failed format

[Bill]

I just got a call from a friend who was formating a drive installing
xp. He said the power went out about 11% into the format, now when he
boots his pc it starts the install again but then kicks out and
reboots and starts the install, reboots etc. He doesnt have a startup
disk, access to the net or any other type of boot disk. But he is
going to leave the drive at his wifes business for me to pick up and
work with. Question is, as I have not incountered a drive that was
interrupted during the format process before, what is my procedure to
format the drive for a clean install of xp or as a slave? I have
sytems I can hook it up to as slave or master and emergency recovery
cd's to use on it. Im sure if I fiddle around with it I can format it,
but if there is a quick way, that would be great Any help or
suggestions much appreciated.

 

[Guest]

Since you don't have the computer to work with, the most you should do it is
just delete existing partition and format HDD.
No attempt to install Windows should be attempted.
You don't have his/her OS license to install and installed using your
computer may cause Hardware conflict errors when reinstalling in original
computer.

If he/she has mfg OEM computer with OEM CD or recovery disk, you should be
using it to make any changes to computer and HDD must be installed in
his/her computer to do anything anyway.

 

[Bill]

Thanks, that sounds like best solution.