Hard disk

[Philip Rooke]

An IBM 80gb deskstar, the trouble is it will not format
the full capacity, I get the message that the cache
program is running or something like it. theres a large
file thats hidden and no matter how many times I try to
format, it just will not go away. Ive tried using the
Attrib command in dos but that isnt working neither. Any
help would be extremly useful.
Many thanks

Phil

 

[Alex Nichol]

An IBM 80gb deskstar, the trouble is it will not format
the full capacity, I get the message that the cache
program is running or something like it. theres a large
file thats hidden and no matter how many times I try to
format, it just will not go away. Ive tried using the
Attrib command in dos but that isnt working neither. Any
help would be extremly useful.

Is this the disk the system is running from? In that case you have to
do it as you reinstall the system (or get third party Partition
Management software, Partition Magic or BootIT NG).

Boot the XP CD direct. Enter Setup, and after the license agreement
take New Install. When it asks you to confirm where, hit ESC; select
and delete the current partition and make a new RAW one to be formatted
at the next stage

If it is a second drive, Control Panel - Admin Tools - Computer
Management, select Disk Management and look lower right for the graphic
of the drive. R click in unallocated space and 'create partition' (or
r-click in an existing one and delete first.