JULY 2003 - Vol 19 - Issue 07
Newsletter - Internet Edition
Table of Contents
FDISK & FORMAT
by Sherry L. Nisly, EPCUG Member
This article will attempt to instruct you on how to fdisk and format a hard drive if you do not have a utility such as Powerquest's Partition Magic. Believe me, if you have a utility, use it, there is a reason people avoid doing this in DOS.
Before a new hard drive can be used, or a clean install of an operating system can be performed, the hard drive must be prepared. This will involve partitioning and formatting the hard drive, and will require the use of a boot disk that has been SYSTEM FORMATTED and contains the files FDISK.EXE and FORMAT.COM on the disk.
To create a boot disk that will boot 90% of all systems made in the last 4 years, see my article on CREATING A GENERIC 9x/ME BOOT DISK in next month’s issue. This will give you cd-rom support and contain emergency files such as fdisk and format.
Back Up/Save Your Data
Advance Note: These procedures should only be done AFTER you have backup and saved on another source all data which you do not want to lose, as this will completely wipe out your hard drive. If you are working with a brand new drive, you do not need to worry about this, as you have no data on the drive yet to lose.
Booting with a Floppy Disk
The first step in this procedure is to create the boot disk, the second is to make sure your system boots to it. First restart your system with the boot disk in the floppy drive. (Wait until Windows has shut down if you are using Norton or other utility that checks for floppy disks at closing, then slide it in as soon as Windows has shut down and the system is restarting.)
If your system is set correctly, you will watch the system boot on screen, and prepare to start Windows. It will then attempt to detect your cd-rom drive. If it is successful, it will give your cd-rom drive a letter. Be sure to notice this letter as you will need it later.
If your system ignores the floppy, and goes directly into Windows, you will need to restart the system and enter the dreaded CMOS settings. Shortly after starting up your system, somewhere on the first black screen should be a line telling you to press/hit something to enter setup. This is usually <F1> or <DEL>, but sometimes you will have to refer to your manual or the manufacturer's website to find out for certain how to get there. Occasionally, with at least one manufacturer, you will have to boot with a special floppy to get there.
However you get there, once in Setup/BIOS/CMOS or whatever your system decides to tell you you are at, you need to change the BOOT SEQUENCE/PREFERENCES. Somewhere in your settings you will find a place that shows something similar to:
BOOT OPTIONS:
1ST DEVICE: CD-ROM
2ND DEVICE: HARD DISK
3RD DEVICE: NETWORK DEVICE
You want this setup to have the floppy drive first if possible, and second if not possible. If you cannot make it first, be sure to remember, your system will try to boot off the cd-rom drive anytime you leave a bootable cd in the drive. So you want it to read:
1ST DEVICE: FLOPPY DRIVE
2ND DEVICE: CD-ROM
3RD DEVICE: HARD DISK
or atleast
1ST DEVICE: CD-ROM
2ND DEVICE: FLOPPY DRIVE
3RD DEVICE: HARD DISK
Partition Information
You need to know the following things when partitioning your drive.
Primary partitions are the only ones that are bootable. They're always the C: drive when active. Normally you can only have one.
Extended partitions are needed when you want more than one partition. You can only have one Extended partition on a hard drive.
Logical Drives are divisions of the Extended partition. Even if you only want two drives on your system, you must create a logical inside the extended to make it useable. So, if you want more than one drive, you will have a primary, an extended, and atleast one logical. Logical Drives are used to get more than only two partitions on a hard drive, since you can only have one primary and one extended. They would be your D:, E:, etc. drives.
Starting FDISK
Once you have your system setup to boot to a floppy, and have done so, you will be looking at a black screen, with A:\>_ with the _ blinking at the left side of your screen. This is called the A prompt and blinking cursor.
At the A prompt, type fdisk. You will be presented with a black screen as shown in Figure 1.
If your hard drive is over 2Gig, choose "Y" to enable large disk support, if it is under, type "N" to not enable this feature.
This will now take you to the FDISK main menu as shown in Figure 2.
If you have a brand new disk, skip the next sections on looking at and deleting existing partions, and go directly to creating partitions, otherwise, let’s check what is currently in your system.
Display Partition Information
Select number 4 by typing it where the cursor is blinking, and hitting enter. If you have logical partitions, rather than one large partition, your screen will look like Figure 3. If Figure 3 does not show the question to display the logical partitions, press ESC to return to the main menu, it means you only have one partition. If it does, press enter, to select the default (Y) choice. This will show you a screen similar to Figure 4
Once you have seen how many logical partitions you have, you may press the ESCAPE key (ESC) to return to the main menu.
If at this point you accidentally hit ESC twice, you could find yourself dumped out into DOS. Don’t be alarmed, simply return to Fdisk and continue.
Delete Logical & Extended Partitions
Using choice number 3 on the main menu, and following the instructions, delete all the logical partitions. This may require re-entry into the Delete section for more than one partition, just read the screens carefully. Type the letter of the logical drive to delete. If the partition has a volume label, you will have to enter it in the space left for Volume Label, if that section is blank at the top, then just hit enter, leaving it blank on the line requesting the name. Hit enter to tell it you are sure you want to do this.
Then back at the Delete menu, use number 2 to delete the extended partition. With each deletion, you will get a warning that all data will be lost and unrecoverable if you continue. Since this is our purpose, press ok.
Note: If there were any NON_DOS partitions, you will need to delete them as well.
Remember, at this point, you can't screw up the system. You are already wiping all data off of it. You can't break it now. You may have to start over because you get confused, but you can't break anything or do anything that you can't fix by starting over. You can confuse yourself, get nervous, not get it accomplished, but you can't hurt it. We are here to destroy all information, so what can you do by deleting the wrong thing? There is no 'wrong thing', we are here to delete all things. So, just read the instructions, watch where all the questions are and read them carefully so that you can complete them, and delete all logical and extended partitions.
Delete Primary Partion Last
Use choice number 1 to delete the Primary Partition. At this point you will get a warning to set another partition active. Ignore this for now. We will set our primary partition active once we recreate it. Use the ESC key to get back to the main menu to proceed when you are done.
Creating Partitions
From the Main menu, choose option 1 - Create DOS partition or Logical DOS drive. Another menu will present the options in Figure 6.
Choose option 1 - Create primary DOS Partition. FDISK verifies the integrity of your drive and will ask you if want to use the maximum available size of your hard disk to create the primary partition.
Here is where you need to do a little figuring, but not as much as with the old hard drives. In the days of small hard drives, space was crucial, so it mattered how big you made your partitions because lots of valuable space could be wasted if you made the partitions too large. If you only have a hard drive under 1Gig, then this is still an issue for you, and you should research cluster information before deciding how to break up your system. If you are installing one of the new 20Gig or larger hard drives, this is probably not an issue, you only need to be concerned with 'housekeeping', not space.
You know that you need atleast one primary DOS partition. If you are formatting anything less than a 2Gig drive, it is acceptable, although debatable in some circles, to format the maximum available space into one hard drive. Many recommend partitioning for at least the following choices:
C: = Operating system only (min. of 2Gig)
D: = Swap file drive only (min. of 500Mb)
E: = Program installs only (min. of 2-8Gigs)
F: = Data files only
If you take the above advice, then in addition to creating the Primary DOS partition, you will need to create the Extended partition, and the Logical drives inside it.
When the partitions have been created successfully press "Esc" to return to the menu.
Set Partition Active
After you have created all the partitions you want, you must set the Primary DOS partition the Active Partition. Do this by selecting number 2 on the Main menu screen.
Press "Esc" again to exit FDISK. You need to restart your system for the changes to take affect. Leave the boot disk in the drive.
When the system reboots this time, you might get an error message like "Invalid media type reading drive C" this is OK since the hard disk is not formatted. But you shouldn't get this message, since we are going straight to the floppy.
Double Check FDISK
Since there have been reports of partitions not taking the first time, whether due to operator error or just glitches in the system, run FDISK from the floppy again, and display the partition information, including the logical drives, to be sure all is as you planned it. Then press ESC to reboot to your floppy again.
Formatting the Drives
When you have your partitions created, whether it be one large drive, or multiple logical drives, you will need to format each one. At the A: prompt type format c:
You will get a message saying "WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST. Proceed with Format (Y/N)?".
Since we have already deleted all information, or are starting with a new drive that had nothing on it, press "Y" and hit enter. The format process will begin, and show you a percentage of completion as it progresses. The amount of time it takes to format a hard drive depends on how big each partition is, and how many partitions you have.
Once the C: drive is formatted, if you created logical drives you must format them also. Simply type the other drive letters instead of C: at the A: prompt (ie: format D: then format e: etc until done formatting all drives).
When the drives are all formatted, you must restart your system, and are now ready to install Windows.
Start the Windows Installation
Boot your system to the A: prompt with your Boot disk and insert your Windows CD. Then it will depend on the operating system you are installing what you will type at the A: prompt:
98/ME - Type setup.exe
NT - Type winnt.exe
2000 - Type winnt.exe or winnt32.exe
XP - Type winnt.exe or winnt32.exe
Double check your CD or manual for the correct choice for 2000 and XP. Follow the prompts and instructions, read the screens carefully, and you should have no problem installing Windows. Good luck!
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Recycle SIG Report
by Sherry L. Nisly, Co-Director
The Rebuild Day on July 5th went very well, we sorted through all the new monitors and only found a couple throw aways! Then we had a mini class and the beginners present were taught the basics of formatting & reinstalling Windows, as I’d said I would do. Since there were others that were unable to be present Saturday, I thought it would be beneficial to put the copy of fdisk & format instructions in the newsletter. For those advanced users who know all about this stuff, never mind, your month will come!
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GENSIG Meeting Announcement
by Young Snodgrass, EPCUG Member
The GENSIG (Genealogy Special Interest Group) Meeting will be held at the Greencroft Sr. Center in the Board Room beginning at 10:00 a.m. on Saturday, July 12, 2003.
These meetings are meant to help folks use their computers with Genealogy programs and searches. We will have use of Greencroft’s High Speed Internet and video projector, so we can all review what is being done, or how to do it.
The coffee pot will be on. Please come and bring a friend.
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Coming July 24 - PaperPort
Whether you want to keep track of your genealogy pictures, copies of the rebate forms you send in, or copies of your taxes, PaperPort by ScanSoft, Inc. is the handiest program for the home user and small businesses.
Using the same Windows Exploring folder format to structure your filing system, PaperPort allows you to sort and store scanned images of pictures and papers.
A great bonus is the annotation feature, which allows you to scan in forms and fill in the blanks by typing on the lines! This will be of great interest to many people!
That’s just the tip of the iceberg, be sure to make this meeting to get a look at this very versitile document management program.
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Nominations Begin in July
for 2003-2004 Officers
The following are the officers which will need to be appointed or elected for the upcoming year. Nominations will be in July & August, and will close in September with the elections that night. New officers will take office at the October board meeting. Please consider taking one of these positions or at least offering to help someone else take it.
| President |
Elected Officer |
|
Membership Director |
Elected Director |
| Vice-President |
Elected Officer |
|
2 Directors-at-Large |
Elected Directors |
| Secretary |
Elected Officer |
|
Advertising Director |
Appointed by Board |
| Treasurer |
Appointed by Board |
|
Public Relations Director |
Appointed by Board |
| Program Director |
Elected Officer |
|
Newsletter Editor |
Appointed by Board |
| SIG Director |
Elected Officer |
|
Web Editor |
Appointed by Board |
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Q & A
From EPCUG Members
Q: What is MIME format?
A: While I cannot fully explain MIME, I can tell you it is a standard which allows us to use more than plain ascii text in our emails, such as fonts, colors, and pictures. Because not all readers read MIME format, most lists strip the coding from a MIME email, but include it at the bottom so that it can be ‘reconstructed’ if necessary. This causes the ascii text to come in the first half of the email, and then garbage, or html coding to come along with a repeat of the text. Sometimes this is a deliberate action on the list, sometimes it is because it is routed through a mail server that does this on its own through no request of the mail server.
This happens on MANY email lists out there, as a matter of fact, MOST email lists. It is not the fault of the reader when gargage or colors come through on an email, it is because most email readers are default set anymore to send colors and special fonts, and people feel encouraged to add pictures and backgrounds. Some lists actually require posters to reset their email program to 7-bit ascii to eliminate this inconvinience. EPCUG simply lives over the occasional garbagy or colored email.
Q: When are the CDs with the current patches going to be ready?
A: I believe Jon and I now have all the systems ready, so if you will send a request directly to me, I can have your cd ready for you at the next meeting. You can choose 2 platforms to be placed on the CD, for example you can have Win98 & XP both on the same CD. The cost will be $10. Again, send an email directly to me at nisly@epcug.org to order your cd.
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Freebies & Tips for July
From EPCUG Members
Dale Parrott called to tell me about Internet Accelerators which are pretty much what Juno is offering. He tried a trial of one, called Propel Accelerator (http://www.propel.com/). He said "I liked the Propel, it makes the pages load noticeably faster. None of these services accelerate downloads or streaming video, etc. They make pages load faster by grabbing the graphics from a webpage, then compressing them before sending them on to you. If you try Propel be sure to click the ‘about’ icon from within Propel in the task bar and upgrade to the newer version. It’s easy, painless and adds features." He also told me about another that "is a completely free accelerator but most likely spyware: Marketscore Internet Accelerator (http://www.marketscore.com/e/surffaster.asp)"
Jim Orange wrote in to say, "Last month Sherry was looking for a old copy of Juno for a club member. I was recently on the web & stumbled across this web site, it has old versions of a wide selection of old & out of date software. A little bit of everything! The address is (http://www.oldversion.com). Could possibly be a very useful site." (Sherry’s note: It already proved useful for me. Would the person who was wanting the SP2 version of IE5.5 for 98 please write me. I FOUND IT! Thanks, Jim.)
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EPCUG Newsletter Information
by
The Elkhart PC Users Group newsletter is published 11 times each year. With each issue, approximately 1000 copies are mailed and distributed to local businesses, schools, etc.
Elkhart PC Users Group is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization whose purpose is to help each other and the community, by sharing information and experiences relating to software, hardware, systems & platforms (incl. DOS and Windows) in the personal and business computing realm.
The user group does NOT endorse, rate, or otherwise officially comment on products, and readers are cautioned to rely on the opinions presented exclusively at their own risk.
EPCUG meets the fourth Thursday of the month, except for November and December. We combine both those meetings and meet the first Thursday in December. EPCUG Meetings are held at High Dive Park, 500 E. Beardsley, Elkhart, IN Doors open at 6:30 PM., the meeting starts at 7:00 PM. Open to the public.
Monthly Advertising Rates: Montly ads sizes and rates are listed on a form available at the EPCUG website.Call any officer for ad placement.
Deadline for ads is 12:00 noon the Saturday after the 4th Thursday of the month. Sponsorships will appear in the edition following submission. Payment for advertising must be received at the time of submission or upon receipt of an invoice and paid by check or money order made payable to: The Elkhart PC Users Group.
All money received by EPCUG from advertising, sponsorships, and donations are used to support the organization and its goals.
To become a member of EPCUG and to receive your FREE copy of the EPCUG Newsletter by mail, fill out the membership form at any general meeting, location indicated on Page 1. To extend your membership for 6 months, sign the member list at any meeting. We welcome all comments, articles, and ideas!
EPCUG P.O. Box 13 Elkhart, IN 46515-0013
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