basically, i have old dell 4300 desktop and im trying to reformat my harddisk and partition magic nor gparted or anything would help fix this problem.

i just want to clean all my harddisk and start fresh and put linux in there.

i need to zero out my sectors or something like that i dunno.. but in partition magic i get this " error #104" ..i dunno what to do (maybe im dumb when it comes to this type)

so, can you help a friend out? i'll buy u lunch at hooters?

hope to hear from you!

look..if you just want linux as your only Operating system then get a copy of xubuntu..its the latest and easiest flavor of linux thats offered..very popular..what you do is get xubuntu off the net which is free anywhere and then run the installer(usually you have to make an iso of the program)..the installer will wipe out the HDD for you and install its one OS onto it. if you want dual boot(to run windows and ubuntu) then it gets a bit more complicated..you need software like grubs..

well,

i know all that stuff. but the thing is that i can't access my HDD. i cant even load my xp, win98, linux or anything.

i keep getting this damn "initramfs" and "busybox" error.

i ran partition magic and it says "error #104"



i just want to erase everything! can some1 take time out and come to my place and take a look at my Piece of **** computer??


dun ask me to return or call Dell if i still have warranty...this thing is 5 yrs old! :P

Dell has a wipe utility named Clean1k. Get it and use it to completely wipe your drive. It's on one of your Dell support CDs or you can download it directly from Dell. Here's a link:

http://support.dell.com/support/topi...n&dn=1026413#1

DBAN http://www.dban.org/

It will take 2 or 3 days but it'll get the job done!

Partition Magic Error #104 No sectors in partition - No partition should contain zero sectors.
So, try deleting the partition(s) before using PartitionMagic.

thats the point...i can't delete the partition lol ...it wont let me do anything with deleting it..


i'll try out the utility disk..will let you guys know later

for those just checking it out..please do leave some advice..i'll be checking by..

if you can get a hold of a dos system disk you can use the fdisk feature..dude your HDD can go bad and at some point you will have to accept it if that is the case.

Download it from here:
http://www.allbootdisks.com/download/dos.html

Also, if your HDD is Seagate or Maxtor, you can download their Disc Manager from their sites. It helps a lot having them.

Who makes your hard drive?