Partition issues – ever want to take a hammer to your head?

Discussion in 'Hardware' started by longhotsummer, Oct 7, 2009.

  1. longhotsummer

    longhotsummer Private E-2

    Hello all,

    I’ve been lurking – on and off – for a couple of years now. Usually, I resolve my PC issues myself, or with a little bit of help from a third party. However, this one really ahs me stumped. After a month of on and off effort, I’m in a worse position than when I started!

    I’ve got a new Samsung NP-NC10 with NoteBook that had XP installed. I replaced it with Vista Ultimate, only to crash it as won’t accept Vista. So, I reinstalled XP and system drivers from the Reload discs. The NoteBook then functioned correctly. However, the C: Drive was renamed (not by me) to E: Drive, and partitioned into 2 parts. One is NTFS and very small, containing the OS. The other is Healthy (Unknown Partition) 143.04 GB. No File System is stated.

    I then ran Norton Partition Magic 8.0, to try to change the Unknown partition to NTFS and merge the 2 partitions. However, Partition Magic would not recognize the E: Drive Letter (E:), and now the NoteBook loads the Unknown Partition at start-up and will not operate. I have tried booting from the CD Drive and a USB, but it will only boot from the Unknown Partition in the E: Drive.

    As a last resort, I want to run Norton Government Wipe from a CD to try to wipe the entire hard drive and start again. I have no data on there that is irreplaceable. However, it won’t boot from anything except the Unknown Partition.

    Help, please! Thank you.
     
  2. risk_reversal

    risk_reversal MajorGeek

    Zero fill the drive with the manufacturer's utility [or 3rd party utility].

    Get a Linux Live CD [Puppy my favourite] and use GParted to repartition the drive. Alternative to PM would be BiNG run from a floppy or a bootable.

    Good Luck
     
  3. longhotsummer

    longhotsummer Private E-2

    Thanks very much for your reply. Please would you kindly elaborate on the below? What do you mean by 'zero fill', and by 'manufacturers utility'?

    Also, are you suggesting a change of OS from Windows to Linux?
     
  4. studiot

    studiot MajorGeek

    Partition Magic is incompatible with Vista and above.

    Try Partition Wizard, which is very similar but works with Vista / 7 / Server2k8

    http://www.partitionwizard.com/
     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2009
  5. longhotsummer

    longhotsummer Private E-2

     
    Last edited: Oct 7, 2009
  6. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    I'm unsure but I think you netbook is not actually booting into XP at all right now. Partition Magic has left it unbootable? Is that correct?

    A manufacturer's utility disc has programs for checking for errors on your HD and also a utility to write zeros to the drive (overwrite each piece of data with a zero so it is unrecoverable) thus making the HD essentially blank.

    For that Netbook you should have a Samsung HM160HI HD installed, so your manufacturer's utility would be found here or (direct download). Try downloading it and burning to CD with ImgBurn. Use the "Write Image to Disc" option. Where it says "Choose File" click on the first icon and browse to the Image.iso you downloaded and click Open then click on the double icon/file to disc icons at the bottom of the window to begin burning.

    Now, try booting from that CD. Let us know if it boots.

    The options available on the CD are here. I would choose Low Level Format>Erase MBR then Low Level Format>Low Level Format. This will completely erase your HD according to Samsung's standards. Then reload XP using the System Recovery CD choose Standard Installation. You should be prompted to create a suitable partition for Windows.
     
  7. studiot

    studiot MajorGeek

    Zero fill takes a long time on a 160G disk and you shouldn't need to do it.

    I think the utility I suggested will delete partitions so that you can reload XP properly.
     
  8. risk_reversal

    risk_reversal MajorGeek

    Zero fill means the drive will have zeros written all across the platter(s). It removes everything and the drive will be clean. It will also zero the MBR (master boot records) and any partition tables. On a 160Gb disk and depending on HW should take 6-7 hrs. The manufacturer's utility is the utility of the manufacturer who made your drive.

    No. I am suggesting that you boot into your pc with a Linux Live CD. Linux will load in ram only and you can use GParted which is a formating / partitioning utility. BiNG can also be used from a boot floppy or bootable CD.

    Good Luck
     
  9. longhotsummer

    longhotsummer Private E-2

    Thank you all very much for your help. I will do some more work and report back.
     
  10. Tux_Rules

    Tux_Rules Corporal

  11. longhotsummer

    longhotsummer Private E-2

    OK, I have an update!

    I loaded the System Recovery Media disk, which enabled me to delete both partitions, rename the unallocated space (new partition) as C: and format it to NTFS. So far so good. I installed the original Op System (Windows XP). All well so far. However, the System Drivers required installation. I then loaded the System Software Media disk (contains the drivers for this NoteBook and compatible with Windows XP). Here's the on-screen message I am getting:


    ‘Disk is not formatted
    Windows cannot read from this disk. The disk might be corrupted, or it could be using a format that is not compatible with Windows.’


    So, I can’t access the web, even if plugging my own modem cable (from my own PC) into the Notebook. It just tells me it doesn’t have drivers installed. It won’t recognise the driver disk, and I can’t access the web to download from the Samsung website.

    Any ideas on how to resolve this would be most welcome. Thanks again.
     
  12. The Shadow

    The Shadow Specialist

    Just for future reference .....

    Partition Magic 8 WILL work just fine for a Hard Drive with Vista or Win-7 installed.
    I've done it on several occasions.
    BUT......NEVER run Partition Magic 8 from within Windows, regardless of the OS.

    I installed it only once, on an XP hard drive, then used the PM8 applet to create an emergency CD. That put the whole PM8 program on a bootable CD.
    Then I de-installed PM8 from the HD and I've never installed it again.

    I now have PM8 on several (copies) CD's and one Flash Drive. Either will boot my system. (the flash drive boots and runs faster)

    There are many programs like PM8 (utilities) that just work better from a boot disk, which takes Windows completely out of the equation.;)
    Ghost and Acronis TI are just two examples of programs that run better from a boot disk.

    As my grade-school principal used to tell us, "A word to the wise is sufficient".

    Y'all have a great day now, Y'hear?

    The Shadow :cool
     
  13. longhotsummer

    longhotsummer Private E-2

    Thanks for your opinions on Partition Magic.

    I would be most grateful for your kind advice on how to resolve the existing problem. Thank you.
     
    Last edited: Oct 13, 2009
  14. sach2

    sach2 Major Geek Extraordinaire

    Check the lable on the bottom of your notebook for the exact model number. I can't find NP-NC10 on the Samsung site.

    If you have a USB flash drive you could download the WAN or Network card drivers from the Samsung site for your model using your PC (save them as a file and copy to USB) and then install them on the Notebook. Or you could download the drivers and write them to a new CD saving them as data ("write Folders to Disc" using ImgBurn) or similar application and then putting that CD into your notebook and seeing if it can be accessed.

    Can your PC read the Samsung disc? You might be able to browse the CD for something that looks like your WAN driver and write it to a new CD as data and then try that CD in the notebook.
     
  15. The Shadow

    The Shadow Specialist

    Well, I tried to PM you, but I was told that you are NOT receiving any PM's.

    What's up with that?

    Shadow :cool
     
  16. longhotsummer

    longhotsummer Private E-2

    Sorry. The default setting is not to receive PMs and I hadn't changed it. I've just done so. Thanks for your attention.

    NP-NC10 is indeed the UK model number: http://www.samsung.com/uk/consumer/pc-peripherals/notebook-computers/n-series/NP-NC10-KA02UK/index.idx?pagetype=prd_detail

    Why didn't I think of this? Sometimes the most obvious solutions are the last one thinks of!


    Thanks all who have contributed. Problem now resolved.
     
  17. The Shadow

    The Shadow Specialist

    Yeah, I said the above, BUT, I did find one glitch..... when I tried to install Windows 7 after using PM8 to do an NTFS format on the first partition (C:) of my HD. (converting it from FAT-32 to NTFS )

    The Windows 7 installer informed me that the NTFS partition formatted by PM8 was incompatible with Win-7. Cheeeech!:confused
    And I thought NTFS was NTFS...... I guess that's not really so.

    Well anyway, I did a 'Custom' install with Win-7 and told it to reformat the partition. That worked like a champ and I now have Win-7 installed on that drive and working correctly.

    I apologize if I misled anyone. We learn by doing.

    I really like doing the "Custom" form of install, because it lets you choose the partition where windows is going to install and even reformat it if required.
    Some earlier versions of Windows didn't offer you that option and many mistakes were made as a result. Been there, Done that!

    The Shadow :cool
     
  18. studiot

    studiot MajorGeek

    I do suggest you review your knowledge of Partition Magic, because it is possible to inadvertently wipe a Vista or 7 partition that cannot be seen by PM.

    The actual original PM CD is bootable. You do not need to make anything to use it.
     
  19. risk_reversal

    risk_reversal MajorGeek

    I am not sure why you so steadfastly continue to use PM8.

    BiNG can either run from a dos floppy or bootable cd. GParted can be run from a bootable Linux CD. Both of these progs are reliable and will work.

    If I had this issue on one of my HDD, this is what I would do.

    1. Run MBRWork and zero HDD's MBR.
    2. Run manufacturer's software to test drive's integrity [long test].
    3. Run manufacturer's software to zero fill drive.
    4. Use either BiNG or GParted to partition / format drive and apply active flag to bootable partition.

    Time consuming, not really only the zero fill would have taken some time.

    You can create either dos floppies or a bootable CD without having to install PM at all. The only thing that is required is the PartitionMagic cd and the ability to be able to create a bootable cd.

    Good Luck
     
  20. The Shadow

    The Shadow Specialist

    Just for general information, and in no way arguing with anyone.

    I was burgled several years ago and have not had an original PM8 CD since then. I, like so many people the world over, have been running PM8 off of the Emergency Boot disk since then. So telling me or anyone what you can do with the original distribution CD is pretty much redundant.

    Anyone who's been around the old apple tree a few times also knows that you can get PM8 or any partitioning software from ........... (you fill in the blanks).

    I've tried more partitioning programs than I even want to count and every time, even for ones I've had to buy, I've found them wanting in some form or another. I still use PM8 because it's the only program that still does for me what I want it to do.
    So it can't format a HD for Windows 7......so what? The win-7 installer will do it for you.

    I've so far re-partitioned several hard drives after win-7 was installed, with NO problems whatsoever. Being a control freak, I want my secondary partitions formatted in FAT-32 mode, so I can access the data on the part., even from a DOS boot disk.

    I realize that many on this forum don't even know what DOS is......too bad.:cry

    Cheers Mates!
    The Shadow:cool
     
  21. risk_reversal

    risk_reversal MajorGeek

    Re: Partition issues – ever want to take a hammer to your head?

    Was only trying to provide further clarity. I can see now that perhaps this info was unwanted as far as you are concerned.

    [fill the blanks]FYG, I own a copy of PM8 (Norton & the PQ one too) which was/were purchased a few years ago from reputable online retailers.[/fill the blanks]

    Still good luck with trying to resolve this issue.
     

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