Reference number: CH000231

Invalid Media Type reading drive C.

Issue:

Invalid Media Type reading drive C

Cause:

This can be caused by one of three following reasons:

1. The hard disk drive does not have a valid format.
2. The hard disk drive has been fdisk but not formatted.
3. The hard disk drive is bad.

Solution:

The hard disk drive does not have a valid format

If you are receiving this message when your computer boots it is likely that it is unable to read the format on the hard disk drive.

• Boot from a bootable floppy diskette
• Once at the A:\> attempt to type C: and press enter.
• If you do not receive this error message type the below commands.
  
  A: <press enter>
  fdisk /mbr <press enter>
  Sys c: <press enter>
  Once you have received the message System Transferred, reboot the computer and your issue should be resolved.
  
• If you receive the same Invalid Media Type reading type reading drive C: it is likely that the format on the hard disk drive is invalid and it is recommended that you re-format the hard disk drive by typing the below command after booting from a bootable floppy diskette.
  
  Format c: <press enter>
  
  This will erase all of your information on the hard disk drive, however, it will recreate the format and should allow your hard disk drive to be read again. If during the format you receive messages about bad or missing sectors or allocation units, refer to document CH000180.

The hard disk drive has been fdisk but not formatted

If you have recently fdisk and deleted and recreated the partition on the hard disk drive, before the hard disk drive can be read you must format the hard disk drive by typing the below command after booting from a bootable floppy diskette.

format c: <press enter>

This will erase all of your information on the hard disk drive, however, it will recreate the format and should allow your hard disk drive to be read again. If during the format you receive messages about bad or missing sectors or allocation units, refer to document CH000180.

If the hard disk drive was able to successfully format without any errors, Install your operating system on the computer. 

The hard disk drive is bad

If after following the above steps your hard disk drive is still unable to boot it is likely that the hard disk drive is bad.