My brothers pc running 98SE fails to start, message that cannot find boot sector. I have tried the following to no avail, can anyone make any more suggestions, thanks. Unfortunately there are photos that have not been backed up and I therefore wish to avoid a full repartion or format if I can. I have tried loading boot files from 98 boot disk using commands researched on web:- SYS c: and SYS a: c: both have returned bad command. I have viewed partitions using fdisk and it says there are non, why this is the case I have no idea as it has previously been working until this failure. I have slaved it to my own, running xp pro and whilst device manager recognises the HD, I cannot view it or even locate it outside device manager. Also a virus check returned negative results. is the hard drive damaged? could partitions be deleted in any way without knowledge of user?

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|there are photos that have not been backed up
| delphcommon
|
You forgot to use the word "precious".

|I have tried[...] 
|SYS c: and SYS a: c:
|both have returned bad command.
|
You need a bootable disk (floppy?) with a DOS 7 kernel in it (The Big 3).
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/win98/1131430898
The partition has to still exist as well.

|I have viewed partitions using fdisk and it says there are non,
|
{Sound of dirge in the background}

|why this is the case I have no idea
|as it has previously been working until this failure.
|
You were expecting an error message "3 days to HDD failure" ?  8-(
Does the drive have S.M.A.R.T. ?

|I have slaved it to my own, running xp pro
|and whilst device manager recognises the HD,
|I cannot view it or even locate it outside device manager.
|
{Sound of dirge draws closer}

|a virus check returned negative results.
|
...on a drive that can't be accessed.  Sounds contradictory.

|is the hard drive damaged?
|
It does sound like the filesystem is borked
--but you haven't convinced me yet that it's not an easy fix.

|could partitions be deleted in any way without knowledge of user?
|
Back in the days before Eastern Europeans realized
that Windoze boxes could be exploited to make money,
ALL the infections were malicious in nature.

It could also be a physical failure of the magnetic media in a crucial spot.

IF none of the 3 caveats apply, *this* might work:
http://www.annoyances.org/exec/forum/win98/1131430464
(Scroll down to see all the posts in the thread
or click [show all].)

The choices I see after that are:
1) Run the HDD manufacturer's (free) utilities.

2) http://www.google.com/search?q=SpinRite+Legendary
(Not really cheap; ask your nerd buddies if one of them has a copy.)

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Try this :
Boot w/ 98SE boot disk. Fdisk, select the hdd in question, issue cmd :fdisk /mbr.

good luck, Regards







On Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 2:45 pm, delphcommon wrote:

>My brothers pc running 98SE fails to start, message that cannot find boot sector. 

>I have tried the following to no avail, can anyone make any more suggestions, thanks. 

>Unfortunately there are photos that have not been backed up and I therefore wish 

>to avoid a full repartion or format if I can.

>

>I have tried loading boot files from 98 boot disk using commands researched on web:- 

>SYS c: and SYS a: c: both have returned bad command.

>

>I have viewed partitions using fdisk and it says there are non, why this is the 
case 

>I have no idea as it has previously been working until this failure.

>

>I have slaved it to my own, running xp pro and whilst device manager recognises 
the 

>HD, I cannot view it or even locate it outside device manager. Also a virus check 

>returned negative results.

>

>is the hard drive damaged? could partitions be deleted in any way without knowledge 

>of user? 

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

| LV SHANG wrote:
|[Something that COULD destroy your system.]

He obviously didn't see the IF in my post.

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The center of a hard drive is a bronze bearing. It has oil in the bronze (which is somewhat porous). Eventually it dries up and produces bronze powder. Then one day it jams.

Years ago a friend of mine from college, who is now a Dir MIS, called me just to express his relief. In desperation, he removed the screws and took off the top of the drive -- right where the warning message tells you not to -- and manually turned the bearing. Then he tried to start it again and IT WORKED. So then he got everything off.

The drives nowadays don't use ordinary screws.

My method is to treat it like a 1950s TV and slap in on the side. I once kept a failing drive working for months by beating on it every morning when I booted up. It finally failed to the point where I had to rouse myself out of my laziness and go to the computer store near the mall and buy a new drive. I lucked into getting it to start one more time so I transferred my data.


On Thursday, March 20, 2008 at 2:45 pm, delphcommon wrote:
>My brothers pc running 98SE fails to start, message that cannot find boot sector.
>I have tried the following to no avail, can anyone make any more suggestions, thanks.
>Unfortunately there are photos that have not been backed up and I therefore wish
>to avoid a full repartion or format if I can.
>
>I have tried loading boot files from 98 boot disk using commands researched on web:-
>SYS c: and SYS a: c: both have returned bad command.
>
>I have viewed partitions using fdisk and it says there are non, why this is the case
>I have no idea as it has previously been working until this failure.
>
>I have slaved it to my own, running xp pro and whilst device manager recognises the
>HD, I cannot view it or even locate it outside device manager. Also a virus check
>returned negative results.
>
>is the hard drive damaged? could partitions be deleted in any way without knowledge
>of user?

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Addendum: Relevant to something Gewg said, I should say that was a couple drives ago. More recently I replaced a drive the peaceful way. It was a SMART drive and one day I idly checked the Everest Home Edition system info program and looked at my drive's specs and they were failing. So I got another one and transferred the data and there wasn't any interesting anecdote to tell.

That's in the future when you get this drive working temporarily.

If it's beyond you, there are data recovery services that you can pay to get your photos back.

Good luck.

[Reply or follow-up to this message]

Thanks for all who responded. Combing all advice, finally led me to TestDisk program which solved the problem.

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