Format probs

I have a computer running win98 and win2k both OS are corrupt and crash in boot sequence. When trying to reformat using FDISK I get the message NTLDR is missing. How can I reformat my HD? I do have another comuter running both these OS no problem, if this is any use. Any help would be great, but could you please try keep it simple as Im not too good with jargon.
Thanks!
Pete.

1. RE: Format probs
lbyard Jun-19-02 04:11 PM
In response to message 0

Read http://duxcw.com/digest/guides/hd/rules.htm. Then make a Windows 98 Startup floppy (http://duxcw.com/digest/Fromshop/software/windows/startup/startup.htm), boot to it, remove all partitions with fdisk, then a:\>fdisk c:/mbr , and do a clean install (http://duxcw.com/digest/Howto/software/windows/upgrade/intro.htm, http://duxcw.com/faq/win/xp/clean.htm, http://duxcw.com/faq/win/xp/oeminst.htm). Larry

2. RE: Format probs
petemaher Jun-19-02 06:20 PM
In response to message 1

sorry larry bit of a mistake I dont have win98 running, only win95 and win2K. I have 98SE on disk so I tried to make the bootdisk using the FAT32EBD METHOD (first option). I typed in the first line and got "d:\tools\mtsutil\fat32ebd" which is different to to what your tutorial says. I dont get to any prompt. Please help
Thanks!
Pete.

3. RE: Format probs
petemaher Jun-19-02 07:21 PM
In response to message 2

Ok managed to borrow a Win98se bootdisk off a friend. When I try to boot from it I still get the message "NTLDR is missing". Another thing I have noticed, even when my CMOS is not set to boot from the floppy, if I have a disk in, it tries to read it but comes back with the same NTLDR missing message?
What do I do now?
Thanks!
Pete.

4. RE: Format probs
lbyard Jun-19-02 09:27 PM
In response to message 3

Set it to boot from the floppy. Otherwise, it is going to try to boot from the hard disk (or CD-ROM) and will produce that error. Larry

5. RE: Format probs
petemaher Jun-20-02 05:28 AM
In response to message 4

I have set the CMOS to boot from the floppy first then HD then CDROM. But any floppy (bootdisk, fdisk or anything)it tries to read says "NTLDR missing press any key to restart".
If I dont have a floppy in the drive it runs through the boot sequence no problem gets to the point where I choose which OS to run but both OS crash before fullly loading. Therefore I need to reformat But cant if its not reading the floppy.
AAAARRGHHH!
Thanks for your patients larry!
Pete.

6. RE: Format probs
lbyard Jun-20-02 02:54 PM
In response to message 5

http://duxcw.com/faq/fd/fd.htm. Larry

10. RE: Format probs
petemaher Jun-22-02 11:03 AM
In response to message 6

Ok I have eventualy managed to get win2k operating on my system but still got the "NTLDR is missing" message when trying to boot from a floppy. Is there any way of formating my HD from windows?
Thanks!
Pete.

7. RE: Format probs
jmatt Jun-20-02 05:29 PM
In response to message 0

http://www.lurkhere.com/~nicefiles/index.html
Freeware .
WIPE OUT : as the name implies, this utility will absolutely WIPE your hard drive. For those
times when an industrial strength cleaner is needed to remove any pesky files Fdisk may have
left behind. A readme file is included in the zip file. WARNING...WIPE OUT will remove ALL data
from the Hard Drive.

8. RE: Format probs
lbyard Jun-20-02 07:20 PM
In response to message 7

Thanks. Downloaded it. I'll try it sometime when I need a clean drive. I'm not sure, however, whether it writes zeros, etc. to wipe all data on a drive so it can't be recovered or just erases the partition structure. Do you know? Larry

9. RE: Format probs
DJ Net2Infinity Jun-21-02 09:36 AM
In response to message 8

Larry ... it writes zeros to the entire drive, I use it myself if I am loading a drive that has been used previously.