FDISK /MBR - Should this be ran every time?

[Eldain]

Hello everyone,

When repartitioning and reformatting a hard drive, is it recommended to do an FDISK /MBR as well every time? My friend told me that I should run FDISK /MBR first, then FDISK to delete and create new partitions, and finally format the drive. He stated that not doing this can cause much headache later when going from let's say FAT32 to NTFS. So my question is:

1. Is it suggested that I do this when changing file systems?

2. Is the order of when to run this command a factor?

3. Should this be ran if Win 98 becomes corrupted and I would like to format and reinstall 98? Thanks in advance for your help and replies.

El

 

[glister]

The MS-DOS Fdisk utility usually updates the master boot record (MBR) only if no master boot record exists. Repartitioning with Fdisk does not rewrite this information.

WARNING: Writing the master boot record to the hard disk in this manner can make certain hard disks partitioned with SpeedStor unusable. It can also cause problems for some dual-boot programs and disks with more than four partitions.

Microsoft KnowledgeBase article on FDISK /MBR

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;Q69013

Good Luck!

A+,N+,S+,L+,I+,CFOT,CCNT,ACSP,ISA CCST3

 

[Eldain]

Thanks for the info. However, the article doesn't states to run this command when you have a virus. But what about everyday formatting of hard drives?

El

 

[edfair]

I would do it when changing systems. Doesn't hurt anything that doesn't fit the conditions above.

Order is of no major import.

No, if 98 was booting up before you don't need to put a new boot record on it. Ed Fair
unixstuff@juno.com
Any advice I give is my best judgement based on my interpretation of the facts you supply. Help increase my knowledge by providing some feedback, good or bad, on any advice I have given.