For this reason, it is critical that the correct disk ID number be specified in the GDisk command line.Īs an alternative, you can use the Darik's Boot and Nuke Disk That is quite handy to know, and makes the GDisk floppy diskette useful in a broad range of circumstances.įor readers of this thread, note that GDisk does not issue a prompt asking the user to confirm the /DISKWIPE operation – the erase simply starts. NightOwl, your test does confirm that GDisk will detect a NTFS USB external hard disk drive with DI1000DD.SYS loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file. Apparently *di1000dd.sys* assigns a drive letter that DOS can not see, but makes the HDD visible to *Gdisk*, and allows for using the *wipe* function. So, apparently Gdisk does not have a problem with USB HDD's that are NTFS on the partitions, just has to be *seen*. The *gdisk 3 /status* command line showed Partition 1 as Type = Extended, 38154.4 MB, and Partition 2 as Type = Logical, 38154.3 MB, System = NTFS/HPFS.Īnd then typed *gdisk 3 /diskwipe* command line and as I type this (I'm on a different computer), it is about 40 % completed wiping disk 3. The *gdisk /status*command line showed it as Disk #3, Partitions = 2 (Extended *Primary* and the Logical NTFS within), 38166.7 MB, etc. If I tried to access the HDD drive letter J:\, DOS returns a *volume not found* error. The *di1000dd.sys* assigned it a drive letter of J:\-but with 0 MB listed. In WinXP, Disk Management, I re-formated the logical HDD as NTFS.īooted with the Panasonic DOS USB drivers. My Iomega USB HDD was partitioned as a logical HDD within an Extended Partition as FAT32. To clarify, have you confirmed GDisk will detect a NTFS USB external hard disk drive with DI1000DD.SYS loaded in the CONFIG.SYS file? I am on the road in Central Florida, so I will unable to provide meaningful input along these lines until I return home. The Western Digital line went from dead last in all aspects during my initial testing to becoming the leading performers for the applications of SLAVE HDD or mounting in an external enclosure kit. The reason for using GDisk over and over with various HDDs (Maxtor, Seagate, and Western Digital) was in an effort to elicit speedier performance with FAT32 partitions when using Norton Ghost 2003 by reformatting the subject physical drives in an extraordinary manner. Although I do not recall seeing specific drive letters (one way or the other), I vaguely seem to recollect that each partition was clearly identified. My experimentation along these lines was halted by Hurricane Katrina last August, but I seem to recall repeatedly using GDisk without any problem on different external enclosures containing HDDs configured in my customary fashion, i.e., a single extended partition containing a large logical NTFS partition and a smaller logical FAT32 partition. Now that you have brought the question to light, I will have to go back and *rem* out *di1000dd.sys* and *guest.exe* and see what happens!ĭI1000DD.SYS is required for GDisk to detect external USB hard disk drives, I conjecture that external USB hard disk drives formatted in NTFS may not be able to be used with GDisk (although I have not tested this hypothesis)." To my surprise- there was the Firewire HDD also! But, I was at the A:\ prompt and thought I'd go ahead and run *gdisk.exe* just to see if the USB HDD was seen (along with the internal HDD's). So, I had a *file not found* error when I booted and *autoexec.bat* tried to load *guest.exe*.
#Alternative to gdisk wipe drivers
When I first created that floppy boot disk, I forgot to include *guest.exe*, which is the Ghost DOS driver that assigns drive letters during the booting of the *autoexec.bat* to either the USB HDD partitions or Firewire HDD partitions if the Ghost DOS drivers have first *mounted* the HDD's during the booting of *config.sys*. Question #1: Since GDisk does not operate using hard disk drive letters (e.g., “D:”) but disk ID numbers (e.g., “2”), ought it not to be the case that both DI1000DD.SYS and GUEST.EXE can be omitted from the boot floppy?Īn interesting question-and by accident-I think I have an answer: