Interesting Formatting Error

  • Thread starter Thread starter Me
  • Start date Start date
M

Me

So, I had a problem with re-formatting XP, and it turns
out that I am having this error because the disk drive
will not boot upon start-up.

And, XP cannot - CANNOT - be reformatted WITHOUT A
WINDOWS DISK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How is this possible?

Microsoft sucks. This is the first time that I have
said that, but to build XP and not allow the user to re-
format without having all this MS software is
unbelieveable.

I'm going to Linux as soon as it's possible.

I want to be able to control my machine, and MS won't
allow that.
 
Me said:
So, I had a problem with re-formatting XP, and it turns
out that I am having this error because the disk drive
will not boot upon start-up.

And, XP cannot - CANNOT - be reformatted WITHOUT A
WINDOWS DISK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How is this possible?

Microsoft sucks. This is the first time that I have
said that, but to build XP and not allow the user to re-
format without having all this MS software is
unbelieveable.

I'm going to Linux as soon as it's possible.

I want to be able to control my machine, and MS won't
allow that.
Click to expand...

I think you're in for a surprise. While it is true that you
require a WinXP CD to format your system disk (or some
other boot diskette), it is equally true that you will require
a Linux disk to manipulate your hard disk under Linux.

If you know what you're doing then you can easily do
anything to your machine under WinXP.
 
Me said:
So, I had a problem with re-formatting XP, and it turns
out that I am having this error because the disk drive
will not boot upon start-up.

And, XP cannot - CANNOT - be reformatted WITHOUT A
WINDOWS DISK!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

How is this possible?

Microsoft sucks. This is the first time that I have
said that, but to build XP and not allow the user to re-
format without having all this MS software is
unbelieveable.

I'm going to Linux as soon as it's possible.

I want to be able to control my machine, and MS won't
allow that.
Click to expand...

You can reformat your hard drive without the Windows XP CD.

All you need is any bootable diskette that contains both a
partitioning and a formatting utility. For example a Windows 98
Startup Disk (get one from www.bootdisk.com) will do the job quite
nicely provided that you do not want an NTFS partition on the hard
drive.

Note that NTFS partitions are unique to Windows NT/2000/XP.

Just boot the computer with the boot disk and use the partitioning
utility to delete the existing partition(s). Then create the new
partition(s) of the size and type desired and format them. Note that
with a Windows 98 startup disk an NTFS partition will show up as
"Non-DOS".

Good luck


Ron Martell Duncan B.C. Canada
--
Microsoft MVP
On-Line Help Computer Service
http://onlinehelp.bc.ca

"The reason computer chips are so small is computers don't eat much."
 
If you can't boot off your hard drive, what other method would you use to
reformat your drive that don't involve a disk...?
 
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