problem at "Create Primary DOS Partition"

[cdjayzee]

I am trying to format my hard drive but something keeps going wrong. When asked to enable large disk -- I enter Y; I then choose 1 to Create Dos partition; I then choose 1 to Create Primary DOS Partition but then the following screen comes up:
Create Primary DOS Partition

Current fixed disk drive: 1

Press Esc to return to FDISK Options_

At this point my cursor is just sitting and blinking after the word Options. I've waited for 5 minutes but nothing is happening. Is there something I need to do different or change in my BIOS?????

[Murf]

Welcome to CTH

You are trying to partition your hard drive, may I ask why. If you just want to wipe the hard drive clean and reinstall everything, then you do not need to partition it.

Would like to know what you have:

Size Hard Drive
System spec's e.g. Name Brand? Model Number.

I have two help pages for doing what you are attempting.

Partitioning (http://members.cox.net/joemurphy/fdisk.htm)

Formatting (http://members.cox.net/joemurphy/format.htm)

[cdjayzee]

Murf, I just want to clean up and start over on my hard drive. It's an HP 45 gb...

Even when I start at a:\> and I type "format c:" It tells me invalid drive specification. But my c drive works...i can boot up on it and so anything i want, why would it say that it is invalid?

[cdjayzee]

Murf, by the way i am using windows 98se, pentium 3, 900 mhz

[Murf]

HP is the problem

It is a proprietary system, it can been done but takes time:
Do you have a "Recovery Disk"?

I'm not into HP's and I know there are others here more familiar with HP then I, the following may help.

This is taking from a post from a friend of mine on another BBS (Thx to Mosiac1) - It's long so may want to print it:

An Hp can be repartitioned using Fdisk. The technique is a bit different from the standard, the Bios needs to be reset and you use the restore disk to do the job, not a floppy bootdisk. The e-mail is quite long to post here. But there have been a few people asking about it lately. I have a 42.9 GIG HD with FAT32. Too big. So I am posting this for anyone who wants to know it can be done and how.
From HP tech Support:

quote:

I understand that you want to know if doing an Fdisk to repartition your hard drive will prevent the recovery CDs from working with your unit.

There should be no problem with doing the fDisk. Here are
instructions on how to do this process:

First, we will need to back up all important data, because using the FDISK utility will erase ALL data currently on the PC.

Next, we will have to remove any third-party devices attached to the system. This is necessary for the recovery CDs to properly detect the system.

The following steps will help you successfully perform a recovery at this point:

1. Insert the recovery disk in the drive.
2. Power off the computer.
3. Remove or disconnect all added hardware (e.g. printer, scanner,
joystick, new video card, etc) from the computer.
4. Power on the system.
5. At the blue HP Expanding Possibilities screen, start tapping the
[F-1] key until the message "Entering Setup" appears.
6. At the setup screen, press the [F-5] then [Enter] key to reset all
data to factory defaults.
7. Then press the [F-10] then [Enter] key to save all changes and exit
the BIOS setup.
8. The system should boot to the recovery CD. At the first prompt, press the spacebar to enter the recovery program.
9. Press the [Enter] key to proceed.
10. Click on the words "Advanced Options", located in the upper right-hand corner of the screen.
11. Click on the words "Dos Shell".
12. At this point the system will exit to a DOS prompt. Type the following at the cursor: FDISK Then press [Enter]
13. Now the system will ask if you would like to use large disk support.
This enables the system use the full storage space of the hard drive installed. Press [Enter] at this point to select yes and proceed with the FDISK program. The FDISK options screen should now be displayed
14. At the FDISK options menu, type #3, then [Enter.] The following options will be displayed:

1. Delete Primary Partition
2. Delete Extended Partition
3. Delete logical DOS drive (s) in the extended DOS Partition
4. Delete Non-Dos partitions

These are the main options that will be used to remove the partition from the hard drive

15. Press the [1] key to delete the primary DOS partition
16. Press [Enter] when it asks which primary DOS partition to delete (#1 is defaulted)
17. Enter the volume label exactly as it is seen above. If there is none just press [Enter.]
18. Press [Esc] twice to go back to the DOS prompt At the end of these steps, reboot the computer for the changes to go into effect within the system. This can be accomplished by holding the [Ctrl] and [Alt] keys, then pressing the [Delete] key twice. Once the system has rebooted, an
error stating that there are no partition (s) defined on the system will be displayed. Follow the above step (item 12) to enter the FDISK utility from the DOS prompt.

After doing this follow the steps below to recreate the partition.
1. Press [1] then [Enter] to create a dos partition.
2. Press [1] then [Enter] at the 2nd options menu to create the primary partition. This is the partition in which the operating system (Windows 98) will be loaded.
3. A message will appear asking if you would like to use the maximum space available for the primary partition. Type the letter [Y] and press [Enter]. By doing this it will use the entire available space to create the primary partition.
4. The total disk space available on the hard drive will be displayed, along with the maximum space available for the primary partition.
5. At this point, the format and recovery must be completed. This can be accomplished by pressing the [Esc] key until the DOS prompt appears again. Once at the DOS prompt, turn the power off to the system for at
least 30 seconds to 1 minute. Be sure to leave the recovery CD inside the CD-ROM drive as well. Turn the system back on. At this time the recovery CD will be loaded and will automatically detect that the hard drive is not formatted and begin to run an initial format for the hard
drive to hold data. Allow the format to complete, at which time the system should boot to the recovery disk again.
6. At the main Recovery screen press the spacebar to enter the recovery program.
7. Click on the word "OK".
8. Click on the word "Recover".
9. Click on the words "Recovery Only".
10. A confirmation page should appear, advising that running a recovery of the system will erase any data stored on the system, Click on the word "Yes".