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Reformat in Windows XP

Discussion in 'PC Hardware' started by whompuscat, 2004/09/14.

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  1. 2004/09/14
    whompuscat Lifetime Subscription

    whompuscat Inactive Thread Starter

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    I have 2 hard drives on my computer. I am running Windows XP on a Dell Dimensions 8200.
    Drives are listed as C - which has my operating system on it and D - which is a backup drive. I have moved all my files from D to C and want to wipe D clean (reformat) before installing a larger backup drive.
    However, I cannot get to a DOS prompt. I used a 98 boot disk and got to the DOS prompt but when I tried to change the drive from A to D is said it could not find it or something to that effect. Just curious I typed in C ........same thing invalid drive path.
    So, my ? is, how do I reformat my hard drive in Windows XP? If I use the XP disk won't it install XP while wiping out the data already on the drive? I do not want to do this, I want to remove this drive, therefore, I do not want any personal information left on it.
    Thanks your help.
     
    whompuscat,
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  2. 2004/09/14
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    I suspect that the reason your drives are not recognised when you boot from a Win 98 start up disk is that they are both NTFS which 98 does not recognise.

    The simple answer is to right click My Computer > Manage > Disk Management. This opens a Window showing your hard disk(s) and any partitions that may have been created plus your optical drives. Right click on your D drive > Format.

    This facility exists in Pro - I guess it also exists in Home, but have no means of checking.

    HTH
     
    PeteC,
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  4. 2004/09/14
    whompuscat Lifetime Subscription

    whompuscat Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks Pete, I tried that but it kept telling me that it was being used and to be sure all programs using it were closed. But there was nothing using it, it was just a hard drive for storage of files and pics.
    Anyway, I figured it out. Maybe this will help someone else.
    Put the Windows XP drive in, reboot. Watch closely for the box that says press any keep to boot from CD as it is just a flash and then it is gone.
    When the setup window comes up, click on R for Recovery Console. It was kinda of scary cause it wanted to boot from the C drive and I thought that it would format it, but it was only asking which drive I wanted to use to load the OS and since I did not have XP on drive D I have to put in C. Then asks for adminstrator password (which I have none) so you just hit the enter key. Next you type in "map" without the quotes and hit enter. That is when it finds and lists your drives. Then I typed in format D and it wiped it clean. I did not want to partition it, but if you wanted to format and partition type in format x (x being the drive letter) /fs:ntfs. (notice the space between the drive letter and the /

    BTW, this is where I got the answer by doing a goggle search. http://www.cyberwalker.net/index.html

    Thanks for your reply
     
    whompuscat,
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  5. 2004/09/14
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    I understand that You have worked it out but anyway:

    I asssume that You have System Restore running. As long as SR is active on a partition, Windows will not let You format it because it is in use by SR. You will have to force Windows to format but You don't say anything about a dialog box on that.
    If You disable SR for the particular partition, I think that You will be able to format it.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  6. 2004/09/14
    whompuscat Lifetime Subscription

    whompuscat Inactive Thread Starter

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    Thanks for that info Christer, never thought about that. Don't know what you are referring to about the dialog box that I made no reference to. Anyway all is good now and I will store your bit of information should I need it later.
     
    whompuscat,
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  7. 2004/09/14
    PeteC

    PeteC SuperGeek Staff

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    Joyce

    Glad to hear you sorted out the format - the simplest solutions do not always work :) Thanks for posting the solution.

    Christer

    An excellent point and one which I tend to overlook as I have SR only on the C: drive.

    Note to all who may read this thread

    There is no point in running System Restore on any drive other than that on which the OS is loaded. System Restore only restores system files of which there are none on data drives. Save disk space - turn off System Restore on all data drives - right click My Computer icon > Properties > System Restore. Highlight drive > Settings.
     
    PeteC,
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  8. 2004/09/14
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Joyce,

    In DiskManagement, when You right-click the partition and choose to format, a dialog box may appear with words to this meaning:

    The drive is locked and in use by Windows!
    Do You want to force a format of this drive?

    If You click NO it aborts but if You click YES it continues.

    Christer
     
    Christer,
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  9. 2004/09/14
    Christer

    Christer Geek Member Staff

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    Pete,

    As You may remember, I'm an avid fan of System Restore ...... :p ...... and have it disabled altogether. At the first sign of trouble of any kind on a computer with SR active, I assume that default settings are used and the whole system "protected ".

    Even if You have SR disabled on a certain partition but Norton Protection running, well, then You'll have to disable NP too.

    Quite a few apps may use a drive but we tend to overlook them.

    Christer
     
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  10. 2004/09/14
    whompuscat Lifetime Subscription

    whompuscat Inactive Thread Starter

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    Oh, did not get a force reformat option.
     
    whompuscat,
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