need help partitioning ASAP

[AmarSingh]

Im installing a new 38GB hd for my friend and im setting up 3 partitions to triple boot 98/2k/xp. I used fdisk to partition the hd into a 23 GB primary dos partition to hold 98, then an extended partition of the rest of the drive (15GB). I made two logical drives within the extended partition. problem is, after i make the extended partition, fdisk wont open (says fdisk cant run on this drive) and win2k and win xp wont install ( i get a stop error and the installers say they cant access the drive). ie when xp setup usually asks you what partition to install on, it shows that there is a 38000KB drive, but it says it cant access it. So i used a program called BootIt NG to delete the extended partition and the logical drives and fdisk worked again. So i repated my steps to make two logical drives and i got the same thing. Am i doing something wrong? Ive already installed 98 on C and it sees d and e within 98. I have a recent bios update for the gigabyte GA-6BXc and the drive is a maxtor 6L040J2. Id use the maxtor maxblast utility to do the partitioning, but it says not to use it with 2K or xp. I need help fast. TIA

 

[meglamaniac]

While I'm not an expert in this, it seems that there is either something wrong with your drive or the way your drive is being handled by the BIOS.

A couple of things to check:
Do you have the latest BIOS for your board? If not, go get it and flash it in.
Are the relevant settings correct for your drive (eg. LBA mode, etc)

On a sideline, WindowsXP setup has its own partitioning system (if you boot off the CD), so try adding the partitions with that.

 

[AmarSingh]

oh yeah...i forgot about the built in xp partitioner....it partitioned the free space fine...now xp is installing. Hopefully it works

 

[krisatkins]

You're a bit lucky there...

I had exactly the same prob, However my problem was that the Master Boot Record had got corrupted, Anyone want to buy a very battered 10gig drive :-(

 

[xsivforce]

Re: You're a bit lucky there...

Originally posted by krisatkins
Anyone want to buy a very battered 10gig drive :-(

Give ya 2 bucks for it.

 

[AmarSingh]

Re: You're a bit lucky there...

Originally posted by krisatkins
I had exactly the same prob, However my problem was that the Master Boot Record had got corrupted,

im no HD expert, but cant you just do fdisk /mbr to rebuild the MBR?

 

[meglamaniac]

yes.

Still, if you don't know it then its a bit late...

 

[Pager57]

Use Disk Commander

Disk Commander is great for these problems. Also set your BIOS to the default settings and try that, it worked for me.....

 

[AmarSingh]

wow ...XP installed ...no hardware problems at all (3 year old system... pII 350). Win98 gave me huge hardware problems (sound card, modem and NIC)..still cant get the modem to work in 98, but xp is running smooth. Im very impressed.

 

[AmarSingh]

now i have 98 on c: and xp on E: and dvd on D: Can i use disk management to change the drive letters for the partitions with OS's on them without messing anything up? I want to make XP C, 98 D and dvd e:. Since XP works so well i want to make it the default OS, but still keep 98

 

[Pager57]

Commandor Reply

Yes you can if you buy the advance version. This program has gotten me out of a lot of problems. This also lets you command where you want each O/S in what part of the drive and giving a letter assignment. When you get the program it has a save feature so you can save a boot-up disk or create one so it will allow you to go in on a system crash and set things to there original settings. Hope this helps...... Blackdog/Jay

 

[AmarSingh]

i meant the built in disk management feature in xp administration tools