The Joys of Tattoo
by Richard Lindley

Basically what this document aims to achive is to allow you to create a backup of your computers hidden sector so it can be restored onto your new hard drive once you have fitted it. You can also create the backup part any time you wish, just to prepare yourself in the event of a hard drive faliure.

NB. If your hard drive has already died to the point where it will not detect and/or read then this probably will not help as the beginning of the original drive needs to be readable.

Another NB. If you created your master CD's from the master CD creator program on your Packard Bell then there is no need to follow this procedure, as the tattoo is stored on your self made CD's.

Here goes, you will need:-

1. Floppy Drive
2. Bootable floppy disk with Windows 98 system files
3. Packard Bell Computer
4. Recovery CD's

OK, first you need to determine what sort of hidden sector your Packard Bell has. To do this put recovery CD 1 into the drive and expolore the drive in Windows. Look to see if your master CD has a file called exths.exe in the root directory. if your computer was manufactured after mid 1999 then it should have this file and it uses the Extended Hidden Sector method. If you do not have this file, and your computer was manufactured before mid 1999 then you computer uses the standard Tattoo method. Both are detailed below.

Boot Disk

First you need to prepare the boot disk, I am assuming it already has windows 98 system files on it. If you don't have a disk with windows 98 system files on it then you need to create one. I would recommend using a standard windows 98 floppy such as one that can be downloaded Here - simply run the exe file to create the disk.
Once created you need to copy some files across to the disk from master CD 1. These are detailed below.

• copy <cdrom>\drivers\tattoo.exe to the floppy
• copy <cdrom>\drivers\shelhs.dll to the floppy
• copy <cdrom>\exths.exe to the floppy (extended hidden sector systems only)

That's it! your tattoo floppy disk is created. Move on!

Tattoo Method

OK, so you have established your computer needs a Tattoo because there is no exths.exe on master CD one. Now you can backup the tattoo to the floppy disk and restore onto the new drive using just a few commands. Here are the steps to do this

1. Boot from the tattoo floppy you have just created.
2. Type a:\tattoo /exportbin:a:\tattoo.bin and press enter.
3. Remove the floppy disk, your tattoo is now backed up.
4. Change your hard drive for the new one and set it to Master. Partition & format if you wish.
5. Boot back up from the tattoo floppy.
6. Type a:\tattoo /importbin:a:\tattoo.bin and press enter. You should see a confirmation that the hidden sectors have been updated. This is good, your computer now has a valid hidden sector.
7. At this point it is also wise to type a:\tattoo /createdmifromhs and press enter.
8. Boot the computer with the PB Recovery floppy (usually red) and Master CD 1 in the drives. Enjoy

Extended Hidden Sector Method

Now you have found exths.exe on your master CD 1, and you have created the handy tattoo floppy. You can now make a backup of your Extended Hidden Sector which can then be restored onto your new drive using a few commands. Here's how.

1. Boot from the tattoo floppy you have just created
2. Type a:\tattoo /exportbin:a:\tattoo.bin and press enter.
3. Type a:\exths /exportextbin:a:\exths.bin and press enter.
4. Remove the floppy disk, your extended hidden sector is now backed up.
5. Change your hard drive for the new one and set it to Master. Partition & format if you wish.
6. Boot back up from the tattoo floppy.
7. Type a:\tattoo /importbin:a:\tattoo.bin and press enter. You should see a confirmation that the hidden sectors have been updated.
8. Type a:\exths /importextbin:a:\exths.bin and press enter. You should see two confimrations on screen that the HS and the EHS have been updated. You computer now has a valid Extended Hidden Sector.
9. At this point it is also wise to type a:\tattoo /createdmifromhs and press enter.
10. Boot the computer with the PB Recovery floppy (usually red) and Master CD 1 in the drives. Enjoy

I would recommend keeping the tattoo floppy safe somewhere, you never know when you may need a boot disk or your tattoo infomration! Please take a moment to check out my photography website - Richard Lindley Photography

Disclaimer. I would also like to point out that while this infomration is correct to the best of my knowledge, anyone following these insructions does so at their own risk. I will not be responsible for any problems that may occur as a result of using this method, should you have a problem do not contact me directly, post the details in the UK Packard Bell User Forum under software. Please be aware that it is likely that data loss may occur as a result of using the Packard Bell recovery on the hard drive. Sorry about the disclaimer, but it's a cut throat world out there.