Trouble Formatting Drive C: with Win XP

[Guest]

I want to format my C: drive erasing everything that is on it and start new
with a new installation of win xp. I know how to load all the drivers and
what not so that will not be a problem.

when I run the "format c:" cmd in the cmd line I get the msg: "Verifying
76308M.
Format cannot run because the volume is in use by another process. Format may
run if this volume is dismounted first. ALL OPENED HANDLES TO THIS VOLUME
WOULD THEN BE INVALID. Would you like to force a dismount on this volume
<Y/N>. When I go ahead to dismount I get another msg saying: "Cannot lock the
drive. The volume is still in use".
Can anyone pse explain in layman's terms what I have to do to successfully
format my hard drive to enable me to re-install Windows XP (home), and start
all over again. I have already done a "clean disk" scan of the computer.

I have also tried deleting the partition to do a clean install. nothing
works. I was told that if I had a win 98 CD I could boot from that and it
would let me format... any ideas?

 

[Mike Hall \(MS-MVP\)]

Reed

Use the XP CD to refresh your computer.. ensure that the CD drive is
promoted to primary boot device in the system BIOS.. then restart the
computer and follow the onscreen instructions.. for a more in-depth
explanation of what to do, look at the website that Michael Stevens has
produced.. there is a menu down the left side of the site..

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/

 

[Star Fleet Admiral Q]

XP won't let you self-destruct. Instead you'll need to boot from the XP CD
as mentioned by Mike, and do the formatting from there.

--

Star Fleet Admiral Q @ your Service!

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