Trying to use DOS boot disk to format SATA hard drive...

[Ismael]

Hello everyone,

I own a HP pavilion dv6628us laptop. It has a MK1237GSX 120 GB SATA hard
drive. I am trying to use a DOS boot disk to run fdisk to make two primary
partitions and one extended partition then format the partitions to be
fat32. Eventually I will install Vista on one primary partition then WinXP
in the other primary partition.

The problems I'm encountering are the following:

1. I am able to see the hard drive via the DOS Ver. 4.00.1111 Win95 boot
disk and able to use fdisk and format but unable to see the hard drive via
WinXP setup unless I load the SATA drivers first...see the following website
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxppro/nohdd/indexfullpage.htm

2. I am able to create a primary partition of 57 GB and make it active via
fdisk but when I try to format this partition I am not able to format the
full 57GB but only about 86% or about 49 GB.

Can anyone explain to me why my DOS boot disk sees the hard drive while
WinXP needs the SATA drivers loaded first before it will recognize the hard
drive.

If I format and install WinXP via the WinXP Setup CD and not use the Dos
Boot disk at all can I still use the DOS boot disk to use fdisk to change
the active partitions if I needed to in the future? Can I use the DOS boot
disk to access the Fat32 primary partition and delete or rename files if
need be? Can I still use the DOS boot disk with fdisk to create an extended
partition containing logical partitions? After using the Dos boot disk to
perform the above functions and reboot back into WinXP will WinXP see the
logical partition and thus I can start placing files on this logical
partition? If I should boot from the DOS boot disk would I be able to
delete, rename, move files etc. on this same partition WinXP uses to delete,
rename, move files etc.without fear of data corruption.

I'm thinking if I use this Dos boot disk I'll need to somehow get DOS SATA
drivers and thus it will format, read, write etc. the same way WinXP does to
access the SATA hard drive or am I going about this all wrong?

Any help/suggestions are much appreciated.


Ismael

 

[Jim]

Hello everyone,

I own a HP pavilion dv6628us laptop. It has a MK1237GSX 120 GB SATA hard
drive. I am trying to use a DOS boot disk to run fdisk to make two
primary partitions and one extended partition then format the partitions
to be fat32. Eventually I will install Vista on one primary partition then
WinXP in the other primary partition.

The problems I'm encountering are the following:

1. I am able to see the hard drive via the DOS Ver. 4.00.1111 Win95 boot
disk and able to use fdisk and format but unable to see the hard drive via
WinXP setup unless I load the SATA drivers first...see the following
website http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxppro/nohdd/indexfullpage.htm

2. I am able to create a primary partition of 57 GB and make it active
via fdisk but when I try to format this partition I am not able to format
the full 57GB but only about 86% or about 49 GB.

Can anyone explain to me why my DOS boot disk sees the hard drive while
WinXP needs the SATA drivers loaded first before it will recognize the
hard drive.

If I format and install WinXP via the WinXP Setup CD and not use the Dos
Boot disk at all can I still use the DOS boot disk to use fdisk to change
the active partitions if I needed to in the future? Can I use the DOS
boot disk to access the Fat32 primary partition and delete or rename files
if need be? Can I still use the DOS boot disk with fdisk to create an
extended partition containing logical partitions? After using the Dos
boot disk to perform the above functions and reboot back into WinXP will
WinXP see the logical partition and thus I can start placing files on this
logical partition? If I should boot from the DOS boot disk would I be
able to delete, rename, move files etc. on this same partition WinXP uses
to delete, rename, move files etc.without fear of data corruption.

I'm thinking if I use this Dos boot disk I'll need to somehow get DOS SATA
drivers and thus it will format, read, write etc. the same way WinXP does
to access the SATA hard drive or am I going about this all wrong?

Any help/suggestions are much appreciated.


Ismael

WinXP does not contain SATA driver. Hence, the driver must be loaded during
startup.
I know nothing about your "DOS boot disk", but the reason it is able to
recognize the SATA drive is, evidently, that this disk contains the SATA
driver.
The BIOS quite likely does contain whatever driver it needs to at least
recognize a SATA disk.
Jim

 

[peter]

XP needs the SATA drivers during the setup and will only look for them on
the floppy drive.
XP during the installation is quite capable of partitioning and formating
your hard drive.
As such there is no need to use a DOS boot disk..which if you let XP format
to NTFS will not even
see the drive
Vista will also format the partition you install it on but to NTFS
only...no choice
I normally use BootIt Ng
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootit-next-generation.htm
it has a 30 day free trial........download it and extract it to a floppy or
CD
start System and boot of floppy/CD then be sure to not install but run it
off the floppy/CD.
peter

 

[Jerry]

WinXP does not contain SATA driver. Hence, the driver must be loaded
during startup.
I know nothing about your "DOS boot disk", but the reason it is able to
recognize the SATA drive is, evidently, that this disk contains the SATA
driver.
The BIOS quite likely does contain whatever driver it needs to at least
recognize a SATA disk.
Jim

I dual-boot into real-mode DOS and XP Pro with two SATA drives and DOS has
no problems seeing either - the BIOS correctly identifies them and that's
all DOS needs.

 

[Ismael]

Thanks for the responses. Is there a way to use either the Vista or XP
setup discs to change the active partition?
If I continue to use my DOS boot up disk (I don't remember every having to
add the SATA driver to the DOS boot disk) to see the fat32 partition that XP
created and, renamed, or move files will data corruption occur?

Ismael

 

[Andy]

Hello everyone,

I own a HP pavilion dv6628us laptop. It has a MK1237GSX 120 GB SATA hard
drive. I am trying to use a DOS boot disk to run fdisk to make two primary
partitions and one extended partition then format the partitions to be
fat32. Eventually I will install Vista on one primary partition then WinXP
in the other primary partition.

Fdisk will create only one primary partition.

The problems I'm encountering are the following:

1. I am able to see the hard drive via the DOS Ver. 4.00.1111 Win95 boot
disk and able to use fdisk and format but unable to see the hard drive via
WinXP setup unless I load the SATA drivers first...see the following website
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/winxppro/nohdd/indexfullpage.htm

2. I am able to create a primary partition of 57 GB and make it active via
fdisk but when I try to format this partition I am not able to format the
full 57GB but only about 86% or about 49 GB.

Can anyone explain to me why my DOS boot disk sees the hard drive while
WinXP needs the SATA drivers loaded first before it will recognize the hard
drive.

The sata disk interface in the laptop is configured in AHCI mode. The
Windows XP CD does not include AHCI SATA drivers, so Setup cannot
communicate with the drive without the loading of the SATA driver.

If I format and install WinXP via the WinXP Setup CD and not use the Dos
Boot disk at all can I still use the DOS boot disk to use fdisk to change
the active partitions if I needed to in the future?

Use Disk Management.

Can I use the DOS boot
disk to access the Fat32 primary partition and delete or rename files if
need be?

You should be able to.

Can I still use the DOS boot disk with fdisk to create an extended
partition containing logical partitions?

Use Disk Management.

After using the Dos boot disk to
perform the above functions and reboot back into WinXP will WinXP see the
logical partition and thus I can start placing files on this logical
partition? If I should boot from the DOS boot disk would I be able to
delete, rename, move files etc. on this same partition WinXP uses to delete,
rename, move files etc.without fear of data corruption.

I'm thinking if I use this Dos boot disk I'll need to somehow get DOS SATA
drivers and thus it will format, read, write etc. the same way WinXP does to
access the SATA hard drive or am I going about this all wrong?

DOS programs use BIOS interrupts to access the hard drive.

 

[Anteaus]

You need the Win98 DOS, and an update for FDISK.

http://support.microsoft.com/kb/263044http://support.microsoft.com/kb/263044

 

[Ian D]

XP needs the SATA drivers during the setup and will only look for them on
the floppy drive.
XP during the installation is quite capable of partitioning and formating
your hard drive.
As such there is no need to use a DOS boot disk..which if you let XP
format to NTFS will not even
see the drive
Vista will also format the partition you install it on but to NTFS
only...no choice
I normally use BootIt Ng
http://www.terabyteunlimited.com/bootit-next-generation.htm
it has a 30 day free trial........download it and extract it to a floppy
or CD
start System and boot of floppy/CD then be sure to not install but run it
off the floppy/CD.
peter

If SATA is set as IDE in BIOS, no drivers are needed. That's
usually the default on motherboards.

 

[Ian D]

Thanks for the responses. Is there a way to use either the Vista or XP
setup discs to change the active partition?
If I continue to use my DOS boot up disk (I don't remember every having to
add the SATA driver to the DOS boot disk) to see the fat32 partition that
XP created and, renamed, or move files will data corruption occur?

Ismael

One thing you should know is that Vista will not install into
a FAT32 partition, only NTFS. Also, give Vista at least half
the 120GB. Your best bet is to create and format your FAT32
partition using DOS, then install XP using the SATA drivers.
You can then use Disk Manager to create your FAT32extended
partition and virtual drive, then create and format the primary
NTFS partition for Vista. If you go with 30-40GB for XP, 20-30GB
for your extended, and 60GB for Vista, you should be okay.
Just remember, XP can't format a FAT32 partition larger than 32GB.