I deleted primary partition 'C' drive (number 1 physical drive) and with accidentally all partitions on 2nd physical drive. The lost partitions on the number 2 drive were restored using software from "Active Data Recovery Software". OK so far, however from this point on when booting from Floppy this software application causes a "divide error" and I don't know what to do about this. Can anyone suggest where the problem is. My MoBo is D875PBZ with Intel 3.06/533 and 2 Maxtor 7200 drives installed.
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MS-DOS "divide error"
- Thread starter retiree
- Start date
Hmmm. been a few years. Sounds like you lost your original autoexec.bat and config.sys files from c:, so you are booting from a diskette. Now you get a "divide overflow" error upon execution of some application that ran successfully before.
A divide overflow says that you are trying to use a segment of memory that either does not exist or is not available.
I'd bet you are not loading an upper memory manager, also that the default environment space is too small. Your original c: contained config.sys probably had something like the following two lines as line 1 & 2, or it may of contained "DOS=HIGH,UMB" as line 1 and the below two lines as lines 2 & 3.
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE
additionally, the following line was likely the last line in the lost config.sys, "1024" may have been a different value.
SHELL C:\COMMAND.COM /E:1024 /P
Verify that your boot diskette contains HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE. If it does, display the boot diskette's config.sys file, (BUT first copy the boot diskette so you have a backup.)
it should contain a modification of the above as lines 1 & 2, or "DOS=HIGH,UMB" as line 1 and a modification of the above as lines 2 & 3;
DEVICE=A:\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=A:\EMM386.EXE
and as the last line;
SHELL A:\COMMAND.COM /E:1024 /P
If you do not have the files on your diskette, you will need to obtain them. If you do not find a config.sys file on your boot diskette or the config.sys file does not contain similar statements you will need to construct a config.sys or add the statements as given.
A divide overflow says that you are trying to use a segment of memory that either does not exist or is not available.
I'd bet you are not loading an upper memory manager, also that the default environment space is too small. Your original c: contained config.sys probably had something like the following two lines as line 1 & 2, or it may of contained "DOS=HIGH,UMB" as line 1 and the below two lines as lines 2 & 3.
DEVICE=C:\DOS\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=C:\DOS\EMM386.EXE
additionally, the following line was likely the last line in the lost config.sys, "1024" may have been a different value.
SHELL C:\COMMAND.COM /E:1024 /P
Verify that your boot diskette contains HIMEM.SYS and EMM386.EXE. If it does, display the boot diskette's config.sys file, (BUT first copy the boot diskette so you have a backup.)
it should contain a modification of the above as lines 1 & 2, or "DOS=HIGH,UMB" as line 1 and a modification of the above as lines 2 & 3;
DEVICE=A:\HIMEM.SYS
DEVICE=A:\EMM386.EXE
and as the last line;
SHELL A:\COMMAND.COM /E:1024 /P
If you do not have the files on your diskette, you will need to obtain them. If you do not find a config.sys file on your boot diskette or the config.sys file does not contain similar statements you will need to construct a config.sys or add the statements as given.
- Thread starter
- #3
Hello CoBo Kid, actually I did not exactly frame my problem correctly as I look at it again. The 'Divide error' I receive only occurs when I boot the system using an MS-DOS system disk. I boot this way in order to run my Partition Recovery Application, which is a DOS application. The system boots from the MS-DOS system disk ok, but when I try to run the DOS application, it loads inito RAM and when it attempts to execute it cannot do so and this results in the 'Divide error'. Nobody seems to have ever experiended this error while in DOS. Other that this provacation, my system runs A-ok and Windows XP boots just fine and everything seems to be perfect, except I cannot make a copy of the MBR of either of my hard-drives. I hope this clarifies my problem somewhat.
Good morning retiree,
O.k., that adds one more remote possibility, but it still sounds like you are not loading an upper memory manager. This limits main memory to 640k, changes the manner in which mem is mapped (and remapped) and controlled. I'd bet the app is either attempting to use extended memory or it is attempting to load more than one “block” to hi memory.
In any event it is obvious the machine is configured differently when you boot from a diskette. I would still check out the config.sys file on the boot diskette. The good thing is as c drive's files still exist; you can compare c:\config.sys to a:\config.sys to determine the difference, it’s much easier to deal with this situation when you have two knowns rather than one known and one unknown.
The other remote possibility; your boot diskette contains different versions of dos or command.com.
Try this;
Build a new boot diskette that boots the os and uses the config files from c: . To do so;
1) Obtain a scratch diskette (a new formatted & empty
diskette,) put it in a: type “C:\DOS\SYS A:” (without
the double quotes) and press enter.
2) Type “COPY C:\COMMAND.COM A:\” (Without the double
quotes), and press enter. If you get a file exist”
message press Y to let it overwrite the existing file.
3) Type “COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT A:\” (Without the double
quotes), and press enter.
4) Type “COPY C:\CONFIG.SYS A:\” (Without the double
quotes), and press enter.
Now reboot with this diskette in A: to verify correct operations. When complete (i.e.; correctly boots), either swap diskettes and try your app, or copy your application files to this new diskette and try your application.
Be aware that I've made some assumptions here, so if you do not boot correctly post the results & Ill get back to you as soon as I can.
Steve
f,
O.k., that adds one more remote possibility, but it still sounds like you are not loading an upper memory manager. This limits main memory to 640k, changes the manner in which mem is mapped (and remapped) and controlled. I'd bet the app is either attempting to use extended memory or it is attempting to load more than one “block” to hi memory.
In any event it is obvious the machine is configured differently when you boot from a diskette. I would still check out the config.sys file on the boot diskette. The good thing is as c drive's files still exist; you can compare c:\config.sys to a:\config.sys to determine the difference, it’s much easier to deal with this situation when you have two knowns rather than one known and one unknown.
The other remote possibility; your boot diskette contains different versions of dos or command.com.
Try this;
Build a new boot diskette that boots the os and uses the config files from c: . To do so;
1) Obtain a scratch diskette (a new formatted & empty
diskette,) put it in a: type “C:\DOS\SYS A:” (without
the double quotes) and press enter.
2) Type “COPY C:\COMMAND.COM A:\” (Without the double
quotes), and press enter. If you get a file exist”
message press Y to let it overwrite the existing file.
3) Type “COPY C:\AUTOEXEC.BAT A:\” (Without the double
quotes), and press enter.
4) Type “COPY C:\CONFIG.SYS A:\” (Without the double
quotes), and press enter.
Now reboot with this diskette in A: to verify correct operations. When complete (i.e.; correctly boots), either swap diskettes and try your app, or copy your application files to this new diskette and try your application.
Be aware that I've made some assumptions here, so if you do not boot correctly post the results & Ill get back to you as soon as I can.
Steve
f,
- Thread starter
- #5
Not knowing where you i'll say good evening CoBolKid,
Thanks for the reply, but this isn't what's happening here. I have already tried everything you mentioned prior to requesting help. I'm not a computer expert, but I did work at an Information Systems Department in a military hospital for several years installing hardware and software and deploying new systems so I'm not a basic rookie, that said, I'm always ready and eager to listen to anyone when I need help.
I'm using a floppy that was formatted as a MS-DOS startup disk from within Win XP and booting from it. I have a DOS application that runs from this disk and cannot be reverse engineered. The application has its own autoexec. bat and config.sys, etc. as an intergral part of the program. This disk and application ran perfectly when it was used to recover the lost partitions from my drives 'D' and 'E' of my number 2 hard-drive. Afterwards I recovered the lost partitions, the following day I decided to do a backup of the MBR's for each of these hard-drives and discovered that I was never able to run this application again on this computer without receiving the 'divide error', but the application runs ok on the same disk on other systems, which would seem to eliminate a suspect disk. In any case, I have tried the Partition Recovery Application with 2 other system formatted floppy disk, one of which was formatted as a DOS 6.22 system disk and the other as a second Win XP system floppy disk.
As I am a retired person, hence the handle, I have plenty of time on my hands so if I don't come up with something it isn't going to be the end of the world. I might just delete all partitions from both hard-drives, do a full reformat and start all over. I kind of hate to do this as it's a little like driving a tack with a pile setter or sledge hammer and a very crude approach to what is probably a simple problem that I can't see for the leaves on the trees.
Again, thanks for the reply and I look foreward to hearing from you again if you have another suggestion.
\ Bill
Thanks for the reply, but this isn't what's happening here. I have already tried everything you mentioned prior to requesting help. I'm not a computer expert, but I did work at an Information Systems Department in a military hospital for several years installing hardware and software and deploying new systems so I'm not a basic rookie, that said, I'm always ready and eager to listen to anyone when I need help.
I'm using a floppy that was formatted as a MS-DOS startup disk from within Win XP and booting from it. I have a DOS application that runs from this disk and cannot be reverse engineered. The application has its own autoexec. bat and config.sys, etc. as an intergral part of the program. This disk and application ran perfectly when it was used to recover the lost partitions from my drives 'D' and 'E' of my number 2 hard-drive. Afterwards I recovered the lost partitions, the following day I decided to do a backup of the MBR's for each of these hard-drives and discovered that I was never able to run this application again on this computer without receiving the 'divide error', but the application runs ok on the same disk on other systems, which would seem to eliminate a suspect disk. In any case, I have tried the Partition Recovery Application with 2 other system formatted floppy disk, one of which was formatted as a DOS 6.22 system disk and the other as a second Win XP system floppy disk.
As I am a retired person, hence the handle, I have plenty of time on my hands so if I don't come up with something it isn't going to be the end of the world. I might just delete all partitions from both hard-drives, do a full reformat and start all over. I kind of hate to do this as it's a little like driving a tack with a pile setter or sledge hammer and a very crude approach to what is probably a simple problem that I can't see for the leaves on the trees.
Again, thanks for the reply and I look foreward to hearing from you again if you have another suggestion.
\ BillDo you have a MBR on the first physical disk?
My guess is the divide error comes during a scan of your first MBR. There is not one there. You will see the same error from DOS utilities quite often when the MBR is corrupted, or non-existent.
My guess is the divide error comes during a scan of your first MBR. There is not one there. You will see the same error from DOS utilities quite often when the MBR is corrupted, or non-existent.
- Thread starter
- #7
Hello bcaster,
If my system boots up into Windows XP correctly and there is only one partition on that drive, would this be possible with a missing or corrupted MBR. Also what happens to the existing MBR if I run FDISK/MBR?
Thanks for the input.
Bill
If my system boots up into Windows XP correctly and there is only one partition on that drive, would this be possible with a missing or corrupted MBR. Also what happens to the existing MBR if I run FDISK/MBR?
Thanks for the input.
Bill
- Thread starter
- #9
Hello bcaster,
Well I ran FDISK/MBR and all that happened when I rebooted was that WIn XP reported new hardware found. However, I still have the "divide error" when booting with a MS-DOS Startup disk and running my Partition Recovery Software to do a backup on the MBR.
I might add, belatedly, that I have a USB Hub that developed an unusual behavior exactly at the same time as my "Divide error" occured. This device works whenever something is connected to it, but the lights, both power and channel go out as soon as WinXP beginning loading. In DOS, they stay lit and they were always lit when WinXP was running prior to the restoration of my lost partitions on my number 2 hard-drive. The System Device Manager doesn't show any discrepancies and Hub does function with the light out, if this provides any useful info I'm happy, but it doesn't do a thing for me.
Thanks for the continuing assistance.
Bill
Well I ran FDISK/MBR and all that happened when I rebooted was that WIn XP reported new hardware found. However, I still have the "divide error" when booting with a MS-DOS Startup disk and running my Partition Recovery Software to do a backup on the MBR.
I might add, belatedly, that I have a USB Hub that developed an unusual behavior exactly at the same time as my "Divide error" occured. This device works whenever something is connected to it, but the lights, both power and channel go out as soon as WinXP beginning loading. In DOS, they stay lit and they were always lit when WinXP was running prior to the restoration of my lost partitions on my number 2 hard-drive. The System Device Manager doesn't show any discrepancies and Hub does function with the light out, if this provides any useful info I'm happy, but it doesn't do a thing for me.
Thanks for the continuing assistance.
Bill
I would not worry about the hub lights. XP controls a lot of aspects of the USB interface that DOS cannote even pretend to do.
As a guess, try creating a "boot disk" on a Windows 98 machine. It might be that the divide error is coming from the use of the Windows ME version of MS-DOS, which is what you get when formatting a system floppy under XP.
As a guess, try creating a "boot disk" on a Windows 98 machine. It might be that the divide error is coming from the use of the Windows ME version of MS-DOS, which is what you get when formatting a system floppy under XP.
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