formatting a hard without deleting vista

  • Thread starter Thread starter chaz
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chaz

is it possible to formatt a hard drive without deleting vista? i got a pc
from a friend and dont have a vista disk....
 
If you format, you delete!
Have a look on the hard drive, Start>Computer> and see if there is a
Recovery Partition there as well as your Vista Partition.

If there is, contact the PC maker about how to make recovery disks
 
chaz said:
is it possible to formatt a hard drive without deleting vista? i got a pc
from a friend and dont have a vista disk....
Click to expand...


I assume you mean a drive that Vista is not installed on?
That would be like asking if you could demolish your house without moving
out.

Click the start button then under Help and Support type "Format" (without
the quotes).
Read up on "Formatting disks and drives"
 
Mick Murphy said:
JAY, read the post
He wants to format WITHOUT deleting vista
Click to expand...

Errr yeah. Which "hard drive" does he want to format.
C with Vista installed on it in which case he deletes everything or a
secondary hard drive.
If he follows my advice then he is covered both ways. He'll see all the
warnings about formatting = deleting plus he will also learn how to format
either a secondary drive or the primary when he gets a disk.
 
Errr yeah. Which "hard drive" does he want to format.
C with Vista installed on it in which case he deletes everything or a
secondary hard drive.
If he follows my advice then he is covered both ways. He'll see all the
warnings about formatting = deleting plus he will also learn how to format
either a secondary drive or the primary when he gets a disk.
Click to expand...

Chaz, you are out of luck, it seems, UNLESS you purchase a copy of
Vista. NO installation media = no license to use the OS.

It appears to me that your friend had installed Vista on the PC he
gave you, and simply kept the installation media and CD-key, thus
breaking his license agreement.

This leaves you without a license to use the OS already installed.

As to whether it is possible to NON-DESTRUCTIVELY format a HD:
Obviously, it isn't, since the disk format (always destructive) will
effectively remove all access to the data already on the HD.

There are third-party utilities which will allow one to
non-destructively format a HD containing Windows, however.

Personally, I would have written, "otherwise, that would be like
asking if yoiu could demolish your house without moving out."

Actually, it would be more like "demolishing and rebuilding your house
(in the same place) without moving out."

Actually, the "deleting" part of the "format" process is not
"deletion", per se, but is a result of the format process itself,
which rewrites (1) The FAT and (2) The sector boundaries, effectively
"deleting" all information on the HD.

I say "effectively", because the data itself is not deleted, it's
pointers in the FAT are removed or overwritten. The data remains on
the HD until it is physically overwritten, and may be partially or
completely recovered with special software up until the data is
physically overwritten.


--
Donald L McDaniel

How can so many otherwise very intelligent people screw up
something so simple so badly? If you stick a computer
keyboard in front of most people, they'll suddenly drop
30 points off their IQs. Much like placing a "Pork Barrel"
bill in front of a politician: He'll forget all about
"cooperation" the minute he counts the zeroes before the
decimal point.
 
i don't think you can

have you tried disc defragmenter? - whilst it is defragmenting i think it
also marks out bad sectors (which maybe your trouble) and you can do this
with vista installed
 
is it possible to formatt a hard drive without deleting vista? i got a pc
from a friend and dont have a vista disk....
Click to expand...


To format a drive, by definition, means deleting *everything* on it.

If I acquired a used computer (even from a friend), the first thing I
would do with it would be to format and reinstall the operating system
cleanly. You have no idea how the computer has been maintained, what
has been installed incorrectly, what is missing, what viruses and
spyware there may be, etc. I wouldn't want to live with somebody
else's mistakes and problems, possibility of kiddie porn, etc., and I
wouldn't recommend that anyone else do either.

If you don't have a Vista disk, depending on the brand/model, it may
have a reinstallation partition. You should contact the computer
manufacturer for instructions on how to cleanly reinstall Vista.

Worst case, if the manufacturer can't help you, you should buy a Vista
installation DVD.
 
So, just delete his My Documents folder ...

That will get rid of his stuff and leave Vista intact.

To answer your question, you can not wipe the drive and leave Vista intact.
 
Jay said:
I assume you mean a drive that Vista is not installed on?
That would be like asking if you could demolish your house without moving
out.
Click to expand...

People do that all the time, that's how I have a job. I repair the damage
....
 
hiya, thanks for all the replys :)
i did mean the main c drive, which has an apperently empty partition :S
the computer came with vista when he got it and he didnt have a disc, i have
been told there is a way of doing what i want and will be contcting the
supplier soon, :)
thanks again :)
 
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