Microsoft KB Archive/67944

IBM PC-DOS 4.01 Installation on MS-DOS System PSS ID Number: Q67944 Article last modified on 02-18-1993 PSS database name: O_MSDOS

4.00 4.01

MS-DOS

Question:

I am installing IBM PC-DOS 4.01 on a system with a hard drive that was formatted with MS-DOS. The PC-DOS SELECT program reports that an error has occurred, and then quits. How can I correct this problem?

Response:

The following is one possible solution to this problem:

The IBM PC-DOS 4.01 SELECT installation program was designed to install only to a hard drive formatted by PC-DOS. The PC-DOS 4.01 SELECT program is reading the BIOS parameter block (BPB) from the target drive and evaluating the original equipment manufacturer (OEM) name field. If the OEM name is anything but “IBM,” the SELECT program terminates.

NOTE: The following text describes a set of steps that should only be performed by a person who is familiar with sector editing. Directly editing sectors on a hard drive without a detailed knowledge of the data structure can lead to loss of data.

You can cause the PC-DOS 4.01 SELECT program to work correctly by modifying the boot sector [logical sector 0 (zero)] of the hard drive. The bytes at offsets 3 through 7 contain the OEM identifier. Using DEBUG or a disk editing program, modify bytes 3 through 7 so they form the following sequence:

49 42 4d 20 20

This hexadecimal sequence represents the characters “IBM”, followed by two spaces. This will change the BPB so that it will appear to have been created by PC-DOS.

After making this change, reboot the computer with the IBM PC-DOS 4.01 INSTALL disk in drive A. The SELECT program will now install correctly onto the hard drive.

Additional reference words: 4.00 4.01 noupd

Copyright Microsoft Corporation 1993.