Problem With SCSI Harddrive

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Deleted member 79192

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My brother's computer has an SCSI harddrive installed to the computer. He has recently got a major error that requires me to reformat the harddrive and start fresh. The problem is that the format.exe/format.com file has been deleted from the C drive, so I can't reformat from DOS. It also doesn't see the floppy drive or CD-ROM so I can't read the file from a floppy or CD either. I was wondering if there were any jumpers or anything like that that could be on the harddrive that would allow me to manually clear everything on the harddrive, so that I could re-install Windows and get his computer working again. Honestly, you never realize how much you love your computer until your little brother has rights to use it. :p

Any help is greatly appreciated on this. I await a response to this post!

- Matt
 
well you should be able to format it from the windows setup?

if you go into dos IIRC it wont see the SCSI disks since you havent loaded the drivers for the SCSI card, i cant remember tho its been so long since i used SCSI in dos lol
 
If it doesn’t see the floppy or the CD-ROM I’d be inclined to do a full reset of the BIOS. Also, check the backup battery for your CMOS as well. If that was the problem it’s possible the “C” drive can be saved, maybe, with luck.

You mentioned “little brother” but didn’t mention age..is it possible he couldn’t resist the “DEL” key when he booted one day? I’ve seen that a time or two.

An improper shutdown could also have an adverse effect on your CMOS. I’m seeing too many symptoms at the same time for it to be a simple drive error.

Just some late night thoughts..

Luck.
 
what SCSI card does he have?

Are you saying that you can't see the CD and floppy in DOS or when the machine is booting up?

I''d boot off of the CD-Rom with Win98/ME/2K/XP, basically whatever you are using and see if setup can detect the card and controller, from there you can format and re-install.

You can low level format the drive as well using the SCSI card, on the Adaptec cards, you press CTRL+A when the SCSI card is detecting the drives.
Low Level formatting can take a long time too, it took maybe an hour or two to low level format my 36gig Cheetahs.
 
I can't do anything but use the DOS prompt, no windows or anything! This harddrive is a 10GB SCSI 160 harddrive. I would reset the BIOS but I can't even get into it. The computer didn't come with a manual to tell me how to access the BIOS. Since there's no manual I also don't know where the jumpers are for the CMOS either, so I can't reset it anyway...
 
Let's start with some basics first.

Most motherboards use DEL to enter the bios. Some use F1. When you power up the machine, check in the lower left corner of the screen and it will most likely tell you what key to enter Setup (the BIOS). If it has a logo screen, hit TAB or Return to clear that and actually see the BIOS screen. Word of advice if it does have a Logo screen, DISABLE THAT PIECE OF CRAP!!! It's always a good idea to see yoru BIOS screen instead of hiding it.

Second, you can't run format from the drive you're trying to format. Ever try working on your car while driving it? You HAVE to format it from a floppy disk or CD.

Third, if he's running XP or 2000, don't bother with a floppy disk. Format the drive from within the setup of Windows, but you have to boot from the CD to do it.


If you still can't get in to the BIOS, post the motherboard make and model and we can link the manual for you. Most likely he's disabled the CDROM and floppy boot or changed the boot order so that the hard drive is first. You need to change the boot order to CDROM, then SCSI if you want to get that system back up, there really is no other way to do it.
 
Sorry for the late reply, but Hard Forums haven't been working lately, and this is the first time I've been able to get on sine my last reply. Anyways, it has a logo screen that hides the POST, and pressing tab does clear it and show the POST screen, but it doesn't say anything about how to enter BIOS. I've tried practicly every key!!

Second of all, I don't know what your talking about with not being able to run format from the drive your formatting. I always run it from the harddrive when I format the harddrive. I'm really stumped on why it can't read the harddrive, or the floppy drive. I'm sure there'd be a way to fix it in the BIOS (along with disable the damn boot logo and onboard sound)! If only I could get into the BIOS... I've tried the manufacturer's website, but no luck. It was a used PC bought from a used PC store, so it didn't come with a manual either. By the way, it runs Windows 98SE.
 
Just letting you guys know this case is closed. We junked the computer and got him a new one. My dad ordered him a Sempron 2400+ for christmas, and we're all pleased with its benefits over the Intel computer's performance. Thanks for the support though. We have a problem with setting up my sound card which I got for christmas as I type this, but I think we can fix it. If I need help I'll start a new thread here on the Hard Forums for it.
 
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