How can I reformat harddrive

[Guest]

I have a Dell laptop that was running 2000 Professional. Somehow in setting
up a home network I began getting a login page asking for an Administrator
password that I had not set up and did not have. Could not get around it in
any way. So, I installed an extra copy of XP Home that I had never
installed. That allowed me to get the computer running but the harddrive in
the laptop is too small to run XP effectively. So, I want to start over and
reformat the harddrive and reinstall the 2000 Pro. But, nothing I am trying
will allow me to format the harddrive. Suggestions?

 

[Alan Smith]

I have a Dell laptop that was running 2000 Professional. Somehow in
setting
up a home network I began getting a login page asking for an Administrator
password that I had not set up and did not have. Could not get around it
in
any way. So, I installed an extra copy of XP Home that I had never
installed. That allowed me to get the computer running but the harddrive
in
the laptop is too small to run XP effectively. So, I want to start over
and
reformat the harddrive and reinstall the 2000 Pro. But, nothing I am
trying
will allow me to format the harddrive. Suggestions?

Boot from floppy disks or from a CD to DOS. Format. FDisk can remove
partitions.

(But you haven't said which file system you use- it makes a difference
And you haven't said what you are trying. Tell what you've tried- it will
save you getting advice to do what you've already done and may give a clue
as to why it isn't working for you).

 

[Bruce Chambers]

I have a Dell laptop that was running 2000 Professional. Somehow in setting
up a home network I began getting a login page asking for an Administrator
password that I had not set up and did not have.

Well, if you didn't set a password for the built-in Administrator
account when you installed Win2K, and no one else has had access to the
computer, then the password is blank.

Could not get around it in
any way.

What method(s) did you try? There are literally dozens of web sites
that offer ways to reset passwords. Try using Google.

So, I installed an extra copy of XP Home that I had never
installed. That allowed me to get the computer running but the harddrive in
the laptop is too small to run XP effectively. So, I want to start over and
reformat the harddrive and reinstall the 2000 Pro. But, nothing I am trying
will allow me to format the harddrive.

Again, what, specifically, have you tried?


Suggestions?


Simply boot from the Win2K 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.)


--

Bruce Chambers

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both at once. - RAH

 

[Frank]

You should have restore disks that came with the PC from Dell. Give
Dell support a call.