On Sun, Apr 29, 2012 at 9:21 PM, Ben Scott <mailvor...@gmail.com> wrote: > I'm nearly positive it is not the MBR.
I should qualify that: I am nearly positive it is not the MBR *boot code*. The partition table is another matter. The standard IBM-PC partition table includes redundant information on the start and end of partitions. Each partition is given twice, once in "absolute sector" format (Logical Block Address), once in cylinder/head/sector (CHS) format. Most everything (including the NT kernel) uses LBA and ignores CHS. It's remotely possible that the NT *bootstrap* still uses CHS, and that the CHS values in my partition table are not what it expects. Since the NT kernel uses LBA and ignores CHS, it would see the partition, mount the filesystem, CHKDSK it, etc., without noticing the bad CHS values. I have no idea how to go about checking that. CHS-to-LBA mapping is a black art of the worst kind. Different versions of MS-DOS, Windows, and Linux can use different strategies; BIOS and disks can both do their own translation on top of that; there are numerous bugs in all of the above. -- Ben ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to listmana...@lyris.sunbeltsoftware.com with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
