AR> I need to find out how to permanently get rid of a type "b" FAT32
AR> partition created with WIN95 OSR2.  I assume that is similar to a
AR> type "F" partition.

I've got a utility here that I wrote for DOS which will blast the entire 
MBR off the drive. Send me your E-Mail address. Be vewy, vewy careful 
with it -- the Oops Factor is pretty big.


AR> I have a friend who just can't believe that his previous M$
AR> installations left a partition that consumes almost his whole HD and
AR> apparently can not be deleted permanently with other conventional
AR> software like OS/2 FDISK.

?? I can't believe it either, but I can't say that I'm particularly 
happy with OS/2 FDisk's performance. I recall having a couple of strange 
problems with it. Creating a primary partition that I couldn't mark as 
installable, IIRC.


AR> BTW, as far as the 10.3 GB HD is concerned, he did say he got the
AR> >8GB drivers and made an updated set of OS/2 install diskettes for

">8GB drivers"? For the Winodows you mean?


AR> He said he started out by deleting _ALL_ WIN98 stuff, then running
AR> Seagate's Low Level Format.

LLF should certainly have gotten rid of it. I haven't used the latest 
incarnation of SGATFMT*; does it have a "non-destructive format" option 
that was used?


AR> In the process he has tried to delete
AR> that FAT32 partition with Linux, DOS 6.2, and Partition Magic.

None of those worked!?


AR> In typical M$ user fashion he repeats those last steps 1/2 a dozen
AR> times until he become frustrated and blames OS/2, then re-installs
AR> Win98.

Sounds like he's in Micro$oft's target market.


AR>  Personally I'm getting very tired of hearing him complain
AR> about OS/2 not installing and how wonderful the M$ installation is.

And you're forcing him to use OS/2 because... You buy Tylenol by the 
case? Because you don't have enough ulcers? Because you like baby-
sitting people who are lost if they can't use a mouse? Once he _does_ 
get it installed, who do you think he's going to call whenever he has a 
problem with his OS/2 system? [:)

Incidentally, how the heck did you convince him to buy a copy? At 
CDN$250 (twice the price of Win9x) I've never been successful. I loaned 
a friend my Warp 3 but he bought and switched to Lose95 within a year. 
He can play _far_ more games with it, Mirabilis has a Lose9x version of 
ICQ, he can view/play DVD's, he has a _working_ webphone, he can video 
conference, he doesn't have to search every corner of the globe for 
drivers for the most mundane of printers and other equipment -- I wish I 
were as happy!

I silently laugh at him everytime he uses TASM, though. [;) Locks his 
system _solid_! [:) Of course, that's _TASM's_ fault though, right? 
[;)))


AR> In searching back through previous msgs I found 1 that suggested
AR> deleting the partition table, and another msg that said they used
AR> Norton's diskedit prgm under PCDOS7 to correct the entry in cyl 0,
AR> side 0, sector 1, and another msg that suggested using Partition
AR> Magic to reduce the size and move the FAT32 partition.

If you're in the unenviable position of having to delete the entire 
partition table and FDisk ain't doing the job, then you probably want to 
delete the contents of the entire MBR. This is what my utility does. A 
disk editor would certainly work, as well.


AR> I've never had to delete a partition table before, so would
AR>appreciate a detailed explanation of how to do that. I can probably
AR>dig up Norton's diskedit prgm, but haven't used it.

Start your disk editor and load up the very first sector on the drive. 
It is located, as you know, on cylinder 0, head 0, sector 1. The last 
two bytes in the sector should be the hexidecimal values "AA 55". The 
partition table begins at offset 01BEh within the sector. There are four 
entries in this table, each 16 (decimal) bytes long.

In all likelihood the byte at offset 01BEh will be an 80h followed by 
various non-zero values. From 01CEh to 01FDh will probably all be 00h.

In order to remove all partitions from the drive, simply zero all the 
values from 01BEh to 01FDh. Personally, I think you should get rid of 
that Windows MBR entirely by zeroing out everything from 0000h to 01FFh.


AR> Personally I'm a little surprised that Seagate's Low Level Format
AR> prgm for IDE drives did not solve the problem.

As am I. I used it quite a bit in the past when I used to deal with used 
drives of all types, and it did manage to recover a number of Seagate 
drives that were otherwise useless.


AR> At this point I'll do almost anything to solve this problem and stop
AR> this annoying repetitive complaining about OS/2 installation not
AR> flushing the M$ toilet.

In my experience the best way to do that is to let him use his Windoof. 
You can't turn his computer into your computer and you can't force 
people to share your point of view. Not everybody can join Mensa! [:) We 
use OS/2 for our own various reasons, but some people are just made for 
Windoof. [;)


AR> I would appreciate any suggestions in detail that I can forward to
AR> him to do.

[:DDD You can tell him this for me! [:D Put my name on the bottom!

1. Visit the cheapest retail electronics superstore in your area and 
purchase the cheapest ATA drive that they have. If they don't know what 
an ATA drive is, ask for an IDE drive instead. The cheaper your 
equipment the better Windows will run!

2. Take the drive and the computer over to Andy's place and have him 
install the OS/2 for you. If Andy is unavailable, pick someone that 
knows what they are doing (although this will probably be someone that 
you don't trust).

3. Don't ask any questions. You simply wouldn't understand.

4. Pay him money. The more money the better. This is to compensate for 
all the Windows applications pirating that you have done in the past.

5. Go home and enjoy not being able to use any of the software that you 
want to use or play any of the games that you want to play. If you use 
the Internet don't hold any hope of enjoying the most interesting Java 
sites and get used to Netscrap locking your system so solid that you'll 
usually have to C-A-D, and sometimes have to hit reset. Watchcat doesn't 
help.

JMO. My E-Mail is fidoboy@techie.com. Send me your E-Mail address and 
I'll send you that utility. Take care and TTYL (hopefully [;).

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 þþ To every rule there is an exception, and vice versa.                       
 

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