I killed the disk signature wizard and now I'm screwed

[David Christensen]

microsoft.public.win2000.file_system:

I just installed a new hard drive in my Win2k Pro box. I then started
the Disk Management tool. A wizard popped up. Like an idiot, I checked
the box to make the wizard go away and cancelled out, figuring that
Microsoft would provide menu items to do any thing the wizard does. I
was very, very wrong.


http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q308209 states:

NOTE: Before a new, unpartitioned disk can be used in Windows 2000
(partitioned or upgraded to Dynamic Disk), it must contain a disk
signature. The first time the Disk Management snap-in is run after
a new hard disk is installed, the Disk Signature and Upgrade Disk
Wizard is started. If the wizard is cancelled, you may find that
when you attempt to create a partition on the new hard disk, the
Create Partition option is unavailable (appears dimmed).


A couple of other poor slobs had exactly the same problem in 2002:

http://groups.google.com/groups?hl=...5%24c756ac70%2437ef2ecf%40TKMSFTNGXA13&rnum=1


I've tried digging through the registry -- I couldn't find a solution.


I've tried powering down, removing the disk, starting Windows, going to
Disk Management, powering down, installing the disk, powering up, and
going to Disk Management, thinking that the wizard might start again --
nope.


I've tried booting the Win2k Pro CD and doing a repair, thinking that
the wizard might start again -- nope.


Does anybody know how to write a signature to a disk without using the
wizard, or how to force the wizard to run again?


TIA,

David

 

[David Christensen]

microsoft.public.win2000.file_system:

I found a partial work-around -- use another Win2k box that has a
working Disk Signature and Upgrade Disk Wizard. When I brought the disk
back to the first machine, Disk Management could see the drive.


Does anybody know where the Disk Signature and Upgrade Disk Wizard
stores the setting for that evil check box, and how to uncheck it?


TIA,

David

 

[Bjorn Landemoo]

David

"fdisk /mbr" from DOS/Win9x would rewrite the Master Boot Record, including
the disk signature, but only on the primary master, so you would need to
temporary reconfigure your machine to be able to do this. There might be
third party software that has the ability to overwrite the MBR as well.

Best regards

Bjorn

 

[David Christensen]

"fdisk /mbr" from DOS/Win9x would rewrite the Master Boot Record,
including the disk signature, but only on the primary master, so you
would need to temporary reconfigure your machine to be able to do
this. There might be third party software that has the ability to
overwrite the MBR as well.

Thanks for the information and the suggestion.


So, "Windows NT Disk Signature" really means data in the master boot
record. Now I'm curious -- what is the format? Does it change with
different versions of DOS/ Win9x/ WinNT, or with Linux/ BSD? Maybe I'll
dig for MBR data structures some day...


David

 

[Bjorn Landemoo]

So, "Windows NT Disk Signature" really means data in the master boot
record. Now I'm curious -- what is the format? Does it change with
different versions of DOS/ Win9x/ WinNT, or with Linux/ BSD? Maybe I'll
dig for MBR data structures some day...

It's four bytes, stored at offset 0x1b8 on sector 0, not actually a part of
the Master Boot Code. The Master Boot Code is common for all x86-computers.

Disk signatures of mounted devices are stored in the registry in
HKLM\SYSTEM\MountedDevices.

"fdisk /mbr" was created before NT, and overwrites the disk signature, but
the tool that comes with Win2000 and later, FIXMBR, leaves the disk
signature intact.

Best regards

Bjorn

 

[Joep]

"fdisk /mbr" was created before NT, and overwrites the disk signature, but
the tool that comes with Win2000 and later, FIXMBR, leaves the disk
signature intact.

Our utility MBRtool allows you to either leave the signature alone or remove
it when 'refreshing' the MBR.

--
Joep

D I Y D a t a R e c o v e r y . N L - Data & Disaster Recovery Tools

http://www.diydatarecovery.nl
http://www.diydatarecovery.com

Please include previous correspondence!

DiskPatch - MBR, Partition, boot sector repair and recovery.
iRecover - FAT, FAT32 and NTFS data recovery.
MBRtool - Freeware MBR backup and restore.
CHK-Mate - automated CHK file analysis & recovery

 

[Bjorn Landemoo]

Our utility MBRtool allows you to either leave the signature alone or remove
it when 'refreshing' the MBR.

Nice utility! Would have been easier than reconfiguring the machine in
Davids case.

Best regards

Bjorn