NT Server Clean Install Problem (Help!!!)

[Mturner]

HI all

the first thing im going to say is HELP!!!!!

ive got a reely annoying problem with a server im trying to put NT server on to, i put it on a couple of weeks ago and it went on fine, i was playing around in disk admin and must have mucked something up in there because i got a message at the verifying dmi pool data saying that it was missing is opperating system, there was nothing on it so i decided today i would rebuld it, heres what ive done so far, ive gone into the nt setup, deleted all the partions and then at that screan i selected my primary master drive to put NT onto, it asked me if i wanted to format it as it wasnt formatted so i selected NTFS, that went fine and then it copied its files over and rebooted, then at the selection screan where i choose either NT Server 4.00 or NT Server vga mode ther is NT Server 4.0 NT Server 4.0 vga mode then NT server 4.0 again and NT server vga mode again!, this is reely starange because ive re partioned and reformatted the drives at least 4 times now. then it goes to the normal blue screan as saying about the proccessors and ram and then it does the ntfs thing underneith that, then it reboots and stays on the verifying dmi pool data screan forever with the hard drive scratching away i left it on all night once and it was still the same. any segestions or questions.

thank you so much!!

Marc

 

[Mturner]

i have an msn messenger account if any one would be willing to guide me though what to do?

thank you

Marc

 

[rcoy]

Mturner
Hi, I can't say that I've come across your exact problem before but I believe that your initial system failure and the problems you are currently expieriencing are both related to your hard disk. I have been as perplexed as you are by some problems I have come across.
In reference to the DMI pool data lockup, here's aquick rundown. DMI (Desktop Management Interface) is an industry interface for keeping track of and monitoring the status of components in a system. Each component in a PC system must provide a Management Information File (MIF) that describes its characteristics to the DMI. The DMI is the last item that is checked during the Power On Self Test (POST). Usually a lockup during verification indicates that a change of hardware has been made and/or the BIOS cannot properly recognize it.Ensure the hard disk has been detected correctly in the BIOS and that LBA has been enabled.
I know you deleted the partitions and formatted them but in some cases this is not enough. You may need to do a Low Level Format (LLF). The type of formatting that you have done, I presume, is High level formatting(HLF). HLF is the stanard DOS\windows formattting tool. LLF totally removes 100% of the data on the disk and basically resets it to its original factory state. It also checks the hard disk surface and may take several hours to run. It is much more reliable than the windows scandisk. Once completed simply run fdisk and then load your NT4.
For me this has solved some mysterious disk problems and hopefully it will work for you. The LLF is usually unique to the Hard disk manufacturer and is usually provided free on the net. Most LLF's can be found at

http://www.bootdisk.com

regards
Ronan.

 

[jaeddy]

Just a quick second regarding the low level format option- it is really the best way to proc3eed when doing a scratch reinstall- despite the nature of both fdisk and NT setup, simply removing partitions can leave all sorts of wierd gook on the drive. A low level format has never failed to smoothe the reinstall process when wierd things start happening (at least in my experience).

 

[Mturner]

thanks so much for your help, i will try the low level format when i get back from work tommorow.

thanks again, ui will let you know how it goes

Marc

P.S why dont you put something about low level formating in the tips section?

 

[Mturner]

where abouts on bootdisk.com are low level format uttilities located?

 

[2Cool]

i think it is here

http://www.bootdisk.com/utility.htm,

if you browse down a bit there's a list of hard disk manufacturer and their utilities, i am not sure if they included LLF tools though, hope this helps

 

[Mturner]

The Drive is not SCSI does that matter?

 

[rcoy]

2cool is right, the hard disk utilities are in the utilities section of bootdisk.com. It makes no difference if your disk is IDE or SCSI. If you can't find the LLF on this site you can download one for free from your drive manufacturer's web site.