>0 Active Partitions<

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CmosDriver

I have a Western Digital Caviar HD that I took out of a Dell machine and
(USB'd) it to my machine so I could move and save all music and needed word
files. While I had it attached to my computer I formatted the drive and
created a partition for the XP OS that i was going to be loading onto it. I
placed it back into the Dell and tried to load XP and it's telling me "0
active partitions"... and when I move the jumper to "CS" it's not recognizing
it at all. The HD is recognized w/no problem when it's attached to my
machine. - - -
- - - The reason I did this is because when I got the Dell 3000, it was
full of spyware and trojans and after scanning and deleting everything that
was found, once it was restarted, I wasn't able to log back onto the machine.
(Do a search for "CmosDriver" to locate & read >THAT< part of my headache)...
So now I am stuck with >THIS< dilemma.

PS - Just out of curiousity, I tried to load XP on the drive while it was
attached to my machine and after it restarts & gets to the XP boot screen it
gives me the dreaded BLUE SCREEN... "A problem has been detected and Windows
has been shutdown to prevent damage to your computer. Check for viruses on
your computer... etc."

HELP HELP HELP.... AND MORE HELP!!

THANX N ADVANCE
Wayne B. aka... ToTaLLy LosT
 
You can not install XP onto that USB's Hard drive on the other machine where
you tried it.
Not an XP feature to load a bootable Operating System to a USB attached
drive,.

With the drive back in its original computer, have you set through
BIOS/setup for the CD/DVD drive to be 1st in the boot order?.
F1, F2, or Delete will get you into Setup, or F12 for the Boot Order Menu.
The Key number will be right at the bottom of the Startup Screen; probably
the Delete Key

Once CD is set as 1st boot, insert XP disk, reboot, and follow install
instructions, load files, delete existing partition, etc.
 
CmosDriver said:
I have a Western Digital Caviar HD that I took out of a Dell machine and
(USB'd) it to my machine so I could move and save all music and needed
word
files. While I had it attached to my computer I formatted the drive and
created a partition for the XP OS that i was going to be loading onto it.
I
placed it back into the Dell and tried to load XP and it's telling me "0
active partitions"... and when I move the jumper to "CS" it's not
recognizing
it at all. The HD is recognized w/no problem when it's attached to my
machine. - - -
Click to expand...

An active partition is needed for the PC's bios know where to boot from.
Same partition is primary as well. That is active, primary partition. A
primary partition is NOT always active in nature.

If another ide device is on same ribbon cable, it must be also using cable
select.
For CS to properly interpret its location, when alone on the ribbon cable,
the hard drive should be at the end of the ribbon cable.

When the hard drive is properly setup per jumper and so forth, the XP
installation CD (retail or generic OEM) will allow deletion of partition(s)
onboard such hard drive. And creation of a new partition suitable for what
you're attempting.

If you suspect a mbr virus, use the dlgdiag program from WD on bootable CD.
Write zeroes to the entire hard drive with the program. Do this first, and,
do it while the hard drive is installed inside the PC. Bear in mind if
there exists a hidden restoration partition on the Dell, it will get wiped
as well.
 
Hi Mick,

I've gone thru the whole routine to no avail. However... I have just run a
HD diagnostic tool from Western Digital (Data Lifegaurd) on the HD and it
comes up with the HD having too many bad sectors. The test didn't even run
for more than 5 minutes before it had to stop it's testing. I was thinking
that "maybe" I could have gotten it right at the time that the HD was going
bad but of course, I wasn't to sure. SO.. My next question is, is it possible
for malware, trojans and things of that nature to cause (actual) physical
damage to hardware... i.e., HDs as well as screwing up software...? if it
exists too long on a system??

Wayne B.
 
Nope. They can't phsically chew up your HD.
Just replace the damaged HD, and reinstall.
At least you found the answer.
 
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