Cannot format empty partitioned drive

[Guest]

I recently installed vista (was at xp before) and during the installation i
accidentally put vista on a 15 gig partition. I tried to format the large
partition (the one that didnt have the windows files) but it couldnt format.

I moved back to xp (no dual boot, just xp) since i preferred it over vista.
during the destructive install i was hoping it may over write the partition
on my HD.
well it didnt, so i tried to format it in xp, wouldnt work either.

someone please tell me another method to formatting my HD because right now
the working partition has 15 gigs and the one im trying to format has more
then 240 gigs =/

Btw i dont have anything important on either partitions, so i can do what
ever you guys recommend

 

[Don]

I recently installed vista (was at xp before) and during the installation i
accidentally put vista on a 15 gig partition. I tried to format the large
partition (the one that didnt have the windows files) but it couldnt format.

I moved back to xp (no dual boot, just xp) since i preferred it over vista.
during the destructive install i was hoping it may over write the partition
on my HD.
well it didnt, so i tried to format it in xp, wouldnt work either.

What error(s) did you encounter when you tried?

someone please tell me another method to formatting my HD because right now
the working partition has 15 gigs and the one im trying to format has more
then 240 gigs =/

Personally, I would leave XP at 15 gigs and use the remainder for data
files -- if you can figure out how to do it, of course. I use Acronis
Disk Director for resizing/creating partitions. They offer a free 30-
day trial which is available on their website.

 

[R. C. White, MVP]

Hi, Xp4me.

The most important question is: HOW are you trying to partition your drive?

Disk Management is the tool you should be using. It replaced the old FDISK,
Format.exe and other tools that we used in MS-DOS and pre-Win2K Windows. DM
first appeared in Windows 2000, over 7 years ago, but many users - even many
PC veterans - haven't found it yet. The quickest way, in either Vista or
WinXP, is to enter at the Run or Command Prompt: diskmgmt.msc

In Disk Management, you should be able to see a graphical representation of
your HD, showing the existing partition and any unallocated space.
Right-click in that unallocated space and then choose to create a new
partition or volume, then follow the prompts. The wizard should guide you
through the process of creating the partition, then formatting it and
assigning a "drive" letter and volume label or name.

If you get lost, post back with what details of what you did and what
results you saw. It's supposed to be simple, and usually is, but not
always.

RC
--
R. C. White, CPA
San Marcos, TX
(e-mail address removed)
Microsoft Windows MVP
(Running Windows Live Mail beta in Vista Ultimate x64)