fdisk

[WevilHitch]

I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over. can I use the WinXP disk to
run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but with XP I have no idea.
Any help would be great.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over. can I use the
WinXP disk to run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but
with XP I have no idea. Any help would be great.

Change your computer (in the system BIOS) to boot from the CD Drive.
Put in your Windows XP CD.
Turn off/Turn on your computer.
Look for the "Press any key to boot from CD" message (and press a key when
you see it.)
Continue through the steps to install Windows XP.
When you get to the part where you choose where to install - delete the
partition(s), create new partition(s), continue.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

 

[HeyBub]

I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over. can I use the WinXP
disk to run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but with XP I
have no idea. Any help would be great.

You cannot use the XP disk to run fdisk. Mainly because fdisk is not
necessary. Nor is it necessary to wipe out the hard drive in order to start
over. Further, it will be a long time before the U.S. adopts the metric
system.

 

[Jerry]

Boot from a Win 95,98,SE, or ME disk and run it.

 

[Randem]

Curious... If you want to start over why not use Format. Are you attempting
to repartition your drive? If so The Windows Installation Procedure can do
that.

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[Bruce Chambers]

I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over. can I use the WinXP disk to
run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but with XP I have no idea.
Any help would be great.

FDisk was an old MS-DOS utility that is neither available or needed
in WinXP. All legitimate WinXP installation CDs are bootable and have
the capability of deleting, creating, and formatting partitions.

Simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the
opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of the
installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of boot
devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:


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killed a great many philosophers.
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[Ken Blake, MVP]

I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over.

Why? Many people who want to do this want it for invalid reasons.

can I use the WinXP disk to
run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but with XP I have no idea.
Any help would be great.

Running fdisk is not needed, and besides it won't let you create an
NTFS drive.

Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if
necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean
installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
prompted, then create a new one).

You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how_do_i_install_windows_xp.htm

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm

 

[sgopus]

What you said will run Fdisk, however, I don't think he really wants to do
that, as fdisk will not read an NTFS formatted disk, and NTFS is a much
better file structure than FAT32. and allows for larger files to be created,
and better usage of large hard disks.

 

[Lil' Dave]

Fdisk can delete any NTFS primary partition. However, NTFS logical
partitions within an extended partition, it cannot delete.

Don't know if fdisk.exe is available from the XP installation CD. The first
step in installation of XP allows access to deletion or creation of
partitions without aid from another program. So, all is immaterial
regarding fdisk.

Partition deletions in fact are modifications to the master boot record, not
actual removal of the partition itself. That is, regarding MS tools that
"delete" a partition. Some 3rd party tools may a different matter.