Cant Format my hard drive.?.?.?.?.?

R

Rexse7en44

n00b
Joined
Apr 20, 2004
Messages
27
Ok this is getting just a little out of hand. Just when I fix one problem, another comes. Well now what happened is I had just finished installing windows, and I was getting some error message about lsass.exe with error status code 128 and a message that windows 2000 will shut down and restart in a minute, and then my machine does restart after a minute. I saw a page on microsoft.com that says that bug is fixed with service pack 4. But in the process of downloading it everytime I would get the message and my computer would shut down before I could get the update finished. So after about the 4th or 5th time of this happening my computer wouldn't boot up, and just went in circles from the Bios screen to the windows start up screen, then reboot and go around in that loop over and over.... Then I tried to format the drive and it came up with the message : checking existing disk format. Invalid device parameters from device driver. Then goes back to the E:\ promt. I tried using FDISK and deleting the primary partition, and creating it again, and that didn't work. Now I've kind of been sitting here stumpted as to what to do?? Any idea's?
 
Go get a linux cd iso disk ( slackware.com would prob be the best)
boot that, watch the startup for your hard drive, if it goes too fast use the command:
dmesg | more
to see the output again.
Once you know your hard drive assignment then run the command:
cfdisk /dev/hdx
where hdx matches your hard drive (usually /dev/hda)
That program has a gui (tho be it clunky) it may fix your problem.
But kinda sounds like a hard drive or cable falure (or if your lucky just a virus).
 
Sounds like you have Sasser : http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sasser.b.worm.html

Go get the Removal Tool : http://securityresponse.symantec.com/avcenter/venc/data/w32.sasser.removal.tool.html

What to do if the computer shuts down before you can patch or get the tool
This threat can cause Windows to keep shutting down and restarting. This can prevent you from installing the Microsoft patch or downloading the tool described below. To prevent the shut down, do the following. (You may have to try this several times, as you only have about 20 seconds to do steps 3 to 6.) (This will not work on Windows 2000.)

Disconnect the computer from the network/Internet connection. (Disconnect the cable if necessary.)
Restart the computer.
As soon as Windows opens and you see the Windows desktop, click Start > Run.
Type:

cmd

and press Enter.


Type:

shutdown -i

and press Enter.


In the Remote Shutdown Dialog that opens, do the following:

Click Add and type your computer name into the appeared window. Then click OK.
In the "Display warning for <number of seconds> Seconds" field, type 9999 in place of the default value of 20.
Type any message in the Comment box.
Click OK.

Reconnect the network/Internet connection.
Connect to the Internet, and get the patch. Then continue with the steps described below.
Click to expand...

Edit: It says it won't work for win2k, but you can try it ;)
 
Definitely a virus, most likely sasser. Get behind a firewall before you install Windows.
edit: or just disconnect your network cable while installing and get the patch taken care of before you connect to the internet.
 
Thanks for all the help. I dont know what it was, considering I was showing someone how it wouldn't format the drive, and then when I press "Y" to confirm format, it worked! haha All well at least its working, I just wish I would have known what it was and what to do to fix it for sure... But thanks again everyone
 
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