help formatting C Drive (Please help)

[Guest]

Hi i wouldnt say im great at computers but im ok i know how to do a lot of
basic stuff. My laptop got a ton of viruses because i forgot to install my
anti-virus software (McAfee) so id like to wipe the whole C drive and start
fresh. This is my first time formatting on my own as i used to get my dad to
help but never really paid attention to what he was doing. Anyway i opened up
command prompt and entered Format C: and it says that this will delete
everything and has the yes or no answer so i type yes. Then it this is what
it says once ive said yes to formatting. It then says Format cannot run
because the volume is in use by another process. Format may run if this
volume is dismounted first. ALL OPEN HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME WOULD THEN BE
INVALID. Would you like to force a dismount on this volume? I say yes and it
says cannot lock the drive the volume is still in use.

I really hope someone can help me and id be really gratefull please. Thank
you if you read this.

 

[Guest]

You need a boot disk. Do you have your original os install disk from your
laptop vendor. If not you will have to go out and purchase a new install copy
of windows xp, an upgrade copy would also work as long as the system is still
bootable and you can get to your desktop. You just can't format windows like
that while the os is running. you need to boot from a cd then format the
disk/re-partition the disk. You should have been paying attention

Brian

 

[RonK]

What is the make and model of the laptop ? Some have a hidden partition
where you can Restore the operating system.

 

[m.wanstall]

As Brian said above, you can't just format a drive while the OS is
running, if you think about the logic for a second it's kind of like
asking you to completely eat yourself with your own mouth. The
concept is mind boggling!

Alternative to a supplied Win bootdisk, you can make a floppy with Dos6
on it and then boot the comp using the floppy and THEN use your format
c:/ command. Download it from here
http://www.allbootdisks.com/disk_creation.html

So, in steps:

1. Download Dos6 and create boot disk
2. Reboot computer and press DEL to get into BIOS settings
3. Change 1st Boot Device to Floppy Drive (or check it is already first
boot)
4. Put floppy in drive, save and exit BIOS
5. Disk will load DOS6, once loaded type 'format c:\'
6. Watch the magic happen

Enjoy.

 

[Guest]

Nice analogy, mind if I use that to .

Brian

 

[Mike Hall - MS MVP Windows Shell/User]

Use the recovery CD that was supplied with your system.. if you do not have
one, contact the vendor (manufacturer)..

 

[Andrea]

HI! Look here for the bootdisks: http://www.bootdisk.com/
The site is safe.
Greetings,
Andrea