HELP! newbie here can't access HD after Compaq QuickRestore CD fudged partitions

In Dec. my Presario 5400's orig. 20G died.
I bought/formatted a new 120G HD w/Win98 while I was waiting for Compaq to ship the XP QuickRestore Cd's.
Arriving days ago, I inserted QR Disk1. As it ran I saw it creating partitions and didnt pay much attention. Was prompted to insert a floppy to create a restore diskette. Did so, removed it, pressed "any key to continue" and got a Compaq Error # BUT DIDNT RECORD THE ERROR# !! I "pressed any key to continue" and up came a screen with "WAITING..." at the top... where the screen hung for an hour.

Contr/Alt/Del wouldn't reboot the pc so I used the on/off to restart. From then on, all I can get the PC to do is go into BIOS and read the first string of commands from an .exe CD.

At boot, I see the Compaq logo. CD-rom spins, light's on for 20 or so seconds then lights out, as does floppy. Harddrive spins for 20 or so sec, light remains on, cursor flashes at upper left of screen.
Screen rez is probably less than 600x800 as the <F10> option reminder is nearly off the bottom right screen.

BIOS: IDE DPS tests ok.
IDE Primary 0; CD-rom IDE secondary; Diskette Legacy Diskette 0.
Storage Options are all enabled.
Boot order: CD, diskette, HD.
All other settings look familiarly ok as I went into BIOS after I formatted it & installed 98.

I insert QuickRestore CD1, CD-rom light flashes 5x but get no executable line of command or action. Just the flashing cursor at top left.
I insert the Seagate format/utility CD and see STARTING CALDERA DR-DOS... as the CD-rom spins. It stops after a few secs, hangs on that screen w/the HD light lit.
Insert XP PRO, get command PRESS ANY KEY TO BOOT FROM CD..., but no keys will boot it, screen hangs on BOOT msg.
Insert Win98, get commands to BOOT FROM CD or BOOT FROM HARDDISK. I hear CD-rom spin, choose boot from CD, screen disappears to flashing cursor.

I tried win98, ME and XP emerg diskettes but get non-system disk error msg for each. I just wanted to get drivers loaded...

I insert KILLDISK.EXE floppy I created from www.Lsoft.net. This disk prompts the most action! I was hoping to go in and wipe the drive so I could install XP PRO from the CD and NOT use Compaq QuickRestore. I see the active screen shows:
C: HD1, Pri [1]
CHS = 0 - 1 - 1
START = 0MB
SIZE = 28623MB
found more than 30 extended partitions - terminated.

I'm given 4 options and I select boot w/CD-rom support.
To run ACTIVE@ KILLDISK.EXE type it at A:, I do, floppy brings up ACTIVE@ KILLDISK v. 3.1. and (c) info then stops...

I emailed Lsoft with the message re: more than 30 partitions and I can't perform the diagnostics Lsoft wants me to do cos I dont understand the language. Can anyone tell me how to:

Hello,

Please, run the software with a parameter -debug and send us $dump$.log and
log.$$$ files it creates.

Can you please also use the link below to download test program, make test file and send it to us:

http://www.killdisk.com/downloads/scsi/maketest.zip

Regards,
KillDisk Support

I dont know how to debug!

Now you have as much information I can give you.
As I think about the "more than 30 partitions" I'm thinking: the PC came with a 20G HD w/2 partitions. Could it be QuickRestore was partitioning the same size partitions and kept going cos there was so much more drive space?

Tech support tells me to buy an 80G HD cos the 120 is too large for QR to install factory settings.

How do I go in and reformat the disc??

I so appreciate anyone who tackles this. I'm at a dead end and dead tired.
Thanks in advance,
nancy

 

BIOS detects a 120034MB drive. I was able to format the drive and install WIN98 before using the Compaq QR cd...

Compaq gave me a link to update the BIOS after I use an alternate method to try to install the QR cds. I'm downloading the SP to a floppy now but am not sure if I should use it:
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/...ct=93284&lang=en&y=7&cc=us&softwareitem=37100

thanks,
nancy

 

I also got this info from Seagate's FAQs (support is closed on weekends)
http://www.seagate.com/support/kb/disc/tb/bios_limit.html
Now this info is beyond my language... Can you decipher it and give me instructions in layman's terms, if it applies to me. I believe the KILLDISK info in my orig post has some information relative to CHS.

thanks
nancy

 

can't boot with 98, ME, or XP (tried em all). I also have a WIN98 CD. Insert it, asks if I want to boot from CD or HD, choose CD, all I get is a flashing cursor at top left of screen.
when I originally formatted the disk for WIN98, it was an uneventful install.
Prob has risen since Compaq put all those darned partitions (if KILLDISK reported it acurately) on this disk (see reference in orig post).

Lsoft (KILLDISK manuf) told me to debug, but I get a bad command at the A: prompt.

There's gotta be a workaround to get this danged disk past the partitions and re-formatted.

Compaq says to buy their replacement 80G HD... yeah right...

I have been here 8 hrs just today! I'm on a 333MHz emachines w/a 14K modem. Now thats frustrating. Like taking a city bus vs driving!

I hope I dont come off ungrateful ddp. Just tired here. If I put a $ on my time spent diagnosing this, I became bankrupt just after Christmas when my harddrive died, jut before I bought the 120G.

 

yes, I insert the CD that came with the disk and it hangs on a screen:

STARTING CALDERA DR-DOS...

I made a set of floppys from the Seagate site and get the same screen hang.

The only program I've used that helped at all was KILLDISK. It gave some disk information as seen in my orig. post.

 

The emachines couldn't be used.
I finally gave up on saving what was on the 20G disk that came with the Presario and formatted it with the Compac QuickRestore CD set... it has worked as I am using it now to write this. I will take care not to fool with registry editing until I understand it more. I think that's what happened with the 20G disk.

I will set up the Seagate as a slave on this pc and see if it is detected. What do I do next if it is detected?

Thanks so much for your time ddp.

 

the 120G is recognized in bios as slave to my newly formatted 20G in the Compaq but STILL cannot access it with ANY boot disks nor seagate software.
I removed the 120G and now bios is not seeing my cd-rom.

GOOD GRIEF! (she says as she chuckles, shaking her head)

 

Part of the content of that MS link you gave me says:

NOTE: This hotfix is not designed for 48-bit logical block addressing (LBA) hard disks, and it is not supported on hard disks larger than 137 GB.

Seagate tells me to enable LBA in BIOS. So.. I read this MS fix doesnt apply to this disk.

BIOS reads the full disk size. Accessing it as a slave results in the same exact problems accessing it as master disk.

 

both IDE cables are seated as are the power cables.

 

Try changing your bios boot order to FLOPPY first for now and see if it will boot off the Windows Emergency disk. If it does you can format from there and start all over fresh.

Jerry

 

I removed the cmos battery overnight. Installed, booted and now have cd-rom.

Onto the 120G...
Boot order was set to floppy first. I even disabled the other drives to make sure it was the only drive read. Problem persisted.
I think I discovered the loss of my cd-rom when trying to download a trial of partition magic cos it wont fit on a floppy. I will go there now and put it on cd. Will report later.
thanks

 

I have news to report! I reinstalled the 120G as slave. After 18 minutes hanging on the MS XP screen, windows loaded! (I previously shut down after a few min)
I saw a new disk icon in the sys tray. It disappeared but no 2nd disk shows up in my computer.
Any thought on what I do now?
thanks