Format & partition HD with no OS

[KiraD]

I’ve got a new 2TB SATA hard drive to use it temporary on my DELL Optiplex GX620. It is the only hard drive on this PC at the moment.
There is no CD Drive, just floppy.
How can I format and partition the HD? I don’t want to install any OS right now; I just want to partition the drive.
Later on I will install several different flavors of Linux and may be XT and do a multi boot – that’s why I need to partition it.
Thank you!

 

[jhansman]

Hiren's Boot CD has a boatload of tools, among which are partitioning and formatting utils, and is free: http://www.hiren.info/pages/bootcd

 

[Bubbaleone]

....There is no CD Drive, just floppy....

Cute Partition Manager: good partitioning utility, intuitive to use.

Link: How do I run Partition Manager from a boot floppy?

Another excellent floppy partitioning utility that also formats: PartitionLogic

 

[KiraD]

With Cute Partition I'm getting an error:

Initialization failed
Reason: Invalid partition signature

 

[Bubbaleone]

Use PartitionLogic instead: delete any existing partition/s, reboot, repartition and format.

 

[KiraD]

Downloaded PartitionLogic 0.71 floppy disk version, created a bootable floppy using RawWrite provided. Tried to boot, got the following:

X CD-ROM emulation check failed. CD booting might not be successful.
Loading Visopsys
**********

Visopsys 0.71
Copyright (C) 1998-2011 J.Andrew McLaughlin
Starting, one moment please...

Detecting hardware: SCSI disk Error:: kernelScsiDiskDriver.c:detectTarget(817):
Error 0 while detecting USB_SCSI device
Error:kernel process: kernelFloppyDriver.c:waitOperationComplete(180):
Command timed out
Error:kernel process: kernelFloppyDriver.c:readWriteSectors(529):
Seek error: Unknown error
Error:kernel process: kernelDisk.c:realReadWrite(394):
Error -24 reading 1 sectors at 0, disk fd0
Error:kernel process: kernelDisk.c:identifyBootDisk(1961):
The boot device could not be identified
Error:kernel process: kernelInitialize.c:kernelInitialize(347):
Disk functions initialization failed
Error:kernel process: kernelMain.c:kernelMain(77):
Initialization failed. Press any key (or the "reset" button) to reboot.

 

[Bubbaleone]

Just tried duplicating the error you got, and got the exact same errors you report. I suspect a corrupt .img file. I'll do a little investigating and be back ASAP.

 

[KiraD]

I got almost the same list of errors with v0.7

 

[Bubbaleone]

I got almost the same list of errors with v0.7

Took a bit to get this sorted. Downloaded and ran hash checks on six different versions of PartitionLogic disk images. The MD5 hash failed on all of them. That's why it didn't initialize for you...corrupt image.

Before posting this I downloaded, created the floppy, booted, and thoroughly tested BootIt NG on my Dell PowerEdge, to be sure you'd have no more problems. It's very full-featured...this app's going straight into my toolbox!

(When this page opens, look under "Partitioning" and select "BootitNG 1.87") Here's the link: BootIt NG

After extraction, double-click "install.bat" to open the disk creator.

(These are the settings I used. Adjust accordingly for your setup.)

1] Accept: the agreement
2] Enable: mouse support
3] Select: Standard VGA
4] Select: Partition Work
5] Enable: USB Controller Fix, USB Device Fix
6] Skip Registration
7] Select: A:[3 1/2 Floppy]
8] Click Finish to create floppy

About #4: This will boot straight into the partioning utility. It has a lot of settings available. You can close it, check out the other features, and reopen it if you'd like to familiarize yourself with all the other tools, before you start partitioning.

 

[KiraD]

Thank you so much!
Partitioned my HDD with BootIt NG

 

[KiraD]

Next question:
How can I install Linux, Windows without CD?
I can put files to my HDD using docking station.
Thank you!

 

[Bubbaleone]

If your BIOS supports booting from a USB device, then (IMHO) I think it would be a better choice to install from a USB thumb drive. This is an example from Microsoft TechNet:

Utility Spotlight: Windows 7 Installation Simplified

 

[KiraD]

No, it doesn't :-(

 

[Bubbaleone]

No, it doesn't :-(

You did good with the DOS floppy format utility, so I know you can handle this:

Boot From a USB Drive Even if your BIOS Won’t Let You

When you get that done, come on back.

 

[Bubbaleone]

Old as your Dell is I'm not sure if you'll be able to install Windows 7 (you could try it later) but it'll sure run XP. The PLoP boot manager enables USB 2.0 even if the PC is USB 1.1, so be sure to use a USB 2.0 flash drive to take advantage of the superior data transfer rate; preferably 8 GB or more if you want to install more than two operating systems.

I'm assuming the PC you're posting from has a CD/DVD drive. You'll need the XP installation CD, and a valid key. Alternatively, if you have an ISO image of XP that'll work fine also. When you decide what flavor/s of Linux you want, you'll be downloading ISO images anyway.

This article from "FlashBoot" covers just installing XP, but the utility they use simplifies the process because it takes care of formatting the USB flash drive, as well:

Installing Windows XP on Netbooks and Other Computers Without DVD Drive

I'd suggest you try this one out first to get the hang of it. Then after you're comfortable using PLoP floppy boot manager to boot the USB flash drive, and successfully installing XP, you can always reformat the USB flash drive in preparation for building a multi-install, multi-boot, Windows and Linux setup.