Disk Drive Overlay Help Needed

[Guest]

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?

 

[Yves Leclerc]

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.

 

[Guest]

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?

 

[Snarky Parker]

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.

| 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:
|
| > >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.
| >
| >

 

[Jonny]

A DDO furthers bios instructions how to read a hard drive. It does not
write anything to XP itself.

Goback doesn't like boot managers that reside in the same region as the
master boot record, just like DDOs.

Per your motherboard and bios description, no DDO was needed at all. All
you needed to do was copy, and swap. Lifeguard Tools should have read your
bios, and not installed the DDO.

.............
Jonny

 

[Anna]

| 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:
|
| > >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.

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

 

[Admiral Q]

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.

 

[Guest]

I concure with your comments below regarding the use and problems with DDOs,
however, I do not know why one was installed or now if one was installed. I
followed Snarky Parker's suggestion and using fixmbr with MS Recovery
Console, I was able to repair the MBR and my 200GB HDD works great along with
GoBack.

As for not know if a DDO was installed, the fixmbr said that an invalid
entry was in the MBR and was able to correct my MBR and kelpt my files
working. My system is again working good. Thanks to Snarky Parker and you
for replying.

 

[Guest]

First, I want to thank everyone for the input and help with your replying.

I followed Snarky Parker's suggestion and using fixmbr with MS Recovery
Console, I was able to repair the MBR and my 200GB HDD works great along with
GoBack.

At this time, I am not sure if a DDO was actually installed. The fixmbr
said that an invalid entry was in the MBR and was able to correct my MBR and
kelpt my files working. My system is again working good.

Again, thanks to all for the replys and help.

 

[Guest]

Snarky Parker, thanks for the reply and the help.

Using your suggestion, I installed MS recovery Console and used fixmbr and
it worked. I had an invalid entry in my MBR that GoBack was seeing as a DDO.
I did not lose any partition nor any files. It worked good for me and was
not that bad of a fix.

Thanks for being here.

 

[Snarky Parker]

You're welcome and thanks for the feedback!

| Snarky Parker, thanks for the reply and the help.
|
| Using your suggestion, I installed MS recovery Console and used fixmbr and
| it worked. I had an invalid entry in my MBR that GoBack was seeing as a DDO.
| I did not lose any partition nor any files. It worked good for me and was
| not that bad of a fix.
|
| Thanks for being here.
|
|
|
| "Snarky Parker" wrote:
|
| > 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.
| >
| > | > | 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:
| > |
| > | > >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.
| > | >
| > | >
| >
| >
| >