Partitioning

[johnnyelvis]

How do I use a disk utility, such as FDisk, to partition my hard disk drives? I'm in the BIOS and reading the motherboard manual.

I checked this link http://support.microsoft.com/kb/255867 on FDisk and came out clueless:confused:

Where do I go from here?

Thanks

[The Wise Monkey]

What are you trying to do, exactly? Have you installed your OS already?

[johnnyelvis]

No I haven't.

I'm doing the best I can with the information I'm getting from Mysuperpc, google, and the manual.

Can you point me in the right direction?

Thanks :D >>>

[shyster]

There are two ways you can go about this as I understand it. If you have to format partitions before you load the os and you plan to run XP.

Upon putting the XP disk into the computer and setting it as the boot drive, it should give you an option to run fdisk, I think. I cannot speak from experience because I have only installed Vista. In the prompt you should just follow the guide on mircosofts page. Make sure to format the drive to NTFS so that you can fully utilize the space on the drive.

If you still cannot get Fdisk to work, you could try loading the OS anyways and the using partition magic from inside windows to create new drive partitions.

If however you are using Vista then I do not believe it even has Fdisk on it, instead you can just load the OS and then create partitions from inside windows Vista itself.

This is the page talking about formatting in Vista:

http://windowshelp.microsoft.com/Windows/en-US/Help/78a6524a-f42d-4340-ab99-fed35c6a48381033.mspx#EXB

Hope this was helpful, if not post new questions explaining more in detail what you need, or you can wait for someone else to respond like WM

[johnnyelvis]

In the BIOS field for my ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe MB, should I change the default settings?

If Yes, where do I get the correct data to input? The manual just describes the options, but no solutions for my particular set-up.

If no, how do I get my OS to grasp while I boot-up?

I'm making progress nevertheless.

Thanx>>>

[chunkylover53]

Opinions differ, but IMO the only thing you need to change in the BIOS is the Boot Order. You can make adjustments later once you have everything up and running.

In order to load the OS, change the boot order to start with the optical drive. Once you save and re-start, it will boot from the Windows CD and you should get the options that Shyster described above.

[johnnyelvis]

I went into BIOS then Boot Device Priority and changed the First Boot Device to CDROM. I restarted the system and the disk goes in and comes right back out. Shortly after, I get a Disk Boot Failure, Insert System Disk and Press Enter. I press enter and the same screen pops up again.

What am I missing?

Thanx>>>

[shyster]

What OS are you using?

Where did you get it from? Is it retail, OEM, or a used copy you got with an old dell or some other premade computer company?

Make sure everything is connected correctly in the case.

After it ejects the disk try putting it back in and then hitting enter. If it still does not work then check again to make sure everything is connected. I think someone else had a similar problem and it was because the optical drive's cord was not fully in.

[johnnyelvis]

I'm using Window XP svc pack 2 home edition. It's the full version and I bought it on Amazon.

I'll try your suggestions.

[johnnyelvis]

I'm trying to boot up my system with the XP OS.. I changed the setting in the BIOS to boot off of the CDROM. I get the single beep like everythings okay, but my cd keeps ejecting even after I press enter.

I secured all of the cable connections as well.

Could this be related to the crackling problem I had a week or so ago?

http://forums.mysuperpc.com/showthread.php?t=1367

[chunkylover53]

I really don't think so, but always possible. Refresh my memory again on your parts list, specifically the model and brand of the hard drive and optical. Feels like since the optical keeps ejecting it might be a setting in the BIOS.

[johnnyelvis]

I have these units:

Western Digital Caviar SE16 750GB 7200rpm SATA 300 MB/s

Sony DRU840A Dual Formal Double Layer DVD RW/CDRW

Thanx

[johnnyelvis]

I left out some parts for the list. Here they are.

ASUS M2N32-SLI Deluxe Wireless Edition

AMD Athlon 64 X2 6400+ AM2 w/o fan

Zalman CNPS9500 AM2- CPU Cooler

Antec Sonata III with 500-Watt power supply

Western Digital Caviar SE16 750GB 7200rpm SATA 300 MB/s

Sony DRU840A Dual Formal Double Layer DVD RW/CDRW

2XCrucial Ballistix 1024MB PC2-8500 DDR2

Windows XP Home Edition Upgrade
with Service Pack 2

eVGA GeForce 7600 GT 256MB DDR3- Video card

Thanks ChunkyLover XXXXXIII

[chunkylover53]

Where is the pin on the DVD drive? Master or slave? Which connector on the IDE cable? Blue, black or gray?

[johnnyelvis]

It's on Master & the device is on black.

[chunkylover53]

If that's the only IDE device you have connected, that's seems like you have it connected right.

Tell me what you have on the main screen of the bios. Primary IDE master should be the Sony drive, primary ide slave should be none, and SATA 1 should be the HDD. If that's what your seeing, I'm at a loss. Maybe someone else will have an idea.

[johnnyelvis]

The only one that doesn't match is SATA 1, it says WDC WD7500AAKS-0. Also, the HDD SMART Monitoring is disabled; don't know if that makes a difference.

Thanks