First of all don't runit from a DOS window in '98.
Shutdown/boot to DOS.

Second - how did you install your linux under an extended DOS partition?

I must have ESP. The answer appears before the question. Either that or I just blew the Final Jeopardy question.

When running DOS fdisk from a DOS window in Win98, fdisk currently recognizes on my hard disk:
2 partitions
Primary DOS partition - Windows 98 installed here
Extended DOS partition - Linux installed here

When trying to Delete Partition or Logical DOS drive

I encounter these contradictory error messages.

"Cannot delete extended DOS partition while logical drives exist."

"No logical drives defined."

"No non-DOS partition to delete."

I would like to reformat the extended DOS partition for Windows. I cannot do this because it is not named, but used by Linux. Only the C drive is named

No, I don't have a backup of the partition tables.

Can anyone help?

It doesn't matter whether I use a DOS window or boot from DOS, fdisk still reports the same partitions.

I did not install Linux in an extended DOS partition. However, fdisk reports that an extended DOS partition exists as well as the contradictory messages that a logical drive exists and doesn't exist.

Mandrake Linux was installed using CD and was formatted over a previously existing extended DOS partition, using the Linux partitioning utility in Mandrake.

I had the same problem before, I used the fdisk in linux, it is far more powerful and will certainly solve your problem. perhaps a linux bootdisk will have this utility on it.

Use fdisk from Linux, not the Window$ version. The Window$ version dosen't recognise not DOS/VFAT partitions. This confusion between the two fdisk has long plagued newbies. If anyone has Linus's home phone number they should give him a buzz and ask him to change the name to somthing else ;-)