Phantom Hard Drive and Floppy Drive

I am working on a friends computer and I have come up against a very interesting problem:

The computer is a Compaq Presario 5700T with a 13 gig HD and 256 RAM and it is... well, was running Windows 98 SE.

I tried like crazy to rescue the Windows 98 installation (if anyone knows a good program for that I would appreciate being pointed in the right direction for that) but I found that I could not and I had to Killdisk the HD. Now... here is the interesting part: Killdisk shows two different HD's but physically there is only one 13 gig HD. The first disk shows up as the 13 gig and the other phantom disk shows as a 7.5 gig. The 7.5 gig drive isn't a partition that I can tell because when I ran Partition Magic it did not detect a second drive and besides I wiped the 13 gig drive clean. Killdisk also shows two floppy drives but there is only one.

My questions are this:

1. Could this phantom floppy drive and second HD be a BIOS problem? If so, how do I correct that? (Getting into Compaq BIOS settings is harder than breaking into a vault) And can I backup the current BIOS in case an update fails?

2. I also need a reliable program (preferably free) to detect all of the hardware in this PC so I can install the proper drivers. HP has them on their site but this is a refurbished PC and I just cannot tell if the HP drivers will work or not.

3. Is there something that I am overlooking as a potential cause?

Any help would be appreciated.

 

Compaq BIOS is F10 right after the "Compaq" flash screen.

I seem to remember there being an 8GB limit on harddrives at one time. Maybe the 7.5 ghost drive is a BIOS workaround.

It's been a very long time but I'm almost positive that Compaq Bios Updates automatically backup current settings to the floppy you use to update. You can later choose to restore. Also they do a check before updating to make sure you have the right version/disk. You can try it and abort at the last step if unsure.

 

When you ran PM what was the HDD size that it showed? You can also run PM in dos mode by way of 2 floppy discs.

Have you also considered the possibility that Killdisk is at error here.

In respect of HW detection, Everest.

As a last point, I take it you where using Killdisk to clean the HDD. Why not use the manufacturers utility and 'zero fill' the drive instead, which is better in my opinion.

Good Luck

 

PM showed a 13 gig drive (actually 12.x gig).

Actually Killdisk was not in error. I did take the advice and use the HD manufacturers utility to erase the drive and to format it as well. When I ran the bootable CD utility (it is a Seagate HD) the second drive that shows up is a BIOS 7.6 gig (81 hex) drive **whatever that means** Since I was not sure what exactly to do with it as it asked me if I wanted to get it ready for use with this system I told it no. I figured that I could come back and do something with it if need be. On an interesting note Killdisk found errors on the BIOS drive.

Could someone please help me understand what a BIOS drive is and why it is there? This is the first I have ever encountered such a thing. Must I go and disable it in the BIOS?

Also, thanks to sach2 for the F10 hint. It worked.

With respect to Everest, can that be made into a bootable disk or must it run under Windows? Not a big deal either way just asking.

 

Have you tried clearing the cmos

The capacity of your HDD is probably 20Gb. Somehow there appears to be some type of glitch which is creating this 12.x ,7.x Gb problem.

Personally, if there is nothing on the drive of any value, I would let the Seagate Utility format it all of it. Perhaps this will remove the 81hex 'partition' which could possibly be the Compaq recovery partition.

Once you have let the Seagate utility format 'both' partitions. Run PM again and see whether the HDD return to some normality. And from that point you can use PM to delete and reformat.

I had an issue quite a while back where the HDD was throwing up a similar type of error. The solution was somehow to erase this additional partition. Unfortunately, I do not remember exactly what I did.

Good Luck

 

My next step is to try to clear the CMOS which should be interesting because I have never done that before.

When I ran the Model number of the Seagate drive it did come up as a 13 gig drive on their site so I do not think that it is actually a 20 gig drive... but I could be wrong.

I am in the process of zero filling the BIOS drive and seeing what happens. If it fails then I will clear out the CMOS and start from there. I still do not know what a BIOS drive is. I have looked briefly around on other sites for it and I came up... wait... I am going to make a technical joke.... ready? I came up "Zero Filled" HA!!!! OK... it was a bad joke.

This is a geek.

This is a geek without coffee.

Any questions?

Off to get coffee... be back after I try some things.

 

In respect of clearing the cmos, just google 'how to clear cmos' and you will find info & pictures. It's very easy you just need to move the cmos jumper from pins 1-2 to pins 2-3. Remove the cmos battery and leave it off for 2-3 mins then replace battery and return cmos jumper to pin 1-2.

You just need to find out where the cmos is on your mobo.

In respect of a 'bios drive', I have never ever heard anyone speak of such a drive. The only thing I can think of is that your bios needs to redetect the HDD. You will need to access the bios - hit del key on keyboard repeatedly during post - once you are in the cmos it will be listed under 'standard cmos features' (or something like that) and is usually the first tab in the bios menu.

Good Luck