How to partition and format a dead windows computer.

[Shaba1]

Hello folks. I am a beginning knoppix user. I have had a knoppix ISO CD for about 18 months but until recently I never had a PERSONAL computer that it would run well on.

In any case. I am a systems admin for a small non-profit. Basically I got tasked to do all computer related in the company becasue I knew more then anyone else . Anyway I am pretty versed in networking,CISCO IOS, Windows 98,ME,2k and xp, e.t.c

We have a computer in the admin office that is cannot "find" its C: drive. Everytime try to run setup from the manf. recovery CD it reads the partition and gives me the size of the partition but hen says that the drive is not availible. IF (BIG IF) the adaptor is fine and the drive platter is not damaged I would like to be able to format this as and NTFS partition ( Or even a FAT partition just so I can use the recovery CD to format it) using the KNOPPIX CD. I am actually writting this post on that machine using mozilla under knoppix after I rebooted using the knoppix cd.

The major problems is that I know VERY little about knoppix and how to do this.

Even before you say it. NO I cannot put knoppix on this machine's hard drive. The admin. assistantants in this company are too use to using windows. The would be up in arms at having to learn anything else. To give you and example I wanted to switch them over to MS Office from Wordperfect Suite but I faced a rebellion.

Thanks in Advance

[RandomGoon]

Use the utility QTparted off the "K" menu. It's a GUI frontend and should be intuitive. From there you should be able to remove any remaining MS partitions (save between steps to actually commit the changes) and recreate the partition structure you want. Since you're going to reformat the drive in preparation to install Windows the format of the drive should be irrelevant but, to be safe, use FAT32.

HTH,

'Goon

[Harry Kuhman]

Even before you say it. NO I cannot put knoppix on this machine's hard drive. The admin. assistantants in this company are too use to using windows. The would be up in arms at having to learn anything else. To give you and example I wanted to switch them over to MS Office from Wordperfect Suite but I faced a rebellion.

I don't know what that has to do with it being a bad idea to "install" knoppix to a hard drive. See answer #2.

[Jacky]

Harry,

I don't understand your last post and why you needed to point Shaba1 to answer #2. Of course it is a bad idea to install Knoppix on a hard drive. But Shaba1 is not trying to install Knoppix on a hard drive. He is saying that he cannot do it because of social constraints, that is, his colleagues will not agree to use Linux. He is saying therefore, there's no point for any one to even suggest installing Knoppix on a hard drive. That is fine, because, for whatever reasons, he is not going to try to install Knoppix on a hard drive. He needs to use it as a boot liveCD. Of course, later, he can do some persuasion and win his colleagues over to Linux using something like Ubuntu or Debian, but that's a battle for another day.

Shaba1 is going in the right direction. All he is trying to do now is to use Knoppix as a liveCD to reformat a hard disk so that Windows can be reinstalled. This is a straight-forward rescue task which Knoppix can easily handle. And the relevant tools would be as RandomGoon pointed out, QTparted, and/or cfdisk or fdisk.

Like you, I am perplexed as to why new users to Linux should almost at their first contact with Knoppix, hit the installer (you see, I don't even know what command to use to execute the installer!). But this post by Shaba1 is clearly not one of those cases of a person trying to install to a hd. So please relax. I mean well. It is tough to be a mod when every other post is about a hdd install problem. But it is not good for your health if your blood pressure goes up everytime you see harddisk and install in the same sentence.

[Harry Kuhman]

Thanks Jacky, I completely misunderstood what he was saying there.

Top try to answer the original question, you can't format a NTFS partition with Knoppix. However, you certainly should be able to remove all of the existing partitions, which should make the disk suitable for a new install of a Windows distro that will create the NTFS partitions. Try fdisk or qtparted (I stay away from qtparted because too many people report destroying partitions with it, but in this case that's just what you want to do).

[malaire]

There's also GParted LiveCD (~30 MB) for easy partitioning.
It can remove existing partitions and create a new NTFS partition.

Still, if you are going to install Windows on this computer, I'd probably suggest just removing the existing partitions and let the Windows-install create the NTFS partition for you.

[Shaba1]

Hello. I have looked on the 'K' Menu as RandomGoon said. But I cannot find a menu choice nameded QtParted. I have looked in "Utilities,System,Settings,KNOPPIX,Developemen t, and Appication menu items. I still cannot find menu item with the name or title QTParted. The desktop wall paper( windwos terminology there) syas Knoppix Version 3.3 if that helps.

Maybe RandomGoon was suggesting a program that comes with a newer version of knoppix then i have ?? I did say I downloaded and burned the CD I am using here over 2 years ago in my original message. I got the latest version at that time.

I any case can someone help me with this problem

[EDIT] Ok I started a shell. I typed in qtparted. That got me to the program. Window that showed a normal file menu, what looks like a group of 5 greyed out tools icons/tabs, then on the left side a tree diagram showing /dev/hda.

I click on that icon and a blank dialog box come up with the title "Progress" then it diappears and the whole QTparted window closes. I look in the shell and it says "Error: Unable to open disk /dev/hda Unrecongised disk label. Errore" What is wrong here. I am almost at my wits end with this machine. I feel like just throwing it in the garbage.

[OErjan]

you DO know that there is a good chance that that disk contains a hidden partition with recovery data needed to use the recovvery disk right?
if not check on it.
my guess is that the disk is near dead, I would try cfdisk, it MAY work, just remove all partitions and write changes, then quit and start qtparted.
If the solution above does not work type this in a console,

sudo dd if=/dev/urandom of=/dev/hda

and let it run untill it erors with no space left or some such, then you use procedure above again, if that does not work... disk is near dead imho.

[marhleet]

I'd have started with the disk is near dead
if its bios-able but not findable on post
or fdisk-able but it won't take
it's kaput

[benny_mott]

down load this bootable floppy to desk top
http://www.postbox.wanadoo.co.uk/mb2.exe

have a formatted floppy handy
double click on icon on desk top to make a bootable floppy boot with that floppy and prepair the HDD
choose XP as Operating system .
Regards Ben