dslg0849@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Daniel S. Lewart) (04/11/91)
Recently, when I 'chkdsk' my hard disk, I get the following error message: c:\> chkdsk Volume BIG_BLACK created Jan 1, 1991 12:00a Probable non-DOS disk. Continue (Y/N)? If I type 'y', it continues and everything works fine. The DOS manual claims the FAT ID byte is bad and that the disk has become 'badly damaged'. In fact, the disk seems to be functioning perfectly well. Is there any way I can fix this problem besides reformatting the disk? Thank you, Daniel Lewart d-lewart@uiuc.edu
ralphs@seattleu.edu (Ralph Sims) (04/11/91)
dslg0849@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Daniel S. Lewart) writes: > Is there any way I can fix this problem besides reformatting the disk? Attack it with Norton's Disk Doctor. The thing it's good for is making wrong things right again. Make a backup first, naturally. -- halcyon!ralphs@seattleu.edu The 23:00 News and Mail Service - +1 206 292 9048 - Seattle, WA USA +++ A Waffle Iron, Model 1.64 +++
elund@graphics.rent.com (Eric W. Lund - Subop) (04/11/91)
dslg0849@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Daniel S. Lewart) writes: > Recently, when I 'chkdsk' my hard disk, I get the following error message: > c:\> chkdsk > Volume BIG_BLACK created Jan 1, 1991 12:00a > Probable non-DOS disk. > Continue (Y/N)? > If I type 'y', it continues and everything works fine. The DOS manual claims > the FAT ID byte is bad and that the disk has become 'badly damaged'. In fact > the disk seems to be functioning perfectly well. > > Is there any way I can fix this problem besides reformatting the disk? Something has partly trashed your FAT. The first byte in the FAT should be hex F8. The first byte is the "media descriptor byte", and F8 is for "fixed disks". To stop the message, use a sector editor and change the first byte back to what it should be. If your system is working fine now, then I wouldn't worry about it, but you should realize something has altered your FAT, and that's not a healthy thing for a program to do. The FAT should never be touched except by programs such as FDISK or FORMAT.
dslg0849@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Daniel S. Lewart) (04/11/91)
elund@graphics.rent.com (Eric W. Lund - Subop) writes: > Something has partly trashed your FAT. The first byte in the FAT should be > hex F8. The first byte is the "media descriptor byte", and F8 is for "fixed > disks". To stop the message, use a sector editor and change the first byte > back to what it should be. If your system is working fine now, then I > wouldn't worry about it, but you should realize something has altered your > FAT, and that's not a healthy thing for a program to do. The FAT should > never be touched except by programs such as FDISK or FORMAT. I used Norton's NU to change the first FAT byte from AC to F8. It worked!!! Two other respondents indicated that PCTOOLS 6.0 Diskfix should also work. Thanks, Eric! Dan d-lewart@uiuc.edu
landers@zeus.mgmt.purdue.edu (Christopher Landers) (04/12/91)
In article <wu68Z4w164w@graphics.rent.com> elund@graphics.rent.com (Eric W. Lund - Subop) writes: >dslg0849@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Daniel S. Lewart) writes: > >> Recently, when I 'chkdsk' my hard disk, I get the following error message: >> c:\> chkdsk >> Volume BIG_BLACK created Jan 1, 1991 12:00a >> Probable non-DOS disk. >> Continue (Y/N)? >> If I type 'y', it continues and everything works fine. The DOS manual claims >> the FAT ID byte is bad and that the disk has become 'badly damaged'. In fact >> the disk seems to be functioning perfectly well. >> >> Is there any way I can fix this problem besides reformatting the disk? > >Something has partly trashed your FAT. The first byte in the FAT should be >hex F8. The first byte is the "media descriptor byte", and F8 is for "fixed >disks". To stop the message, use a sector editor and change the first byte >back to what it should be. If your system is working fine now, then I >wouldn't worry about it, but you should realize something has altered your >FAT, and that's not a healthy thing for a program to do. The FAT should >never be touched except by programs such as FDISK or FORMAT. Norton Disk Doctor does a good job fixing these kinds of errors with little input (knowledge) needed by the user. Saved my, and my users', data so many times that the $150 price seems like nothing. -- <================================><===============================> || Christopher Landers || PURDUE UNIVERSITY - KRAN 708 || || Krannert Computing Center || West Lafayette, IN 47907 || <=================== landers@zeus.mgmt.purdue.edu ================>
ralphs@seattleu.edu (Ralph Sims) (04/12/91)
dslg0849@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Daniel S. Lewart) writes: > I used Norton's NU to change the first FAT byte from AC to F8. It worked!!! > Two other respondents indicated that PCTOOLS 6.0 Diskfix should also work. > Thanks, Eric! There are two FAT's. Best look at the second one, also. -- halcyon!ralphs@seattleu.edu The 23:00 News and Mail Service - +1 206 292 9048 - Seattle, WA USA +++ A Waffle Iron, Model 1.64 +++
smsmith@hpuxa.acs.ohio-state.edu (Stephen M. Smith) (04/13/91)
halcyon!ralphs@seattleu.edu (Ralph Sims) writes: >dslg0849@uxa.cso.uiuc.edu (Daniel S. Lewart) writes: > >> I used Norton's NU to change the first FAT byte from AC to F8. It worked!! >> Two other respondents indicated that PCTOOLS 6.0 Diskfix should also work. >> Thanks, Eric! > >There are two FAT's. Best look at the second one, also. When I use the dog.exe defragmenter to test my logical drive E: with the command 'dog e: /test', I get the following message: The second FAT does not match the first FAT. 29 Lost Clusters Found. Files open on drive. Errors found, not repaired. The files that are open are procomm.exe and procomm.prm since I run my communications from drive e: in the background under Desqview. I know that this is not the problem because I can run the test on drive c: while Desqview is running and has its files open without getting this error message. Will the FAT tables be "fixed" if I run chkdsk with the /f parameter? Or is there something worse here? I am running MS DOS 4.01. Drives c:, d:, and e: are all >32 megs. Yes, I use share.exe. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks! Steve Smith smsmith@hpuxa.ircc.ohio-state.edu