Trouble-shooting Hard Drive Problems - Part 1

Written by Micro 2000 Inc


Continued from page 1

If there is a duplicate copy ofrepparttar master boot sector found beforerepparttar 137273 location ofrepparttar 137274 volume boot sector, then it is possible that a boot virus has infectedrepparttar 137275 hard drive inrepparttar 137276 system. The Rebuild Master Boot feature of Micro-Scope will eliminate any boot sector virus. Be sure to bootrepparttar 137277 system torepparttar 137278 Micro-Scope diskette and immediately do a cold reboot ofrepparttar 137279 system after usingrepparttar 137280 Rebuild Master Boot feature.

Ifrepparttar 137281 volume boot sector is found in a location other than cylinder 0, head 1, sector 1, countrepparttar 137282 actual number of sectors beforerepparttar 137283 volume boot sector, and compare that value torepparttar 137284 value forrepparttar 137285 sectors per track displayed inrepparttar 137286 partition table described in step 2. Ifrepparttar 137287 values match,repparttar 137288 most likely cause ofrepparttar 137289 system failure is an incorrect CMOS setup. In this caserepparttar 137290 CMOS needs to be reset torepparttar 137291 values indicated byrepparttar 137292 partition table described in step 2, remembering to userepparttar 137293 formula described in step 2 when doing so. Ifrepparttar 137294 values do not match, setrepparttar 137295 CMOS Sectors Per track torepparttar 137296 number of sectors counted beforerepparttar 137297 volume boot sector and continue torepparttar 137298 next step.

Step Five: Checkrepparttar 137299 partition tables to make sure they are correct

Rebootrepparttar 137300 system to Micro-Scope and go to System Configuration, Partition Tables. Checkrepparttar 137301 information displayed inrepparttar 137302 master boot record to see if there is any obvious corruption (that is, excessively large numbers, all partitions non-bootable, etc.) If there is no obvious corruption inrepparttar 137303 master boot record, then perform step 2 again. Ifrepparttar 137304 information matches at this point, go to step 6. Ifrepparttar 137305 information does not match, then setrepparttar 137306 sectors per track inrepparttar 137307 Master Boot Record torepparttar 137308 number of sectors per track currently set in CMOS, setrepparttar 137309 starting head to 1, starting sector to 1, and starting cylinder to 0, and writerepparttar 137310 information torepparttar 137311 drive.

Step Six: Verifyrepparttar 137312 Master Boot Sector information

Displayrepparttar 137313 Volume Boot Sector and userepparttar 137314 values for heads and sectors per track (onrepparttar 137315 right half ofrepparttar 137316 screen) to perform step 2 again.

Ifrepparttar 137317 values match, thenrepparttar 137318 volume boot sector is probably okay. If any values inrepparttar 137319 Master Boot Record do not matchrepparttar 137320 table torepparttar 137321 right, resetrepparttar 137322 values to matchrepparttar 137323 values inrepparttar 137324 table, and write torepparttar 137325 drive.

Ifrepparttar 137326 values still do not match, bothrepparttar 137327 Master Boot Record andrepparttar 137328 Volume Boot Record are probably corrupt. At this point, e-mail Technical Support for help in this situation. Future articles will provide more insight intorepparttar 137329 repair procedure.

Step Seven: Checkrepparttar 137330 FATs

Check to see ifrepparttar 137331 first FAT starts onrepparttar 137332 sector just beyondrepparttar 137333 volume boot sector. Userepparttar 137334 find feature inrepparttar 137335 Fixed Disk Editor to search for F8 FF FF inrepparttar 137336 first three bytes of each sector. The first occurrence should be on sector two of head one. Continue to search untilrepparttar 137337 second FAT is found, indicated byrepparttar 137338 second occurrence of F8 FF FF. Noterepparttar 137339 location ofrepparttar 137340 cylinder, head and sector ofrepparttar 137341 second FAT.

Based onrepparttar 137342 start ofrepparttar 137343 second FAT, andrepparttar 137344 start ofrepparttar 137345 first FAT, calculate how many sectors are inrepparttar 137346 first FAT. If necessary, read each sector starting atrepparttar 137347 first sector ofrepparttar 137348 first FAT, keeping a count ofrepparttar 137349 sectors that have been read until F8 FF FF is seen inrepparttar 137350 upper left ofrepparttar 137351 HEX display, which would indicaterepparttar 137352 start ofrepparttar 137353 second FAT. After calculatingrepparttar 137354 sectors per FAT, compare this value torepparttar 137355 value inrepparttar 137356 volume boot sector. Ifrepparttar 137357 values match,repparttar 137358 drive should be accessible through DOS at this point.

Step Eight: Attempt to accessrepparttar 137359 drive

Boot to a DOS-bootable floppy diskette and attempt to accessrepparttar 137360 drive. Ifrepparttar 137361 root directory and sub-directories onrepparttar 137362 hard drive are readable at this point, then attempt to boot torepparttar 137363 drive. Ifrepparttar 137364 drive boots at this point,repparttar 137365 problem has been corrected. Ifrepparttar 137366 drive is still not bootable, e-mailrepparttar 137367 Micro 2000 Technical Support department for help.

Disclaimer - The Micro 2000 Tech Tip is a free service providing information only. While we use reasonable care to see that this information is correct, we do not guarantee it for accuracy, completeness or fitness for a particular purpose. Micro 2000, Inc. shall not be liable for damages of any kind in connection withrepparttar 137368 use or misuse of this information.



Micro 2000 Inc has been helping to solve the day-to-day challenges that IT departments face in order to keep their businesses operational as well as profitable for over 14 years. The company's primary goal is to put the customer first - through feature-rich, simple-to-use IT tools that can help IT administrators manage their jobs more effectively.


Where To Look For Dirt-Cheap DVD Software. Part I

Written by David D. Deprice


Continued from page 1
* Can automatically syncrepparttar background music with photo slide shows * Real-time captures and transforms miniDV camcorder tapes directly to DVD video format * Can fit 9GB double layer DVD movies into 4.7GB single layer DVD disc * Burns DVD ISO Image or DVD VIDEO_TS folders to DVD * Auto-Rate-Controller technology maximizes disc space by squeezingrepparttar 137217 highest quality video onto a disc * Supports major video formats such as AVI, WMV, ASF, MPG, VOB... * Supports major photo formats such as JPG, PNG, BMP... * Supports major audio formats such as WAV, MP3, WMA... * Supports DVD+R/RW, DVD-R/RW format discs and burners * Supports 4:3 and 16:9 video aspect ratio * Supports both NTSC and PAL video standard * Supports Interlaced and Progressive Sources * Supports output to hard drive * Intergrated High Speed DVD MPEG-2 Encoder



David D. Deprice has been practically giving away DVD software from http://www.deprice.com/multimedia.htm for over a year.


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