dos prompt

[gildfosh]

how do i get to dos prompt w/out using the recovery console? I want to partion some disks (fdisk) in windows xp... how do I do it????

[Aaron]

You can't format the drive windows is currently loaded from. Only another drive that's not in use. You can use Computer Management for this.

[maxXPsoft]

Boot with your XP CD and you can delete and do whatever, even Linux partition's but won't allow you to format. To Fdisk boot with a 98 floppy and use FDisk. Remember though Fdisk is limited on partition size.

Pics here bottom of page - http://www.maxxpsoft.com/xpinstall.php?

[Skyfrog]

I want to partion some disks

I may be mistaken but it sounds like he wants to work with some disks other than his system partition. If that's the case there is nothing to it; just go to Start, Run, and type diskmgmt.msc

[gildfosh]

what i need to do is remove linux from the windows boot. linux is installed on a seperate drive and so is windows. I don't want to format the linux drive until i restore the boot sector. I can't get into the recovery console with the admin password though becuase somehow it doesn't recognize my password. how do i run fdisk /mbr in dos prompt w/out the recovery console is what I am asking.

[Skyfrog]

If the drive is formatted as FAT32 you can use a Windows 98 startup disk to do it. If it is NTFS you can't because DOS doesn't recognize that type of file system. The usual way is to boot to the recovery console and use the FIXMBR command. If you have forgotten the administrator password you might be able to boot with the disk below and recover it:

http://www.fas.harvard.edu/computing/kb/kb0747.html

[maxXPsoft]

what i need to do is remove linux from the windows boot.

As I recall first thing is to remove Linux boot loader whichever you using grub or whatever so PC boots straight to Win. Then follow instructions on my page to boot with CD and delete Linux partition.

Try this to get into Recovery Console. My note on this say's

Auto Login Admins Recovery Console w/ SP1

Windows Registry Editor Version 5.00
[HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\SOFTWARE\Microsoft\Windows NT\CurrentVersion\Setup\RecoveryConsole]
"SecurityLevel"=dword:00000001

To install the Recovery Console as a startup option

With Windows XP running, insert your Windows XP CD in the drive, and click Exit when the installation options are displayed.

Click Start, click Run, and then type D:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons Where D: is the CD-ROM drive letter, and then press Enter. (There is a space between .exe and the forward slash.)

Follow the instructions on screen to install the Recovery Console, and when the installation is complete, restart your computer.

The Recovery Console will show up in the list of available operating systems in the Startup menu. You must be an administrator to use the Recovery Console.

[gildfosh]

thanks a lot.. i used the disk manager to format the drive that linux was installed on, so now I have an extra 30 GB's for windows, all i need to so is restore the old boot sector, which i will do. thank you once again.