Forum Home
Press F1
 
Thread ID: 30071 2003-02-09 22:06:00 Partition drive format davelowe@worldnet.co.nz (391) Press F1
Post ID Timestamp Content User
119821 2003-02-10 02:25:00 Yes, Gorela but can that be done without removing the extended partion (that is D:\) roofus (483)
119822 2003-02-10 02:37:00 UNNGGG. Expletive, Expletive. :_|

Is it really the case that you can't format an NTFS partition to be non-NTFS without removing and recreating the partition?

Surely a format programme in an OS which understands (uses) NTFS can do this. Have you been trying with a DOS format (which won't know?

I think you should be able to do it with linux. (mkfs not fdisk. Have you got Knoppix.
Graham L (2)
119823 2003-02-10 02:41:00 >
> I think you should be able to do it with linux.
> (mkfs not fdisk. Have you got Knoppix.

Okay - See, Now that's just complicating life dude
Chilling_Silence (9)
119824 2003-02-10 02:49:00 I didn't complicate things. I'm trying to find a way around the existing complexity. MS and our questioner did that.

Another way: mount the disk as a slave in a system running with an NTFS-capable MS OS. It should be able to format the partition.
Graham L (2)
119825 2003-02-10 02:52:00 You could install Win2K onto your second partition and format from within Win2K itself.

Last time I believe you did it from DOS, but if you're doing it from within doze then it wont let you format the partition that the current OS installation is on :-)
Chilling_Silence (9)
119826 2003-02-10 03:37:00 Hey Graham,

I just found the link to the Business Cards or BBC (www.lnx-bbc.org) site. It has ISO images of a small linux that contains rescue utilities. The only hassle appears to be that it needs to boot from the cd-rom. Not much good for the older machines.

It's not the bootable linux fdisk utility I have come across, but it will most probably do the trick.
Gorela (901)
119827 2003-02-10 03:53:00 So much guesswork - much of it erroneous - by homo erectus who think they know .


When using MS FDISK it is not possible to remove a primary partition without first removing an installed extended partition which in turn cannot be removed until any logical drives are removed .



The few non-Linux methods to remove - or change the structure of - a primary partition without deleting an extended partition and logical drives are:
1 . Use Partition Magic or PartitionIt, or
2 . Use EFDISK or AEFDISK, or
3 . Install an NTFS based operating system and format the primary partition as FAT during the installation . Reformat and install a DOS based operating system .

Another option is to backup critical files or transfer them to another physical drive and install from scratch .



There are other methods - some of which are mentioned - that are more trouble than what they are worth .


---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

The person who says it cannot be done should not interrupt the person doing it
- Chinese proverb
Merlin (503)
119828 2003-02-10 03:59:00 Try using Ranish Partition Manager to format it - you can use it to swap the file system your HDD uses... Give it a shot - Have a look in google for it! Chilling_Silence (9)
119829 2003-02-10 04:37:00 > So much guesswork - much of it erroneous - by homo
> erectus who think they know.
>
>
> When using MS FDISK it is not possible to remove a
> primary partition without first removing an installed
> extended partition which in turn cannot be removed
> until any logical drives are removed.

I've been saying that all along, finally some one agrees with me.

So am i still a homo erectus? sounds kinda rude to me! :-)
roofus (483)
119830 2003-02-10 05:51:00 By 1 . 8 million years ago, one of the early transitional human populations had evolved into a new, fully human species in Africa .


Homo erectus were very successful in developing cultural technologies that allowed them to adapt to new environmental opportunities . They were true pioneers . . . .
By about half a million years ago, some Homo erectus were able to move into the cooler temperate environmental zones of Asia and Europe for the first time . This migration was made possible by greater intelligence and new cultural technologies .

cf Early Human Evolution ( . palomar . edu/homo/Default . htm" target="_blank">anthro . palomar . edu)


Promote yourself to homo sapiens - modern man's immediate ancestor
Merlin (503)
1 2