BAD fdisk, BAD fdisk, BAD fdisk, *@#$(^ fdisk.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1

robherc · Oct 12, 1999

need I say more???? 
Does anyone know how to replace a partition table for a 1221MB HDD with 1221MBs in partition1 with the label CCSI ??? 
 
Disk size: 1221 MB 
Partition 1 size: 1221 MB 
Partition 1 utilization: 100 % 
Partition 1 label: CCSI 
 
Irreplaceable data lost: #$*@#^&$* yes!!! 
Parents furious over mother's resume being deleted: !@#*$& yes!!! -Robherc <a href=mailto:robherc@netzero.net>robherc@netzero.net</a> <a href= > </a> *nix installation & program collector/reseller. Contact me if you think you've got one that I don't

jsauce · Oct 12, 1999

Makes me glad I bought Powerquest's Lost and Found! <A HREF="

http://www.powerquest.com"

TARGET="_new">

http://www.powerquest.com</A>

John D. Saucier <a href=mailto:jsauce@net1plus.com>jsauce@net1plus.com</a> <a href=

http://www.net1plus.com/users/jsauce>Registry

Backup</a>

robherc · Oct 12, 1999

jsauce- 
    Can it restore a partition table w/o destroying invaluble data??? -Robherc <a href=mailto:robherc@netzero.net>robherc@netzero.net</a> <a href= > </a> *nix installation & program collector/reseller. Contact me if you think you've got one that I don't

Alt255 · Oct 12, 1999

Partitioning a hard drive doesn't necessarily mean that any of the data has been lost. In your case, 16 bytes of data (out of a billion bytes) are conveying inaccurate information. The odds are on your side. 
A collegue informs me that he has recovered a drive simply by repartitioning the disk to its original specs. Personally, I wouldn't try it at home. 
I've heard mixed reviews on Lost and Found but it might be worth a shot. Whatever you do, don't rush into it. 
 
I wish I had a magic bullet for you but there are too many variables. I can't just pull a partition record out of my hat. Just so you'll know, here's the format of the first partition record (it starts at offset 1BE of the master boot record and lasts for 16 bytes): 
 
Offset Description 
00 boot indicator (80h = active partition) 
01 partition start head 
02 partition start sector (bits 0-5) 
03 partition start track (bits 8,8 in bits 6,7 of sector) 
04 operating system indicator 
05 partition end head 
06 partition end sector (bits 0-5) 
07 partition end track (bits 8,8 in bits 6,7 of sector) 
08 sectors preceding partition (DWORD) 
0C length of partition in sectors (DWORD) 
 
Good luck and let me know how it goes.

jsauce · Oct 13, 1999

Lost and Found isn't designed to bring back the partition table, but with another drive installed you could pull the data from the first drive to the second. It would in effect be like cloning the drive even though the partition table is gone. Though just a thought, Powerquest also makes a program called Second Chance I'd look into that, because it may just be something you could use. John D. Saucier <a href=mailto:jsauce@net1plus.com>jsauce@net1plus.com</a> <a href=

http://www.net1plus.com/users/jsauce>Registry

Backup</a>

oneworld · Oct 13, 1999

How about partition magic. It works miracles for repartitioning and creating and all the fun things that you normally could not do.

jsauce · Oct 14, 1999

While Partition Magic will see that a drive exists, without a Paritition table I would assume the drive would appear to be blank. John D. Saucier <a href=mailto:jsauce@net1plus.com>jsauce@net1plus.com</a> <a href=

http://www.net1plus.com/users/jsauce>Registry

Backup</a>

Alt255 · Oct 14, 1999

All of the suggestions above could becomes meaningless if the drive was controlled by EZ BIOS or EZ Drive. Tell me it ain't so! We might be able to work it out with a calculator and a lot of luck. 
 
On the other hand, there are specialized data recovery firms out there that charge from hundreds to tens of thousands of dollars to recover the "hidden" data on disks (I guess it all depends on how desperate you appear). 
 
First of all, can you auto-detect the drive in CMOS setup? 
 
In any case, I'll send you some code to back up your partition tables. It might prevent this from happening in the future.

jsauce · Oct 14, 1999

See this is why I suggested Powerquest's Lost and Found. Lost and Found could easily be used to recovery data hidden on the disk, due to accidental or purposeful deletion or formatting.

Zelandakh · Oct 15, 1999

There is a company called Vogon (remember Hitch Hikers Guide?) Authentic that gets data off in these circumstances. Their prices are around £75 to look at it and £600 to get the data off depending on the severity of the problem. 
 
I decided to cut my losses and forget about the data.

Alt255 · Oct 16, 1999

I participated in an interesting demonstration a few days ago. A colleague called me into his office and said “Watch this.” He started fdisk on his sand box system, deleted the primary partition and rebooted. The hard drive disappeared, of course. He rebooted to a floppy, started fdisk, created a partition, rebooted and Windows started without error. 
Being the smug, devil-may-care kind of guy that I am, I said “I can do better than that. I’ll bet you a dollar.” 
We went into my office and I deleted the partitions on my sand box. Rebooted. No hard drive (of course). Rebooted to a floppy, ran FDISK /MBR and rebooted to a hoplessly scrambled hard drive. The partition records were filled with garbage. 
What happened? I was positive it would work. 
Curious, I ran Norton diskedit to view the disk. The OEM ID string in the boot sector had changed to EZDRIVE. Arrrggghhh! 
My colleague cackled for a while and said “I forgot to tell you that the disk was a copy. You owe me a dollar.” 
The fdisk MBR switch can be a killer. Maybe that’s why it’s undocumented. 
 
Kids... don’t try this at home.

robherc · Oct 16, 1999

Alt- 
 
    You're OK on this one...it ain't so...

(other HDD; mine) 
Also; the drive works fine (fine enough to tell me "No OS Installed" @ least....it just has a blank partition table....toehr than that I can still run fdisk on it from a bootable floppy & I assume I could easily re-write anything on it low-lev via the same method; just need to know what to write before I'm gonna attempt....

Zelandakh- 
 
    FMI (for my information) about what are £75 $ £600 equivalent to in US $? (though, for some reason, I don't really think I want to know...

jsauce- 
 
Three questions: 
    1. How much does Lost and Found cost? 
    2. How much does Second Chance cost? 
    3. Which do you recommend? (or both?) -Robherc <a href=mailto:robherc@netzero.net>robherc@netzero.net</a> <a href= > </a> *nix installation & program collector/reseller. Contact me if you think you've got one that I don't

robherc · Oct 16, 1999

Alt- 
 
    Soooo....thinking.....does that mean....... 
if I create a bootable flop on another computer that has Win95 v4.00.950, copy fdisk to it, boot from it, then fdisk /mbr my EZBIOS infected HDD that it'll OBLITERATE, DESTROY & otherwise DEMOLISH the @#&@# EZ-BIOS problem from the boot sequence??? -Robherc <a href=mailto:robherc@netzero.net>robherc@netzero.net</a> <a href= > </a> *nix installation & program collector/reseller. Contact me if you think you've got one that I don't

jsauce · Oct 17, 1999

You can get Lost and Found for $69.95 I think. I had put a mesaage in telling you about the price, and it got red flagged. They told me I couldn't discuss pricing, though its funny everyone else seems too. Anyways go to <A HREF="

http://www.powerquest.com"

TARGET="_new">

http://www.powerquest.com</A>

and read about it and Second Chance. I'm not sure if Second Chance will do anything, I'd go to the website and look at everything though. John D. Saucier <a href=mailto:jsauce@net1plus.com>jsauce@net1plus.com</a> <a href=

http://www.net1plus.com/users/jsauce>Registry

Backup</a>

robherc · Oct 17, 1999

OK; I'll go there to check it out...sorry to hear you got red-flagged when you tried to tell me the price......@ least this time I got to see it first.......

Alt255 · Oct 17, 1999

Don't fdisk /MBR any disk unless you are totally confident that the contents of the master boot record copy are good. The copy may have originated at the manufacturer. Restoring the copy could trash your disk or, worse, create new problems for Lost and Found. 
 
If fdisk indicates no active partitions the answer may be simple. Create a partition the same size as the original, boot to a floppy, make sure that C: exists, run SYS C: and reboot. 
 
Try this on someone else's system, first. Mother's are less tolerant of the second mistake.

Zelandakh · Oct 19, 1999

£75 is around $110. 
£600 is around $1,000. 
 
The company is based in the north of england. Details can be given if you want

robherc · Oct 19, 1999

OUCH!.....I don't really think trying to recover my mother's resume is quite worth $1,000....would be more likely to ry hammer treatment @ that price....;P 
 
Alt- 
 
The question about the fdisk /mbr was for my personal system (the one with the monitor that has a disfunctional vert. magnet); my mom's HDD just needs a new partition table......re fdisking it & setting all values back to exactly what they were does sound extremely promising there though. 
 
John- 
 
Thanks again for the info; I'll check out that site as soon as I get a chance. -Robherc <a href=mailto:robherc@netzero.net>robherc@netzero.net</a> <a href= > </a> *nix installation & program collector/reseller. Contact me if you think you've got one that I don't

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BAD fdisk, BAD fdisk, BAD fdisk, *@#$(^ fdisk.....!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 1

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