Have you read this information about HPA (host protected area) on Wikipedia?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Host_protected_area It might provide some help with removing it. However, I suspect that the problem is as you have assumed that it can't be done with an usb-to-ide adapter because of the way the firmware of the adapter accesses the hard drive. There are also very compact sata-to-ide adapters like this: http://www.amazon.com/PSATA-Ultra-SATA-Converter-Adapter/dp/B003AG5CN6/ref=sr_1_15?ie=UTF8&qid=1400254863&sr=8-15&keywords=sata+to+ide that might allow you to fit it in your computer. However, I am not recommending this particular item. I have brought one myself in the past and it does work with IDE hard drives, but I could not get it to work with IDE CD-ROMs (as is depicted in the ad). It is a tricky little piece of hardware to use and you have to be careful with it (read the comments with the ad). But, if your lucky to get a good one, it does allow connecting an IDE hard drive in a SATA machine with very limited space. It requires a 5 volt connector for power like is used on the old 3.5 inch floppy drives, so you may need an additional power adapter beyond what comes with the package to use it. On 5/15/14, kurt godel <wb2...@gmail.com> wrote: > I too have always used xp on fat! As for ide to sata adapter, the sata > machine is too cramped to fit it. As for "wipe", is that a dos app? Are you > sure it could remove the HPA partition? I have already used a bootable > cd with active killdisk to wipe the drive, but, ostensibly, regular wipers > cannot even access the HPA to delete it. I know 'hdparm' can do it at low > level access. Trust me, the ide machine is kaput!. > ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ "Accelerate Dev Cycles with Automated Cross-Browser Testing - For FREE Instantly run your Selenium tests across 300+ browser/OS combos. Get unparalleled scalability from the best Selenium testing platform available Simple to use. Nothing to install. Get started now for free." http://p.sf.net/sfu/SauceLabs _______________________________________________ Freedos-user mailing list Freedos-user@lists.sourceforge.net https://lists.sourceforge.net/lists/listinfo/freedos-user
