Re: Maxtor 6Y160P0 wont boot after Ghost attempt

 
"Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message news:e$RrvAaSFHA.1096@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...
>
> "zibby" <zibby@xxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> news:eHUPjTZSFHA.1972@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...
> >
> > "Anna" <myname@xxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> > news:uG9tLmUSFHA.3336@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx...
> >> "les_stockton" <les_stockton.1o0npm@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote in message
> >> news:les_stockton.1o0npm@xxxxxxxxxxxx...
> >> >
> >> > I've had XP Home running on a Sony Vaio for a couple of months.  The
> >> > main hard drive is a 160 gig Maxtor 6Y160P0.  I remember when I
> >> > initially struggled to install the OS, that XP didn't like this drive
> >> > because it was larger than 137 gig or 127 gig (I don't recall, off
> >> > hand).  However, Maxtor's MaxBlast software installed bios that allowed
> >> > using the drive and booting to it.
> >> > Today, I tried using Ghost 2003 to do a backup to CD.  This was a big
> >> > mistake and I'll never use Ghost again.
> >> > Ghost gave no indication of anything wrong.  It's supposed to reboot
> >> > into DOS and run without windows so that it can properly backup the
> >> > primary boot drive.  Well, it wouldn't boot at all.  There was some
> >> > problem with Ghost, which I never figured out.  I just tried rebooting
> >> > back to my hard drive, but the bios appears to have changed.  It will
> >> > no longer boot to my hard drive either.
> >> > I've heard that other people have had this problem, but I've not seen a
> >> > detailed solution.  I'm hoping I haven't lost the information on the
> >> > drive.  I'd like to redo the bios, if possible and just reboot to the
> >> > hard drive.    If I want to do a backup again, I'll try something
> >> > besides Ghost.
> >> > --
> >> > les_stockton
> >>
> >>
> >> Les...
> >> Unfortunately "the big mistake" you made (possibly among others) is that
> > you
> >> used that accursed MaxBlast overlay program when you installed your HD.
> >> As
> >> any computer repair technician will tell you, these third-party "drive
> >> overlay" programs are curses. They install proprietary non-standard
> >> modifications to your system that will invariably "rise up and bite you"
> > one
> >> day (as might have happened in your situation). And this is even when the
> >> program comes from the manufacturer of the HD you're installing.
> >>
> >> Simply stated -- there is *no* place for these types of programs in an XP
> >> environment. The XP partitioning/formatting process during the XP install
> > or
> >> subsequently using XP's Disk Management utility is all you will, or
> > should,
> >> ever need in this area. There are two basic requirements for the XP OS to
> >> recognize large-capacity disks...
> >> 1. Your motherboard's BIOS must support large-capacity (> 137 GB) disks.
> >> Your Sony motherboard most certainly does.
> >> 2. XP must include SP1 and/or SP2.
> >>
> >> The reason "that XP didn't like this drive", meaning it didn't initially
> >> recognize the full capacity of your 160 GB HD was surely because your XP
> > OS
> >> did not include SP1 and/or SP2 at the time of the installation. Had XP
> >> included SP1 and/or SP2 at the time of the OS install, the full capacity
> > of
> >> your HD would have been recognized.
> >>
> >> The Ghost 2003 program is a tried-and-true program to clone the contents
> > of
> >> one HD to another HD in order to create & maintain a near-failsafe backup
> >> system. I've used this program with a wide variety of drives to perform
> > more
> >> than a thousand clones over the past few years and it's been a rare
> >> occurrence that I encountered a problem that was due to a deficiency of
> > the
> >> Ghost program.
> >> Whenever I've run into problems, it was invariably due to...
> >> 1. Defective disk(s)
> >> 2. Misconfigured disk(s)
> >> 3. System file corruption on the source disk, and, of course,
> >> 4. User error
> >>
> >> I am at a complete loss to understand your comments that "the bios
> >> appears
> >> to have changed" and  "I'd like to redo the bios". At this point it's
> >> impossible to tell how damaged your drive is in terms of system file
> >> corruption and more importantly what process can be used to return it to
> >> a
> >> bootable state. Hopefully, at the least, you'll be able to connect the
> > drive
> >> as a second drive on another machine and access its contents in order to
> >> backup whatever critical files you need. Ultimately you may have to "zap"
> >> the drive (in order to remove the traces of that drive overlay program)
> >> using a program such as wipe.com or zap.com or similar programs and then
> >> reinstall XP (with SP1 or SP2) on the drive.
> >> Anna
> >>
> >>
> >
> >
> > don't "zap" your drive like Anna suggests.
> >
> > If data is critical, then try to recover it first.
> > Ontrack easy recovery will work great.
> > Get another HD and hook it up ad primary, and old HD as slave
> > (do it after you install windows, for your safety)
> > Use Easy Recovery to back-up your data to primary drive.
> >
> > Once that's done do "low level format". Every HD manufacturer had this
> > utility on their website.
> > You will need to boot into DOS and use it. It will wipe out all "drive
> > overlay" garbage.
> >
> > Then you can reinstall windows to your old drive (if you don't have
> > slipstreamed winxp w/sp1 or 2, then install windows with max size of
> > 137Gb.
> > You can resize it later on after SP1 or 2 update)
>
>
> First of all, I did *not* recommend the OP *first* zap his or her drive. As
> I stated, if the problem drive is unbootable, an effort should be made to
> connect it as a second drive on another machine (or the same machine if the
> OP has a bootable drive) and the contents of the problem drive can
> (hopefully) be accessed and critical files backed up. There's no question
> that an effort should be made to recover critical data. zibby's
> recommendation of using a so-called recovery program such as the Ontrack one
> is surely one to consider. Whether it will work "great" is another matter.
> All these recovery programs are iffy at best in my experience but they're
> certainly worth a try in this situation. In my opinion, at this stage, the
> best course of action for the OP to take is to connect that unbootable drive
> as a second drive on a booting machine and access the contents through that
> means.
>
 
I used Ontrack easy recovery many times to recover unmounted, corrupted partitions.
Trust me, this software works.
 

> zibby's other recommendation to perform a "low level format" of the OP's HD
> is nonsense. The days when a user could perform such a "format" are long
> since gone. A true "low level format" can be done only by the HD
> manufacturer under very controlled (read, "expensive") conditions. This
> process is simply not available to the end user.
>
> Assuming the user has done all that he or she can do to recover the data on
> the HD and now wants to return the drive to a usable state so that a fresh
> install of the OS can be made without experiencing further problems because
> of the original installation of that drive overlay program, the drive *can*
> be purged of that infamous program through a relatively simple & effective
> means.
>
> 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.
 
that's what low level format is
 
e.g. utility for maxtor ATA drives
 
Lot's of times it's the only way to remove "drive overlay" software.

>
> 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.
>
> Using Zap is simplicity itself. At the A:\ prompt you invoke the zap command
> together with the HD number, e.g., zap 0. After a confirmation message and
> executing the command, the drive will be "zapped" in a moment or two. The
> program works in a flash.
>
> Understand that after using zap, all data on the hard drive is, for all
> practical purposes UNRECOVERABLE. The drive is returned to a state ready to
> be partitioned and formatted.
> Anna
>
>

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