Formatting hard disk on an XP computer

[Chris Rowntree]

I'm trying to format my hard disk, but having a lot of trouble. I'll
explain:

I've created a boot disk by right-clicking on the floppy disk icon in 'my
computer', selecting 'Format...', and checking the '...boot disk...' option.

Once I've done that, I've restarted the computer using the boot disk, and
it's come up with a command prompt.

It says 'A:\>' after a few lines of technical stuff. I've tried typing 'C:'
and variations on that, to change the prompt to 'C:\>' instead of 'A:\>',
but it says something like 'bad drive name' or something similar. Typing
'format' gives 'bad command name'.

Who can help me get from this prompt, to format my hard disk completely so I
can then go on to reinstall Windows?

Thanks in advance!

 

[WTC]

I'm trying to format my hard disk, but having a lot of trouble. I'll
explain:

I've created a boot disk by right-clicking on the floppy disk icon in 'my
computer', selecting 'Format...', and checking the '...boot disk...'
option.

Once I've done that, I've restarted the computer using the boot disk, and
it's come up with a command prompt.

It says 'A:\>' after a few lines of technical stuff. I've tried typing
'C:' and variations on that, to change the prompt to 'C:\>' instead of
'A:\>', but it says something like 'bad drive name' or something similar.
Typing 'format' gives 'bad command name'.

Who can help me get from this prompt, to format my hard disk completely so
I can then go on to reinstall Windows?

Thanks in advance!

How to partition and format a hard disk in Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/313348

 

[Jerry]

If your harddrive is formatted NTFS and you made a DOS boot floppy then
that's the issue - a DOS floppy cannot 'see' an NTFS harddrive.

The XP CD is bootable. Just chnage the boot order in the BIOS to boot from
your CD drive using the XP CD and you can then reformat the drive and
install XP fresh.

 

[Chris Rowntree]

I kinda don't have the XP CD itself - I have a 'system recovery disc'.

 

[Shenan Stanley]

I kinda don't have the XP CD itself - I have a 'system recovery disc'.

It probably performs a "destructive install" anyway - I would boot with it
and see -- IF you have backed up everything you want to keep.

But if you want to make sure everything goes away - go to www.bootdisk.com
and get a Windows 98 Boot Disk with FDISK on it - boot with it, use FDISK to
erase all partitions you want to get rid of.. (Hopefully this is all
partitions) - then follow the directions for you "System Recovery" -> which
is likely to be BOOT from it.

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I'm trying to format my hard disk, but having a lot of trouble. I'll
explain:

I've created a boot disk by right-clicking on the floppy disk icon in 'my
computer', selecting 'Format...', and checking the '...boot disk...' option.

Once I've done that, I've restarted the computer using the boot disk, and
it's come up with a command prompt.

It says 'A:\>' after a few lines of technical stuff. I've tried typing 'C:'
and variations on that, to change the prompt to 'C:\>' instead of 'A:\>',
but it says something like 'bad drive name' or something similar. Typing
'format' gives 'bad command name'.

Who can help me get from this prompt, to format my hard disk completely so I
can then go on to reinstall Windows?

Thanks in advance!

A boot diskette is a thing of the past, as all legitimate WinXP
installation CDs are already bootable.

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

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