Cannot format a basic disk
Disk that had both MFTs corrupted: I overwrote the MBR with Test Disk utility, after grabbing all the data with GetDataBack program. But although Windows 7 finally detects the drive on SATA 4 port, it simply lists it as a simple volume with unallocated space, and with no drive letter assigned, and what is of most consequence, the right click button does not even show a "Format" option to reformat this disk. If it cannot be formatted within Windows, does anyone have a suggestion as to how to reformat it? Since it has not been assigned a drive letter, I cannot even find it using the command prompt option. Can it be formatted using the Windows 7 installation disk, without changing the already working OS on the computer? Here are some screen shots. Thanks. Barrett Kalellis
December 31st, 2010 2:55pm

If you think it is a hardware problem I'd try the disk manufacturer's diagnostic tools. Regards, Dave Patrick .... Microsoft Certified Professional -Microsoft MVP [Windows]
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December 31st, 2010 4:58pm

Dave: I solved this (I think) by loading the Windows 7 installation disk, and reformatted the drive in question, using the custom install option. I did not let it finish loading the new operation system, which is now properly on the C drive. I deleted the system kernal file that it put on the H drive. The computer now recognizes the drive as a healthy, primary partition 935.51 GB storage device. It seems to be working properly. However, when I boot up the computer, I get some sort of error message that requests that I use the "Repair" option on the installation disk to solve the matter. Then it goes to a black screen (similar to that of the "safe" Windows mode), and lists TWO Windows 7 choices. Obviously, there is some fragment on the H drive that is being detected as a bootable drive. When I select the second Windows 7 option, it boots off the C drive and operates properly. Question is: How do I tell the H drive not to act as a bootable drive? How can I remove the little section that is sending out these signals? Is there a backdoor way to do this? Thanks, Barrett KalellisBarrett Kalellis
January 1st, 2011 4:53pm

Natvely you can use bcdedit to remove the startup option. http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc731662(WS.10).aspx Also there is easybcd tool available. http://neosmart.net/dl.php?id=1 Regards, Dave Patrick .... Microsoft Certified Professional -Microsoft MVP [Windows]
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January 1st, 2011 5:09pm

go to Start --- Search box, input CMD. It will find "cmd.exe". Right click on it and choose Run as Administrator. Now we got a DOS-like window. Please input "Bcdedit" and click Enter. We will get a list. Let's notice the "Windows Boot Loader". It should be looked like this: identifier {current} device partition=C: path \Windows\system32\winload.exe description Windows 7 locale en-US inherit {bootloadersettings} recoverysequence {d2d918cf-8b0d-11de-8b0e-cb2e6be3a937} recoveryenabled Yes osdevice partition=C: systemroot \Windows resumeobject {d2d918cd-8b0d-11de-8b0e-cb2e6be3a937} nx OptIn As there is another boot information, we should find a second entry in "Windows Boot Loader". Please make sure which entry is the one we need to delete and write down the "resumeobject". Then we can run following command to delete the boot entry: Bcdedit /delete {xxxxxxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxx-xxxxxxxxxxxx} For example, we can run "Bcdedit /delete {d2d918cd-8b0d-11de-8b0e-cb2e6be3a937}" to delete the system I mentioned above. Note: If we deleted the correct entry, we will fail to boot to the correct system. Here are 2 more articles: Removing a Dual-Boot OS --- third party tool http://www.brunolinux.com/01-First_Things_To_Know/Removing_Vista_boot_option.html Removing a Dual-Boot OS http://www.vistax64.com/vista-general/165601-removing-dual-boot-os.html In addition, this is a Windows 7 related question thus it is recommanded to post to Windows 7 forum instead of Windows Server forum. Shaon Shan |TechNet Subscriber Support in forum |If you have any feedback on our support, please contact tngfb@microsoft.com
January 2nd, 2011 8:01pm

Thanks for everyone's input. I was able to solve this by using EasyBCD 2.0 -- a nice little shareware program. BKBarrett Kalellis
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January 4th, 2011 10:52pm

Good to hear. You're welcome. Regards, Dave Patrick .... Microsoft Certified Professional Microsoft MVP [Windows]
January 4th, 2011 11:32pm

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