore/compressing of the registry. jaclaz

Here is a howto: http://www.robvanderwoude.com/regedit.html (you will need the "READ" value in a temp file) jaclaz

zillah, maybe matters are a little bit confused, I'll try to explain what the difference is between the various utilities. Normally you would use (from DOS or Windows 9x) FDISK : FDISK can reserve space for the partitions and write the partition tables, it does not writes FAT tables nor clears the drive FORMAT: FORMAT will write NEW FAT tables (overwriting old ones), it won't clear the drive Ranish Partition Manager is supposed to be an "advanced" replacement for FDISK only. Once you have reserved partition entry and partition tables with it, you should use your OS tool to format the partition, i.e. FORMAT in win9x or Disk Manager in NT/2k/XP. Once formatted, you should use your OS tool to check the partition, usually CHKDISK. Partition Magic and Acronis "should" have the function of all three of them (FDISK/FORMAT/CHKDSK), but as it happened to you, PM gives sometimes "strange" errors. You should rely on the tools that came with your OS to do the formatting and checking. jaclaz

htc, once again I find your attitude inexplicable and slightly aggressive. I am sure you know perfectly (like most of us) how to make DOS boot, (and you explained it very well in your previous post). I was pointing out a different way to achieve the same result. I am very happy to know that you already knew about it, and that you have used it for years. However the could be (maybe) accepted if it came from an Administrator/Moderator, NOT from another member. As you might gather if you actually READ the thread, you'll see that dvdbcn replied on the 21st of December. This should mean that till that date dvdbcn hadn't yet resolved his problem. The day after I posted what I thought could be an alternative method to the one you posted. There is no use in dividing threads in cold or hot. The good thing about this (and other boards) is that you search through it and hopefully find an answer to your question, even if it's on a "cold" thread. Take it easy, bro. Jaclaz

Partition Magic is known, in "some peculiar setups" to have problems. I don't understand what you are trying to achieve. If it is to repair existing partitions, it might be tricky, and every time you re-run PM you could make things worse. Try : 1) Ranish Partition Manager (FREEWARE) 2) Acronis jaclaz

This might be of help: http://vbdotnet.home.comcast.net/XP_SP2.htm (How to make a full XP SP2 from a Dell Recovery CD) jaclaz

DATAPOL NTFS4DOS http://www.datapol-technologies.com/dpe/freeware/index.html gives read/write access. (It will only work from a DOS box, but it's the fastest, smallest AND FREE) jaclaz

There is a Commercial solution: http://www.microtoolz.com/ Can't say if it works. Here is a MS knowledge base for Win98: http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;EN-US;136214 a win2k one: http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documen...entry/93502.asp http://www.jsiinc.com/SUBE/tip2300/rh2316.htm but the above means that you have to edit the registry. jaclaz

It can be easy either easy or VERY difficult. You can try with this freeware first: http://www.pcinspector.de/file_recovery/UK/welcome.htm How was it formatted? FAT16 (I do not think so) FAT32 (I hope for you) NTFS (Unfortunately probable) Another to try: http://www.handyrecovery.com/download.shtml Difficult to use, but good: http://www.theabsolute.net/sware/dskinv.html The BEST for NTFS is File Scavenger (COMMERCIAL): http://www.quetek.com/prod02.htm jaclaz

There are many myths about Virtual Memory/Swap files, mostly because in the meantime hardware has changed. Contrary to common beliefs, it is highly advisable to have the swap file on a separate partition for SECURITY, not PERFORMANCE reasons. SECURITY REASONS: should you have a DYNAMIC SIZE swap file on the same (only) partition (which is the default install for say 95% of computers) you could have this: 1) you delete accidentally some files (or filesystem gets corrupted) 2) for some reasons (possible malfunctions of some programs) the swap files grows in size 3) it is very likely that the swap file OVERWRITES the deleted/corrupted data 4) there is no way to recover data, unless you really need them and you can afford PROFESSIONAL ELECTRONIC DATA RECOVERY PERFORMANCE REASONS Please read here all needed info: http://aumha.org/win5/a/xpvm.php My two cents on the matter: 1) the swap must be set as FIXED (same amount minimum/maximum), size typically 2,5 times your memory (this is just a guess value and must be recalculated depending on how much RAM you have and the use you make of the PC) 2) if possible have your swap file in a separate partition 3) if possible have it on a different disk (the faster the better) 4) if possible have it formatted as FAT32 (being a single file it will be faster) 5) if possible the partition should be in the part of the disk that have faster access (usually it is around center of the disk, but some hard disks have faster access at the beginning) 6) the swap file must be either deleted (from a parallel install) or defragged from time to time 7) you should turn off ALL not needed services, see here for reference: http://www.blackviper.com/ jaclaz

Yep, sure, then you' ll have: C:\ First Primary Active partition XP (NTFS) Extended partition with volumes D:\ Data, etc. (if it is Common between systems it is better FAT32, if not NTFS) E:\2000 NTFS F:\2000 NTFS G:\2003 NTFS (if needed one more 1 GB partition FAT32 for swap file common between systems) Install order: 1) win 2k 1st 2) win 2k 2nd 3) win XP 3rd 4) 2003 4th jaclaz P.S. Remember to instal Recovery Console when installing last OS (2003)

In this case it probably does not matter, but rule of the thumb is ALWAYS install systems in the order they come out, so I would say: FDISK all partitions 2K < 1GB install on C:\ Both Win2K installs XP 2003 (Remember that NTLDR and NTDETECT.COM, that will always be written on the First Active Partition, will be overwritten by next install, so it's good to install latest OS as the last one) About the multi-booting, have a look at my posts here: http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=33030 http://www.msfn.org/board/index.php?showtopic=34531 jaclaz

FDISK is handy, just download a win 9x bootdisk here: http://www.bootdisk.com/ Personally, I do ALL my partitioning with Ranish Partition Manager FREEWARE: http://www.ranish.com/part/ as it gives you more control and allows you to SAVE your Partition Tables. Another free tool (untested): http://visopsys.org/partlogic/about.html Whatever you use, always have a saved copy of your Partition table, here are a couple links: http://www.partition-saving.com/ http://www.microsoft.com/windows2000/techi...g/diskmap-o.asp The use of PARTITION MAGIC is NOT RECOMMENDED. (it has some "non-standard way"of storing data on certain systems) jaclaz

It is optional, the fact is that should ( and I am not saying that it WILL happen, but trust me it COULD) your partition table or boot record get corrupted, to repair it will be easier if the First Active Partition is FAT16. Same is why I suggested to put in there a minimal Win2k install. I hinted a little less 1 Gb as it is a suitable size to be formatted as FAT16 without getting too big cluster sizes, but enough to install a Win2k, to use just in case of emergency. Should the Registry, NTLDR, NTDETECT or whatever else in your "WORK" install go bad, it will be easier to make the system boot to this "recovery" install and use the latter to repair the broken install on the other partitions. Of course you can build a BartPE bootcd and use it, but what if just that day you forgot the CD in your bag at home? A dos boot diskette and a few utilities can be found akmost everywhere and in no time. jaclaz

I just had a look around, it seems like that MB has got Nvidia NFORCE3, so that the place to look for is the NVIDIA site, not the MSI one. Here is latest Win2k NFORCE driver: http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_udp_win2k_4.27 WARNING: and here is the XP one:http://www.nvidia.com/object/nforce_udp_winxp_5.10 WARNING: Finally, go here: http://nvidia.custhelp.com/cgi-bin/nvidia....duser/entry.php and search for "raid" to get to a related .pdf document. jaclaz

This could (or could not) be of help: http://www.winimage.com/bootpart.htm BOOTPART by Gilles Vollant can: 1) Write the bootrecord for ANY of these systems: DOS 6.22 Windows 95/98/ME Windows NT/2K/XP/2003 (and Bart's/PE) 2) this bootrecord can be written to either: a) a file b) the actual MBR 3) If you write the NT/2K/XP/2003 to MBR you can use the BOOT.INI selection to multiboot, providing that you have created the bootsector files for the other systems This WONDERFUL utility has been developed with the aim of simplifying the process of multibooting, but it can be used for other purposes too. If you want to "install" DOS, traditionally you had to boot from a DOS diskette and then issue the command sys a: c: What if you need to "install" DOS 7.1 (the one that comes with Win98) and you haven't got a DOS 7.1 bootable floppy? You need to make it. Using bootpart, you can boot from a bootable floppy with DOS 6.22, copy (say from another drive, from CD rom or whatever) the three needed files of the 7.1 version: command.com msdos.sys io.sys then issue these bootpart commands (bootpart.exe must be somewhere): BOOTPART WIN95 BOOT:C: BOOTPART REWRITEROOT:C: (the first command re-builds the boot record on the Hard Disk substituting whatever was before with a windows 95/98/ME one) (the second command makes sure that io.sys and msdos.sys are moved at the beginning of the root directory) similarly you can do it for MSDOS 6.22 BOOTPART DOS622 BOOT:C: BOOTPART REWRITEROOT:C: jaclaz

Some laptops brand have CUSTOM made keyboard drivers. If you cannot find the driver on the manufacturer site, you can re-map the keyboard via the Registry. I cannot say HOW MUCH this will help you, but here are some GOOD links: http://www.randyrants.com/sharpkeys/ http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/Scancode.mspx http://www.microsoft.com/whdc/device/input/w2kscan-map.mspx http://www.beginnersweb.nl/cursus/scancode_mapping.php http://panda.cs.ndsu.nodak.edu/~achapwes/PICmicro/keyboard/ http://www.windowsnetworking.com/kbase/Win...Numlockkey.html I remember fixing a similar prob some time ago with info from the above sites. jaclaz

WHAT IS THIS? COMMERCIAL ADVERTISEMENT? jaclaz

Cannot say anything about the driver, sorry. A suggested setting (my two cents) is the following: C: First Active Partition Primary FAT16 a little under 1 Gb (I would recommend to install to C: a minimal system, either 2k or PE, for recovery purpose) I am saying FAT16 as: 1) leaves the option (if ever needed) to access it easily with a normal dos/win9x bootdisk 2) partition table/bootsector can be easily managed with BOOTPART 3) in case of a "dumb" virus that wipes n initial sectors of the disk it's an additional safety measures rest of the disk extended partition with volumes: 5GB D:\ - Windows 2000 1st instance NTFS 5GB E:\ - Windows 2000 2nd instance NTFS 5GB F:\ - Windows 2003 Server NTFS xxGB G:\ Windows XP + Apps, Programs, Games, etc (for XP install only) NTFS 1 GB H:\ - Swap drive for ALL installs except the one on C:\ FAT32 (as it is slightly faster than NTFS and you won't need the additional features of NTFS for the swap file jaclaz

Good one! ROFL! However these: Sounds more like James Bond to me! jaclaz

There is this nifty utility: NIRSOFT NirCmd http://www.nirsoft.net/utils/nircmd.html jaclaz

There are LOTS of recovery programs, here are a few. Don't ever use a single program, always try on more than one burner/reader. Usually elder/slower drives perform BETTER than new/fast ones in recovering, being it a formatted disc OR a scratched one. COMMERCIAL ONES: http://www.cddataguys.com/BadCopyPro.htm http://www.infinadyne.com/ (was Arrowkey) FIXUDF http://www.softarch.com/us/products/index.html http//www.smart-projects.net/isobuster/ http://www.cdroller.com/ http://www.naltech.com/ FREEWARE: http://www.e-systems.ro/diskcheck.htm http://www.elpros.si/CDCheck/ http://www.vanheusden.com/recoverdm/ (for Linux) If you cannot retrieve the data, there are professional services (VERY EXPENSIVE), like this: http://www.acodisc.com/ Jaclaz

Yes, it is possible. It is just like a quick format on floppies, or even a format on HD. The info that is deleted in a format is not the DATA, but the POINTERS to DATA. By means of specialized programs, or with a lot of time, a disk editor and a pocket calculator, ALL data can be recovered UNLESS it has been overwritten. IF it HAS been overwritten, it can be recovered, partially or totally, by means of SPECIAL TOOLS, software AND hardware, (ELECTRON MICROSCOPE). Currently security standards recommend that data should be OVERWRITTEN by a random pattern of 0's and 1's AT LEAST 7 passes, to avoid chances of recovering. Here is an old, but still interesting artticle about the matter: http://wipe.sourceforge.net/secure_del.html jaclaz