Take a look at FDISK (a DOS command).
http://www.computerhope.com/fdiskhlp.htm
FDISK
Fdisk is one of the more commonly used MS-DOS commands, even today with
Windows 95 and Windows 98. Fdisk allows the user to delete and/or create
partitions <jargon/p/partitio.htm> on the hard disk drive <help/hdd.htm>.
MS-DOS 3.3x and below used fdisk.com
MS-DOS 4.x and above uses fdisk.exe
Additional information on how a hard disk drives and how they work,
troubleshooting and more can be found on our hard disk drive page
<help/hdd.htm>.
Syntax
Configures a hard disk for use with MS-DOS.
FDISK [/STATUS] /X
/STATUS Displays partition information.
/X Ignores extended disk-access support (will not use LBA <jargon/l/lba.htm>
support). Use this switch if you receive one of the below symptoms. Unable
to access a drive from DOS versions prior to 7. Disk access messages . Stack
overflow messages. High amounts of data corruption. Extra drive letters
Secret fdisk switches
Disclaimer: Below is a listing of secret or undocumented MS-DOS fdisk
commands and switches. Use these commands at your own risk.
Command Information
FDISK /MBR Command used to rewrite the Master Boot Record
<jargon/m/mbr.htm>. See CH000175 <issues/ch000175.htm> for additional
information.
FDISK /CMBR <DISK> Recreates the Master Boot Record <jargon/m/mbr.htm> on
specified disk. Performs the same functions as FDISK /MBR except can be used
on other disk drives.
FDISK 1/PRI:100 Creates a 100MB <jargon/m/mb.htm> DOS <msdos.htm> partition
on the hard drive <help/hdd.htm>.
FDISK 1/EXT:500 Creates a 500MB <jargon/m/mb.htm> meg extended DOS
<msdos.htm> partition on the hard drive <help/hdd.htm>.
FDISK 1/LOG:250 Creates a 250MB <jargon/m/mb.htm> logical drives on the
hard drive <help/hdd.htm>.
FDISK /Q Prevents fdisk from booting the system automatically after exiting
fdisk.
FDISK /STATUS Shows you the current status of your hard drives.
FDISK /ACTOK Makes FDISK not check the disk integrity allowing the drives
to be created faster.
FDISK /FPRMT Will not get the prompt for FAT32 support, in addition allows
FDISK to be forced into using FAT32 <jargon/f/fat.htm> on drives smaller
than 540MB (by default FDISK will not use FAT32 on any drive smaller than
540MB). Finally this command can only be used with FDISK that supports
FAT32.
Examples
Fdisk - This would get you into the fdisk option screen that you can see in
the fdisk simulation. Also keep in mind when deleting a partitions ANYTHING
that is on that partition of the hard drive will be ERASED, also once the
partition is delete it will not be redetected until you format that
partition, so if you delete your primary partition, which is the c: drive,
you will not be able to put anything on that drive or even read from that
drive until it is formatted.
See our fdisk simulation <sfdisk1.htm> for additional information and
examples.
Additional information
FDISK SCRIPT FILE - Fdisk has the capability of being run from an external
file, allowing you to quickly create and delete partitions through Fdisk. To
do this, create a file from the DOS <edithlp.htm> command. Below are the
steps required in generating this file.
Edit <edithlp.htm> fdisk.scr - This will place you within the edit screen.
Within this screen you will enter the commands you wish to be run in fdisk.
For example, if you wish to run fdisk and display the partition information,
you would enter 4.
Because fdisk requires you to press enter after you have chosen a selection,
you will need to press Ctrl + P and then press Ctrl + M, which will create a
music symbol, which acts as a carriage return.
If you need to press the esc key, you would use Ctrl + P and then press esc,
which would be represented as a backwards arrow.
When doing the commands to run FDISK, all these must be on one line; do not
place each command on separate lines.
Once you have created the script file, you can then type fdisk < fdisk.scr
that will then execute the script file. If the script file encounters an
error during its process, you will need to recreate the script file where
the mistake occurred.
additional information on FDISK /MBR?
The FDISK /MBR command is an undocumented switch used with the FDISK command
(MS-DOS 5.0 and higher) that enables users to recreate their master boot
record on their hard disk drive.
Q.) Does doing FDISK /MBR more than one time have any effect on the
computer?
A.) How this command operates varies depending on the version of FDISK you
are using. However, when performing this command, it is overwriting the
information that is contained in the MBR. Performing this command multiple
times is not going to do anything more than performing the same steps again.
Q.) How can I recreate the Master Boot Record on a different hard disk drive
other than my primary hard disk drive?
A.) Use FDISK /CMBR <drive number> where <drive number> represents the drive
you wish to recreate the master boot record. To determine the drive number,
run the fdisk /status command.
Users can also find much more detailed notes about FDISK through links found
on our hard disk drive network section <../network/hdd.htm>.
MBR
Short for Master Boot Record, MBR is also sometimes referred to as the
master boot block and is the first sector
<http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/s/sector.htm> of the computer hard disk
drive used to determine what partition
<http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/partitio.htm> a computer will boot.
The MBR tells the computer where to find and how to load
<http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/l/load.htm> the operating HYPERLINK
"http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/s/system.htm"system
<http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/o/os.htm>. It also tells the computer
how the hard drive <http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/h/harddriv.htm> is
organized and provides information about the drive's partitions. The master
boot record is located on the first sector of the hard drive; it's the first
program <http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/p/program.htm> the computer runs
after performing a memory <http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/m/memory.htm>
check <http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/c/check.htm> and looking for a
bootable disk <http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/b/bootdisk.htm> (if set in
CMOS <http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/c/cmos.htm>). The MBR is also
susceptible to boot sector viruses
<http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/v/virus.htm> that can corrupt
<http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/c/corrupt.htm> or delete
<http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/d/delete.htm> the MBR, which can leave
the hard drive unusable and prevent the computer from booting up. A
well-known MBR HYPERLINK
"http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/v/virus.htm"virus
<http://www.computerhope.com/jargon/m/mbrvirus.htm> is the Stone Empire
Monkey Virus. Additional information about the FDISK /MBR can also be found
on document CH000175 <../../issues/ch000175.htm>. Information about the
Stoned Empire Monkey Virus can be found here <../../monkey.htm>.
"Dale" <> wrote in message
news:40954222-64F3-44CE-A8CC-...
> Can you tell me how to add a partition to the boot manager? Pre-Vista, I
> could have easily added a second option to the boot.ini file.
>
> Dale
>
> "Jawade" wrote:
>
>> In article <72CDC39E-A646-420B-B42B->,
>> =?Utf-8?B?RGFsZQ==?= <dale0973
>> @nospam.nospam> says...
>> > I am running Vista Ultimate X64. Because Microsoft has changed the
>> > rules
>> > midstream by removing the ability to run unsigned drivers in 64-bit
>> > Vista, I
>> > need to select that option from the boot menu each time I restart.
>> >
>> > The problem is that I cannot manage to hit F8 at the exactly correct
>> > moment
>> > half the time and I have to reboot multiple times to get it right.
>> >
>> > I would like to force the boot menu to show every boot. I used BCDEDIT
>> > to
>> > set the timeout to 30 seconds, and verified the setting took, but I
>> > still do
>> > not get the boot menu.
>> >
>> > Is there a way I can force the boot menu to show or am I going to have
>> > to
>> > install a second OS just to make Vista think I have a dual-boot PC?
>>
>> Make a small partition at the end of the drive and put that drive
>> in the bootmanager.
>>
>> --
>> Met vriendelijke groeten, Jawade. Weer veel vernieuwd!
>> http://jawade.nl/ Met een mirror op http://jawade.fortunecity.com/
>> Bootmanager (+Vista +Linux), ClrMBR, DiskEdit (+Linux), POP3lezer,
>> DOS-Filebrowser, Kalender, Webtellers en IP-log, USB-stick tester.
>>
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