"no space to create DOS partition "(fdisk)

[Parangles]

A laptop drive I was trying to prepare to use as a backup clone got hung up for half an hour in Ghost. I aborted and I tried to fdisk/format it via A: fdisk.
It is showing only 1 partition-(not normal!) :
Partition:1, Status:A , Type NTFS(my note-OK!)Mb 11,505 Usage 100%- not normal! There is usually some small(secondary ?) DOS partition.
"Total Disk space is 11,502 Mb"

I enter: "create dos partition or logical DOS drive "
it gives me : " no space to create DOS partition"

When I enter : A:\ format C: I get :
"format not supported on drive C: "

Please point me in the right direction on this. The drive is unusable now' My computer' etc
wont even read the capacity .Is this drive destroyed ?

Thanks !

[not important]

I don't believe FDisk will work on NTFS. You can boot with an XP disc and do a format.

[glc]

Your best bet will be to zero fill it with DBAN or Killdisk. Then it can be prepared any way you want it.

[Parangles]

Tried them both- Dban worked better for me. Now, at fdisk I have:

Partition 1, PRI DOS, 7Mb ,Fat 12, 0%
Partition 2, EXTDOS, 11,500,- , 100%

This doesnt look correct. What approx. % should primary VS EXt be ?
Should I go back and zero fill again ? Or?

[glc]

Zero it again. Why are you using FDISK? Load it up in a 2K or XP machine and use disk management.

[Parangles]

Originally Posted by glc Zero it again. Why are you using FDISK? Load it up in a 2K or XP machine and use disk management.

Because I didnt know disk management existed. I also now realize that I have very little real understanding of hard drive preparation and setup etc. I am educating myself on the Microsoft site. Thanks