DELTA75329 Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 (edited) OK, I need some help. Here's the deal: OS: WinXP SP1 FS: NTFS HDs: Both Maxtor. C:\ = 80gb 7200rpm 8mb cache; E:\ = 120gb 7200rpm 8mb cache. Software in question: DriveImage 2002; Norton Ghost 2003 Problem: Need to image my C: drive to an image file in E:\Restore, but both products fail, claiming the presence of a Dynamic Disk Overlay, which prevents them from properly reading the drive. OK, I cooked on this for a couple of days, and I have just slammed into a wall. The problem is the software in question can't image my drive because it detects a Dynamic Disk Overlay (DDO), but I have confirmed that in fact, there is no such thing installed. (Not needed since my BIOS can see all drives just fine without any help) I have determined that formatting the drives using the MaxBlast3 software created a "Disk Manager Signature? in the Master Boot Record (MBR) of any drive it formats. (This so-called ?signature? is the source of my problem: I have formatted both drives using MaxBlast3, now I regret it.) I can delete the NTFS partition on E: (which would clean the MBR, please correct me if I?m wrong) and reformat E: the proper way, but that?s not exactly the case with C:, as there is data I need to keep. My research indicates that the source of the problem is the stupid ?Disk Manager Signature? left by the MaxBlast software on the MBR. What I need to do is remove that signature by cleaning the MBR into a standard state. Cleaning the MBR should allow the partition and by extension, the data, to remain COMPLETELY INTACT. Sounds like a job for FDISK. Trouble is, FDISK is not an option, as it cannot see the NTFS partition. (@#$%*&~!!!!!) I could fix this with FDISK, but I would lose all my data. All this because I simply formatted with MaxBlast! Despite the fact that that there is no DDO installed, Ghost and DriveImage claim otherwise, all because they can see a ?signature? in the MBR. My question is this: Does anyone know of any software that can clean ONLY the MBR into a standard state AND can do so on NTFS partitions without actually touching the partition? Thereby fixing this issue and saving my data? (I just reformatted last month and finally got my PC into the state I want it as of this week; I don?t want to have to do it again just because I can?t back it up. There has to be a less drastic solution.) Any help would be appreciated; thanks to:blush:l in advance. :blush: Edited October 7, 2003 by DELTA75329 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eversor Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 Somewhere from ntfs.org: If you have Windows NT / 2000 / XP, you can boot from startup floppy disks or CD-ROM, choose repair option during setup, and run Recovery Console. When you are logged on, you can run FIXMBR command to fix MBR. I did this once, so i say give it a shot but just to be on the safe side you should make a backup of your important files. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DELTA75329 Posted October 7, 2003 Author Share Posted October 7, 2003 Somewhere from ntfs.org:If you have Windows NT / 2000 / XP, you can boot from startup floppy disks or CD-ROM, choose repair option during setup, and run Recovery Console. When you are logged on, you can run FIXMBR command to fix MBR. THANK YOU; that's PERFECT! :D but... can this be done on other drives besides C:? I'd be interested in doing it to all 4 drives in the system, as they are all NTFS and formated with MaxBlast. :unsure: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eversor Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 mmh. i don't know for sure but i think so... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DELTA75329 Posted October 7, 2003 Author Share Posted October 7, 2003 mmh. i don't know for sure but i think so... OK, I'll look into it. I can search NTFS.org and MS. At least you gave me a jumpstart. Thank you!! :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DELTA75329 Posted October 7, 2003 Author Share Posted October 7, 2003 BTW, if anyone else knows how to use FIXMBR on any given drive in the system, PEASE let me know. I understand that using this command has the potential to wipe out my data, so I want to be absolutesly sure before I risk having to unpack my backups again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eversor Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 Looks like it could only repair the mbr of your boot drive: http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/home/us...cons_fixmbr.asp Edit Looks like i was wrong: From the site i quoted: If you do not specify a device_name, a new master boot record will be written to the boot device, which is the drive on which your primary system is loaded. So i think it is possible Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eversor Posted October 7, 2003 Share Posted October 7, 2003 From another board: fixmbr device name Use this command to repair the master boot record (MBR) of the boot partition. In the command syntax, device name is an optional device name that specifies the device that needs a new MBR. Use this command if a virus has damaged the MBR and Windows cannot start. WARNING: This command can damage your partition tables if a virus is present or a hardware problem exists. Using this command can result in inaccessible partitions. Microsoft recommends that you run antivirus software before you use this command. You can obtain the device name from the output of the map command. If you do not specify a device name, the MBR of the boot device is repaired, for example: fixmbr \device\harddisk2 If FIXMBR detects an invalid or non-standard partition table signature, FIXMBR prompts you for permission before rewriting the MBR. FIXMBR is supported only on x86-based computers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DELTA75329 Posted October 7, 2003 Author Share Posted October 7, 2003 I've done some homework on NTFS.org, and it looks like these suggestions will work.. now I just have to get home and try it. It'll be a few hours, but I'll let you all know how it turns out. THANK YOU ALL AGAIN. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DELTA75329 Posted October 7, 2003 Author Share Posted October 7, 2003 Final Update: EvErSoR's suggestion worked. Thanks to all to who read and special thanks to EvErSoR! :woot: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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