My Computer Doesn´t Start After Changing the Active Partition Using the Disk Management Tool in Microsoft® Windows® XP. - KB Article - 123824

How to Create an MS-DOS® Boot Diskette

1. Click on the file name below to download a boot disk creation program:

   Diagft32.exe

   The File Download window will appear.

2. Choose to Save this program to disk if it is not already selected and click on the OK button to continue.
   The Save As window appears.

3. Choose a location for the file and click Save.

NOTE:

Common locations for internet downloads will be: My Documents, Downloads, or the Desktop.

4. When the file download is complete, find the file in its new location and double click the file to begin creating a boot disk.

1. A gray ZIG-ZAG Hard Disk Recovery window will open. Click on the Setup button.

2. A black window will appear, advising you that you will need a blank, formatted diskette. Press the <Enter> key on your keyboard.

3. Place a diskette into drive A: and press the <Enter> key again.

4. You will be advised that the disk in Drive A is about to be overwritten. To continue, press the <Y> key on your keyboard, followed by the <Enter> key once more.

5. When the new boot disk is complete, you will be asked to press the <Enter> key for the last time. This will exit out of the command prompt window as well as the ZIG-ZAG Hard Disk Recovery program.

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Manually Change the Active Partition

1. Insert a boot disk into the floppy disk drive.

2. Start the computer.
   The computer boots to a command prompt.

3. At the C:\> prompt, type the following text:
   fdisk

4. Press the <Enter> key.
   You are prompted to Enable large disk support.

5. Click the Yes button.

6. Click Set active partition.

7. Type the number of the partition that you want to make active.

8. Press the <Enter> key.

9. Press the <Esc> key.

10. Remove the boot disk, and restart your computer.

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Use the Recovery Console

Refer to the Dell Knowledge Base article below to boot to the recovery console.

"How Do I Boot to the Microsoft® Windows® XP Recovery Console?" Article ID: 150526.

1. Type the following text at the C:\> prompt:
   cd ..

2. Press <Enter>

3. Type the letter of your CD-ROM drive at the C:\> prompt.

4. Press <Enter>

5. Type the following text at the prompt:
   cd i386

6. Type the following text at the x:\i386\> prompt, where x is the letter of your CD-ROM drive:
   Copy ntldr c:

7. Press <Enter>

8. Type Exit and press <Enter> to exit the recovery console.

9. Reboot your system.

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Visit the Dell Community Forum for More Information

Visit the Dell Community Forums to find out what others in the Dell user community are saying. The Dell Community Forums provide a place for Dell users to discuss support topics, to learn, and to help each other. Use the message boards to post questions and answers.

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