Re: Disk Drive Overlay Help Needed

Someone needs to graduate to the 21st Century (as in using old 20th Century
DOS programs with 21st Century Hardware/Software) - what exactly do you
think the "fixmbr" command in recovery console does? It does exactly what
you are stating, it wipes the Master Boot Record clean, and replaces it with
the NT boot code, directing the system to load the program NTLDR. But in
this case, since there is a drive overlay, the boot code won't find NTLDR
and also won't recognize the partition table information, and thus will show
an unformatted/unknown partition - this is where the OP can Partition and
format (preferable NTFS using the standard long format - NOT the QUICK
format) his/her drive and perform a clean install.
OP - be sure to backup any important data files before starting.

--

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Google is your friend!
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"Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
news:uPp$dWHIGHA.3944@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>
>> "RReed" <RReed@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
>> news:743C3652-6C4A-41AA-AE8D-B98C12D8AEDE@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>> | Thanks for the reply.
>> |
>> | You say "Dump the Disk Drive Overlay." How? What is the easiest way
>> to do
>> | this?
>> |
>> | I agree with the problems that the DDO's cause, because i have seen
>> them. I
>> | have checked all my hardware and can not find a DDO anywhere. As I
>> said, I
>> | have WinXP SP2 along with a recent MB and BIOS update. (Asus A7N8X-E
>> Deluxe).
>> | These should be able to see the large HDD (137GB HDD limit) and not
>> have to
>> | install the DDO.
>> |
>> | I believe the Data Lifeguard software did make changes in windows
>> somewhere
>> | because it said it was going to set windows to see the larger HDD. I
>> checked
>> | the HDD and it shows no DDO installed.
>> |
>> | I am lost here and dont know where to go from here. I should not have
>> a DDo
>> | installed with the hardware and software that I have, but goback says i
>> have
>> | one. How can I truly find out. Is there a registry setting that could
>> be
>> | doing this?
>> |
>> | "Yves Leclerc" wrote:
>> |
>> | > On 23/01/2006 "RReed" <RReed@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
>> | > >I upgraded from an 80GB Western Digital HDD to a 200GB WD HDD and I
>> used
>> the
>> | > >Data Lifeguard tools to setup and tranfer my files to the 200GB HDD.
>> | > >Everything went fine however the data lifeguard software said it
>> have to
>> | > >change setting in my WinXP SP2 to be able to reconize my larger HDD.
>> It
>> made
>> | > >the changes and all works good except for Norton Goback. I use
>> Norton
>> Goback
>> | > >instead of MS system restore. I am trying to upgrade my Norton
>> Goback
>> | > >software and i get an error stating that a disk drive overlay (DDO)
>> was
>> found
>> | > >it it does not support one. GoBack does not install. No help on
>> their
>> | > >website either, I did send them an email an i am waiting for their
>> response.
>> | > >
>> | > >I have MS WinXP SP2 installed and I have an Asus A7N8X-E Deluxe MB
>> (produce
>> | > >in 2004) with the latest Bios upgrade. With everything I read, my
>> system
>> | > >should not have to use a DDO. I used WD Data Lifeguard software to
>> remove
>> | > >the DDO from the HDD and it shows no DDO is installed on the drive.
>> | > >
>> | > >So with all the above being said, I am thinking maybe I may have a
>> problem
>> | > >in my registry or WinXP somewhere? Any suggestions?
>> | >
>> | > Dump the Disk Drive Overlay. You will only have problems forever.
>> Buy
>> | > yourself a PCI ATAPI/IDE controller card. These "by-pass" the BIOS
>> limiations
>> | > since they have their own BIOS to control the access to the hard
>> drive.
>> | >
>> | > D.D.O. will not work with GoBack since both need to be placed at the
>> beginning
>> | > of the hard drive.
>> | > Y.
>
>
> "Snarky Parker" <sparker9@xxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:utfMn%23GIGHA.1760@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
>>I had the same problem with a WD 160 GB HDD and Windows 2000. If I
>>remember
>> correctly I got rid of the DDO info by issuing "fixmbr" and then the
>> "fixboot"
>> commands from the Recovery Console.
>>
>> Hopefully you still have your 80 GB HDD loaded with all your data, just
>> in case
>> things go badly.
>
>
>
> RReed:
> While the Recovery Console commands suggested by Snarky *may* do the job,
> the tried & true process to purge a HD of a "drive overlay" program is to
> "zero-out" the drive.
>
> There are a number of programs available to do this. The one we have used
> to good effect over the years is zap.com. It's a DOS software utility that
> writes zeroes to the first 128 sectors on a HD, including the Master Boot
> Record and the first Partition Boot Record. It's an effective tool for
> eliminating those dreadful drive overlay programs offered by HD
> manufacturers. It's also effective in purging the MBR of any virus
> infestation.
>
> zap.com was originally available from IBM; however, it is no longer
> offered
> (AFAIK) by Hitachi-IBM. Fortunately, the Zap program (it's a freebie) can
> be downloaded from http://www.tburke.net/info/utils/.
>
> After running the executable file, two files will be created - zap.com and
> zap.text, the latter file describing the program and its use. Since zap is
> designed to work from a DOS environment, the two files (they total about 4
> KB) are then copied to a bootable floppy, e.g., a Win9x/Me startup disk or
> any DOS bootable floppy. If you don't have a DOS bootable floppy disk,
> access http://www.bootdisk.com. Naturally you understand that after
> "zapping" the disk, all data is gone and the drive reverts to a "virgin"
> state.
>
> As Yves has pointed out these "drive overlay" programs available from some
> HD manufacturers are fruitful sources of future problems especially in an
> XP OS environment. There are two basic requirements for the system to
> recognize large-capacity disks, i.e., drives > 137 GB...
> 1. The motherboard's BIOS supports large-capacity disks, and,
> 2. The OS includes SP1 and/or SP2 at the time the drive is installed.
>
> And that's it. Nothing else.
>
> Your ASUS motherboard supports large-capacity disks (virtually every
> motherboard manufactured over the past four years does). And I assume you
> had SP1 and/or SP2 installed at the time you installed your large-capacity
> HD.
>
> So after "zapping" your HD, install a fresh copy of XP on that drive using
> the XP installation CD, or, if the drive is going to be used as a
> secondary drive, use XP's Disk Management utility to partition & format
> it.
> Anna
>
>
>
>


.

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