Format C: with xp

[Armadillo]

How the ++++ do you do it ,I tried rebooting and press F8 and loading safe mode with command prompt and it don't let me do it there and tried booting from the xp cd and there is no option there.

[Morpher]

I think you need a XP boot disk

[Armadillo]

Xp don't have a boot disc ,it boot stright from cd.I looked on the net and people reckon boot from cd ,then go setup winxp and it will have all ther format options there.But it don't bloody work ,it tells me I have no hard drives installed.

[NorthViking]

Hmm strange.
The CD WORKS to bootup with.

You can use a normal boot disk to get to dos and do a format from there.
www.bootdisk.com (http://www.bootdisk.com)

Check this guide too http://www.theeldergeek.com/xp_pro_install_-_graphic.htm
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp

[Armadillo]

I checked the first guide and that's where it says after booting the cdrom go setup xp and all the options are there.but the cd boots ,then when I go setup winxp it says no hard drives.

Gonna try the bootdisc way ,why couldent they just leave it as it was on 98 ,so much easier.

[Armadillo]

Alright got the ms dos bootdisc ,booted from floppy.Got the command prompt ,tried formatting C: and it pops up invalid drive specification.

What the hell was wrong with fdisk and format *: in 98 to do all your crap ,go's all graphical with xp and give nothing but grief.

[NorthViking]

Something sounds wrong with your computer.
What drives do you have on c: ??

It shouldn't be this hard to reformat if you have all things correct.

You can always try F-Disk in dos - http://www.23cc.com/free-fdisk/
Or try Partition Magic.

[Armadillo]

The drive that has C on it is split in two ,so its the C: and the D: drive

[NorthViking]

Remove the partition and start over.

How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or Repartition a Hard Disk

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q255867

Hope it works, let me know.

You are welcome.

[Vile]

What is it exactly that you are planning on doing after formatting C:\?
Are you going to format & reinstall XP. In the past, a Win 9x boot disc has worked fine for me, but if you tell me what your overall plan is, it'll be easier to fix the problem.
(I'm not sure if this is your situation, but if you are planning on reinstalling, you can format the parition during the setup of the new OS)

[Dr.MAD]

As Vile said, it's better to format during the setup.
I had a problem earlier with an XP Computer... I couldn't format with the XP Boot CD.
So I installed Win 2000 (using the Win 2000 Start Disks) during the setup, I was asked if I wanted to format, which I did.
Then, when 2000 was installed, I just installed XP over it, and it works fine.

[Armadillo]

Trying to format then reinstall windows fresh,it's alright now for some reason it wanted my motherboard floppy before it could detect the hardrives :(.All up and running good now.

I hate my motherboard :(

Thanks for the help anyway :)

[Vile]

Ok, just for anyone else, the easiest way is to boot from CD, launch setup and format the drive during Windows setup.

[NorthViking]

Ok, just for anyone else, the easiest way is to boot from CD, launch setup and format the drive during Windows setup.Yes true, and there it's best to use the partition too, as you said. So I would use that before any other program.

Armadillo maybe you should upgrade your mobo drivers.

[essexman]

if you do want to boot up with the CD (thats if u got the full version and not the upgrade) is to go into the bios and just the primary boot drive to the CD rom. default is A: but saying that if it is a branded PC they have boot from CD first. your dos disk will not format the C: if it is NTFS. and Fdisk will see it as a non partition. i think i got that right it has been awhile since i done that. and there was one other way you could of done it load up XP, put ur cd in and just reinstall that way. :p