Fdisk MBR

Fdisk USB

gf — Tue, 24 Nov 2009 05:39:59 +0000

Fdisk USB (Fdisk Boot)

The fdisk USB utility can be run from a USB flash drive. To do this you will need to create a bootable USB flash drive. This can be accomplished using the HP flash drive tool that you can find on the Internet using a Google search: HP bootable flash drive tool. Once you have created a bootable flash drive you can install DOS and the DOS utilities along with fdisk. This bootable flash drive makes a great technician tool to be able to retrieve NTFS files on Windows XP drives.

Fdisk NTFS (Fdisk Utility)

You can add free utilities to your bootable DOS flash drive, such as, Active NTFS Reader for DOS, for reading NTFS files from DOS and retrieving important data from non-functioning Windows operating systems. I also have a YouTube videos that goes into this subject in more depth.

Fdisk CD

You can also create a bootable DOS CD to use fdisk again on a non-function Windows operating system. Nero and some other CD burning programs allow you to create bootable CDs using DOS startup files. This provides you another nice tool for accessing a computer that will not boot.

How to Fdisk

Fdisk can be a little challenging when you first attempt using it. It does not have a friendly user interface. I have also created an Fdisk DOS tutorial YouTube Video that you might find helpful.

GParted Partitioning Utility

Gparted is a free Open Source utility that you might find helpful. GParted has a friendly user interface and operates very quickly for creating partitions and even resizing partitions without destroying your data. I also have a GParted tutorial video you might find helpful.

Fdisk MBR

The Fdisk MBR website has many other articles on this subject you might find helpful along with Fdisk USB.

Partitioning Hard Drives

gf — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 18:23:38 +0000

Partitioning hard drives will help protect important data by placing the data in a logical drive outside the operating system drive. Creating more than one partition on a hard drive is important to safeguard data. Windows has a tendency to slow down from drive fragmentation, registry problems, spyware, and viruses. Continued maintenance is needed to keep Windows functioning. Windows is also a target for viruses and by having your important data outside the operating system you can quickly replace the operating system and not destroy your data. I have a lab of 35 computers and perform a system restore daily using imaging software. My students keep their files and data in a backup partition so when I am restoring the operating system their files and data are safe in a separate partition. There are several partitioning utilities that can be used. Fdisk for DOS, Disk Management for Windows XP, and my favorite GParted which runs from a Linux LiveCD.

GParted

The GParted free Open Source partition utility is fast and easy to use for partitioning hard drives.

The Fdisk MBR website has some additional articles on this subject you might find useful.

I have several YouTube videos and additional resources that take you step by step that you might find helpful at ComputerRepairTrainingPlus.

GParted Partition Utility

gf — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 03:45:38 +0000

GParted partition utility is a free Open Source Linux utility that can be run from a LiveCD, such as, Insert. This utility can quickly create Windows FAT32 and NTFS hard drive partitions. GParted can even resize partitions without destroying the data on the partition. This make it very useful for creating a second or third partition on a Windows installed drive. I like to run GParted from the Insert LiveCD because you can boot the computer from the CD and still have full access to the hard drive. This is a valuable utility that I use often.

LiveCDs

LiveCds are CDs that can be used to startup a non-functioning computer to retrieve files and data that might not otherwise be accessible. You can also use the LiveCD to troubleshoot, edit files, and scan and remove virus infections. LiveCDs can be very important computer technician tools.

Fdisk MBR

The Fdisk MBR website has additional articles on this subject that you might find useful.

I also have a YouTube video that takes you step by step through its easy operation.

Linux Fdisk

gf — Sat, 26 Sep 2009 22:09:59 +0000

Linux uses one partition for its root file system and it also needs a dedicated swap partition for its swap file. Since Linux Fdisk is more complex than DOS Fdisk it can be very challenging to use. Also older Computer hardware BIOS can only accesses the first 1024 cylinders of the disk, which can limit your partitions to 8GB. You can also make DOS partitions with the DOS Fdisk utility or Linux partitions with the Linux Fdisk.

Partitioning

When I setup partitions for either a Linux or Windows operating systems I use GParted. GParted, Partition Magic clone, is a free Open Source utility that works well on any computer system. You can also run it, which I prefer, from a LiveCD, such as, INSERT. INSERT, from Inside Security, is a free LiveCD based on Knoppix. Knoppix is another LiveCD that has many useful computer maintenance tools. INSERT also has many other free and valuable tools, such as, Partimage, which is a clone of North Ghost. If you want some addition information on GParted you should check out the my YouTube video GParted.

Fdisk MBR

The Fdisk MBR website has additional articles on this subject you might find useful.

FIXMBR

gf — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 02:02:05 +0000

The FIXMBR command no longer uses DOS and the fdisk utility is no longer available in Windows XP. However, there is this new FIXMBR command function that can be used in the Recovery Console where you can also find other important maintenance tools. You can start the Recovery Console from an original Windows XP install CD or you can also install it to the hard drive so that you can access it during startup. To install it to the hard drive type the following at the command prompt: X:\i386\winnt32.exe /cmdcons (X is the letter of the CDROM drive where the Windows XP install disk is.) When you startup the Recovery Console you will need the administrator’s password access the drive.

There are several familiar DOS commands that can be listed by typing HELP at the prompt, such as, attrib, del, more, delete, mkdir, dir, format, cd, help, chdir, rd, chkdsk, cls, exit, rename, copy, md, and rmdir. These commands can be used to repair and modify all files and folders on your hard drive. The Windows XP FIXMBR command and Recovery Console has proven to be a very helpful maintenance tool.

I also have a YouTube video on FIXMBR that you might want to checkout.

Fdisk MBR

The Fdisk MBR website has some additional articles you might find useful.

MBR

gf — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 04:30:12 +0000

An MBR (master boot record), or also referred to as the first partition sector, is a 512-byte boot sector that is the first sector (LBA Sector 0) of a partitioned hard drive. Consequently the master boot record becomes a target for boot-sector infecting viruses. In addition to the bootstrap code and a partition table the master boot record also contains a Windows signature. Fdisk has an undocumented parameter called /mbr that causes it to write the master boot record to the hard disk without altering the partition table information. Warning: Writing the master boot record to the hard disk in this manner can make certain hard disks partitioned with multi-boot utilities unusable. This first sector of the hard disk is called the master boot record (or sometimes the partition table or master boot block). This program is written to the disk by the fdisk /mbr command and is usually called the MBR. During normal operations, Fdisk writes this information to the disk only if there is no master boot record. During the installation of Microsoft MS-DOS, setup replaces the MBR on the hard disk with code to display a message MS-DOS.

Master Boot Code

Master Boot Code: The master boot record contains the small initial boot program that BIOS loads and executes to start the boot process. The MBR also contains the Master Partition Table. This small table contains the descriptions of the partitions that are contained on the hard disk. Due to the great importance of the information stored in the master boot record and if it were ever become damaged in some way the hard disk will no longer be accessible and serious data loss would result. Repairing the master boot record on your Windows XP system is accomplished using the fixmbr command, available in Recovery Console. This is necessary when the master boot record has become corrupt due to a virus or some other kind of damage. The MBR is created when you create the first partition on the hard disk which the most important data information on the disk.

Computer Startup

During the computer startup and when the hard drive is accessed the MBR points to the system partition’s starting location on the disk, and loads a copy of its Partition Boot Sector into memory. The MBR then transfers execution to executable code in the Partition Boot Sector. Special Note: Although there is a Master Boot Record on every hard disk, the executable code in the sector is used only if the disk is connected to an x86-based computer and the disk contains the system partition. The partition table is located in the master boot record on the disk.

Computer Boot Information

Master Boot Record has important computer boot information that contains all required information on how to boot the disk and load the operating system. MBR record is very important data for your computer and without this information, your computer will not be able to get to the starting point to load the operating system. The MBR is located in the Boot Sector of a hard drive. MBR is a hidden area on your hard drive that contains all information about disk partitions (sometimes also called volumes or logical drives).

Fdisk MBR

The Fdisk MBR website has additional articles that you might find useful.

Fdisk

gf — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 03:56:32 +0000

The Fdisk is one of the more common MS-DOS utilities. Fdisk allows the user to delete or create partitions on the hard drive. Fdisk has several formatting switches that can be used. FDISK 1/PRI:200 will create a 200MB DOS partition on the hard drive. FDISK 1/EXT:400 will create a 400MB meg extended DOS partition on the hard drive and FDISK 1/LOG:200 will create a 200MB logical drives on the hard drive. FDISK /Q prevents fdisk from booting the system automatically after exiting fdisk. FDISK /STATUS will show you the current status of your hard drive.

FDISK /ACTOK

FDISK /ACTOK will make Fdisk not check the disk integrity allowing the drives to be created faster. FDISK /FPRMT will not get the prompt for FAT32 support. Also this allows FDISK to be forced into using FAT32 on drives smaller than 540MB (by default FDISK will not use FAT32 on any drive smaller than 540MB). FDISK will not allow you to select or change cluster sizes, resize partitions, or move partitions. Fdisk can only display and work with one drive at a time. Fdisk is a utility used to partition fixed disk drives (hard drives). Fdisk is used to create, delete, and format partitions on hard disks that were formatted using the FAT32 and other FAT file systems required by earlier versions of Windows. You can use

FDISK /STATUS

FDISK /STATUS and not run the risk of accidentally pressing the wrong key (while using Fdisk interactively) and overwrite some of your sectors. Fdisk does not entirely destroy data; it merely removes the partition, leaving you with a large data chunk you cannot access. Fdisk is a utility, included in all versions of MS-DOS and Windows 95, 98, and ME for formatting (preparing) a hard drive to hold data and to logically partition the disk.

Fdsik MBR

The Fdisk MBR website has additional articles on this subject you might find useful.

Fdisk MBR

gf — Sat, 29 Aug 2009 23:49:44 +0000

The Fdisk MBR (master boot record) is an undocumented switch that can be activated by typing at the DOS prompt “fdisk /mbr”. This will rebuild and rewrite the hard disk MBR file. This can be very handy if the MBR file becomes corrupted or virus infected.

WARNING: This will remove some multi-operating system boot functions.

At one time I used this feature daily in a lab to remove a virus that we were having difficulty cleaning from all our lab computers. Today if you install AVG or one of the other top anti-virus programs you should be safe from MBR or boot record viruses. The only other problem you might encounter is a corrupted MBR file, which can happen when some programs modify the MBR during installation. To fix the MBR and get your computer to boot properly you would need to boot from either a DOS partition on the hard drive or boot from a DOS bootable floppy, CDROM, or flash drive. DOS files can be retrieved from either MSDOS, Windows 95, 98, or ME. You can even format a floppy disk and include the DOS (Windows ME) system startup files by formatting a floppy on a Windows XP computer. You can also create a DOS bootable floppy by using a CD burning program like Nero to create bootable CDs. To create a DOS bootable flash drive there are several utilities on the Internet that will format a USB flash drive and allow you to load the DOS startup files. I use USB bootable flash drives daily to maintain lab computers. I have also created several YouTube videos that can help you with Fdisk, DOS, and creating bootable flash drives:

Fdisk MBR

The Fdisk MBR website has additional articles on this subject you might find useful.

YouTube Video about DOS:

YouTube video about Fdisk:

YouTube video about creating a bootable flash drive: