Can't Format Hard Drive

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Guest

I'm trying to format the c: drive on an HP Pavilion. I'm in Safe Mode w/
Command Prompt. When I select Y to "Proceed with Format" I get this:

"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 select Y, I get this:

"Cannot lock the drive. The volume is still is use."

Then I'm dumped by to the C: prompt (c:\Documents and Settings\Administrator).

Any ideas?

Thank you.
 
Ummm...you can't format the drive you're running from.

You don't say, but C: is usually that drive.

Kinda like sawing off the tree branch you're sitting on.

If you are SURE this is what you want to to (you'll lose
EVERYTHING) you need to boot from the XP CD and
follow the text-mode instructions to format the drive.
 
As another poster remarked, you can't format the boot partition (usually C:)
from XP. (The XP safe mode with command prompt looks a lot like DOS, but it
isn't.)

The normal way to do it is to boot from the XP CD.

As you have an HP PC, you may not have an XP CD (or even a "restore" CD). HP
sometimes provides a hidden partition with the restore information on it. I
presume that the manual that came with your PC tells you how to use it.
Otherwise, the information is probably available at www.hp.com.

None of the above may be the answer to your question if all that you're
trying to do is format the drive, without reinstalling an operating system.
For my own purposes, I'd use Partition Magic (www.symantec.com), but it's
anything but free.


Address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
 
thank you


Bob Knowlden said:
As another poster remarked, you can't format the boot partition (usually C:)
from XP. (The XP safe mode with command prompt looks a lot like DOS, but it
isn't.)

The normal way to do it is to boot from the XP CD.

As you have an HP PC, you may not have an XP CD (or even a "restore" CD). HP
sometimes provides a hidden partition with the restore information on it. I
presume that the manual that came with your PC tells you how to use it.
Otherwise, the information is probably available at www.hp.com.

None of the above may be the answer to your question if all that you're
trying to do is format the drive, without reinstalling an operating system.
For my own purposes, I'd use Partition Magic (www.symantec.com), but it's
anything but free.


Address scrambled. Replace nkbob with bobkn.
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