Resolved How do I perform a complete format of C: drive?

I would like to know if someone could tell me how to do a complete format of the c: drive. I want to completely clean up this drive to allow a completely new install of windows 7 ultimate. Most of the drives on a Dell, HP, Compaq, etc have proprietary software installed that is difficult to erase and parts of the disk are usually partitioned to make it even more difficult. I would like to use the cmd command to get a dos prompt and then enter a command such as format c: which would clean up the drive but I get an error message telling me that the drive is locked and in use. Does anyone know of a program that will allow me to delete all partitions and format the entire drive to allow a clean install of windows 7 ultimate and/ or even windows XP pro? Any help will be greatly appreciated...thanks....rocknroller

 

Take a look at GParted.

Its a stand alone Linux based program which can erase & create ANY partition. First clean up all the partitions on your hard disks & then install Windows letting Windows handle the repartitioning & formatting.

 

Most HD manufactures have a tool that will do this also. It will also check the disc for bad sectors and block them.

 

Dear rsinfo, I have d/l the G-parted program but apparently got the wrong one. There are 6 different choices so if you could "spoon feed" me a little bit, I think this will solve the probem. I reloaded win 7 and have set the boot sequence to the cd rom first but am not getting a "boot from cd" message and the system just boots up win 7. What am I doing wrong? Please accept my apology for making this complicated but I want to be sure to get it right and wipe this drive completely clean before the new install. Thanks so much for your patience and help....rocknroller...

 

Thanks PeteC....I will make sure of this on my next post...btw....this is a great site and is easy to follow and understand the members suggestions and advice.....rocknroller....

 

Thanks MrBill....I'll check this out....it is probably right in front of me but I have apparently overlooked it....rocknroller....

 

I hope you have the LiveCD because that't the only thing which I recommend.

Boot off it. Read the GParted manual for more details.

If you could boot off the Gparted cd & not Win 7 CD, there may be something wrong with your Win7 media.

 

By reloaded I assume you mean you had the CD in the drive when you rebooted.

Check again that the CD drive is set to 1st in the bios and that you Save before you Exit.

 

Dear markmadras,
Yes, the cd was in the drive and I had set the boot sequence to cd rom drive as the 1st device and somehow the "press any key to boot from cd" message never appeared. Just in case I reinstalled the win 7 application and and going to try to get it to give me the "boot from cd" message again. Thanks for your suggestion. Any advice is sincerely appreciated.....rocknroller

 

Dear TonyT, I agree with you completely, but I can't get the option to delete all of the partitions which is what I want to do. My reason is that most of the computer manufacturers have at least some measure of proprietary software installed on at least one of the partitions. If I can clean up the entire drive (complete format of c it should allow me to be rid of everything and then install the win 7 ultimate 64 bit installation in its entirety....shouldn't it? If I am missing something, please feel free to comment as I welcome any advice.....thanks again....rocknroller...

 

Dear rsinfo, I may have d/l the wrong version, and will try it again with the live cd per your suggestion.....thanks so much for your help....rocknroller...

 

Rocknroller,

You can't boot windows and then format the C: drive. You can only format the C: drive WITHOUT booting windows. The way you do that is to create a separate emergency boot disk/rescue disk, then boot that to get a command prompt. This gives you access to a command line WITHOUT going into full windows.

Then just issue the command "format c: /u/v ". For good measure, follow it up by rebooting and issue the "attrib c:*.* /s" command to make sure the C: drive is absolutely clean. Then you can start fresh.

Jennifer

 

The easiest way to format the c: drive, as TonyT said, is to boot from the Windows 7 Ultimate disk and when you get to the "Where do you want to install Windows? " page, click "Drive options (advanced) ".

Here you can delete any or all partitions, create new partitions, and quick format or full format any hard drive or partition you choose.

You should be able to select the proprietry partition and click on delete to delete it...

 

Rocknroller, every method you could use has been suggested but if all you want to do is wipe the whole hard drive your best bet is to download the manufacturers diagnostics disk for your hard drive. That will do a low level format completely obliterating any data on the drive.

Select your hard drive manufacturer below, download the ISO for CD version and using image burning software burn it to a CD. Boot with the CD in the drive, you will then get a choice of functions, choose Low Level Format and away you go, job done.

ExcelStor: http://www.excelstor.com/eng/support.php?sub_id=3

Hitachi/IBM: http://www.hitachigst.com/support/downloads/

Samsung: http://www.samsung.com/global/business/hdd/support/utilities/Support_HUTIL.html

Toshiba: http://sdd.toshiba.com/main.aspx?Path=ServicesSupport/FujitsuDrivesUSandCanada/SoftwareUtilities

Seagate, Maxtor & Quantum:http://www.seagate.com/www/en-us/support/downloads

Western Digital:http://support.wdc.com/product/download.asp?lang=en

Your problem with GParted. Are you using image burning software to make the CD. If you burn it just as data it will not be bootable. This is free image burning software it may make the process easier.

http://www.isoimageburner.com/

The file you need to download for GParted looks like this gparted-live-0.7.1-1.iso in the list, you get it from clicking on Live in top right hand corner of web page.

 

Dear jackdeth,
I have tried this but it will not allow me to delete the partitions. Whenever I try to delete a partition the selection panel at the bottom won't recognize the delete option. I am selecting the advanced option mode which shows format, delete, refresh, etc. but they are not accessible (when I place the curser on them to attempt to use them, it has no effect). Maybe the best choice is to use an old windows 98SE floppy disc to boot with and get a c: prompt and then enter a format c: command. Any thoughts on this approach...anyone?

 

Thanks Jennifer.....sorry this is so frustrating and I really appreciate all the help I have gotten from the members....sooner or later I'll get it right....thanks again.....rocknroller

 

Thanks TonyT....I had forgotten about the fat32 limit.....I appreciate your saving me the time on this....rocknroller....