Forum Home
Press F1
Thread ID: 48525	2004-08-25 11:14:00	FAQ #45 - How do I reformat my hard drive?	-FAQ- (807)	Press F1

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
265296	2004-08-25 11:14:00	FAQ #45 - How do I reformat my hard drive? Originally written and compiled by Chilling Silence Your reasons for formatting your hard drive are your own . You may want a clean slate after a bad virus infection, or you want a newer operating system or maybe you want to partition your hard drive . Formatting a computer or partition means that ALL data and files so be sure that you have working backups of data and files you wish to keep . This FAQ applies mainly to installations of Window 95, 98, ME and 2000 . Firstly, make a boot disk: In Windows 95 and 98, and maybe ME (I don't have immediate access to ME or NT or XP) go to: Start>Control Panel, then select Add/Remove Programs Click on the Startup Disk tab and make the floppy disk . You may need your Windows CD for this . This is what you will be using for the installation . Please note that all installations are very very different . For Windows XP help see bottom of page . Next you need to restart your computer with the boot disk in, but firstly we will be checking your BIOS . Upon boot, to get into your BIOS, it's likely to be either DEL, F2 or F12 . Which one depends entirely on the brand of your PC . Beware - changing something you don't understand can result in your PC becoming un-bootable! Be careful what you adjust! If there are two columns in the BIOS, select the second from the top on the left labelled BIOS Features . Going down about five, on the left should be Boot Sequence . Make sure that A is the first item listed . If your BIOS has a few tabs up the top, select the Boot tab and make sure that Floppy is the first item on the list . Quit your BIOS and select Save and Exit . Make sure the floppy is in the drive and reboot your computer . Select "Start Computer with CD-ROM support" . Now we are going to check and make sure that your CD-ROM drive is picked up in DOS . You do NOT want to format your PC only to find that you cannot install windows because you can't access your CD . So make sure you can access your Windows Setup CD as per the following instructions . If your CD-ROM drive in windows is normally D: then it will be E: in DOS . Take what your CD drive letter normally is and go one letter more . This is because the Windows boot disk has made a temporary RAM drive that contains format . com and a few other things such as CD-ROM drivers . To get to your CD-ROM drive, type: E: This will take you to your CD-ROM drive . Type: dir/w This will list in about 5 columns all the files on that drive . Look in particular for setup . exe or something indicating that it is the Windows CD and not a HDD or the RAM Drive . Try typing: setup . exe If it starts, hit ESC and you'll be ready to format . Type: A: This will take you to your floppy drive Type: format c: Type Y for yes And you're away . Formatting in progress . WARNING: BE VERY SURE YOU HAVE BACKED UP ALL REQUIRED FILES AND DATA ELSEWHERE AND ARE READY TO FORMAT - YOU WILL LOSE ALL DATA ON THE PARTITION THAT IS FORMATTED . Notes for basic DOS usage To change drive, type the letter followed by a colon ":" eg: C: A: E: When booting and using a CD-ROM if it was previously D, it will now be E so on most PC's the drives are: A - Floppy C - HDD D - (In Windows) CD-Rom D - (When booting from boot disk) Ram Drive (temporary drive made by the boot disk of system files needed) E - (When booting from boot disk) CD-ROM To change directory in DOS: CD windows That will change you into your Windows directory . To go up a level: cd . . Or to go to the root directory ( C: ) CD\ Windows XP To start the Setup program from MS-DOS in Windows XP: see this page ( . microsoft . com/default . aspx?scid=kb%3Ben-us%3B307848" target="_blank">support . microsoft . com) . To format a Windows XP computer set the BIOS to boot from CD first then reboot the computer . It will come up with options to load or repair Windows or format the hard drive . For a "clean install" of Windows XP more detailed information can be found here ( . michaelstevenstech . com/cleanxpinstall . html" target="_blank">www . michaelstevenstech . com) . Original FAQ available from here ( . pcworld . co . nz/thread . jsp?forum=1&thread=21541&message=56846&q=FAQ%23+33+#56846" target="_blank">pressf1 . pcworld . co . nz) .	-FAQ- (807)
1