Formatting partioned disk

  • Thread starter Thread starter Alex
  • Start date Start date
A

Alex

Hi.
I have a huge prob. I have a 40GB partitioned disk and I
want to format it in order to reinstall everything form the
beginning.
I don't know what I did, but I have Windows XP installed in
both partitions and I can't delete them nor format them.
Is there any app which will allow me to format the entire
disk, delete the partitions and start over with XP
installation?
I have an assembled PC and I don't know how I can get hard
disk's manufacturer in order to download any possible
utility to reformat the disk.
I hope you guys understood.

Many thanx in advance.

Alex
 
Hi;
http://www.google.com

search for==> "delpart.exe" (no quotes)

to get rid of (#1 then 2,3...) partitions on each HDD and then (switch over
to) every other disks.
Needs a bootable floppy (win9x will do) and with the BIOS set to 1st boot
from floppy. Type "delpart" after insertion of 2nd floppy.

Mikey
 
Hi,
ADDENDUM:
============
Just be sure NOT to delete any "HIDDEN" (>IF< such exists) "restore type" of
partition created by the manufacturer as it may contain really needed
drivers.

Mikey
 
Hi, Alex.

You didn't mention the make or model of your PC; some OEMs don't furnish the
full WinXP CD-ROM. :>( But, if you have the full or upgrade version of the
WinXP CD-ROM, the answer is so obvious that it's easy to overlook.

Just boot from the WinXP CD-ROM and follow the prompts, including the very
early one that offers to partition and format your HD.

You don't need FDISK, or delpart, or Partition Magic. All you need is on
the WinXP CD-ROM and will run automatically if you boot from the CD.

Only the initial partitioning should be done from the CD. You must first
decide whether you want to install WinXP into Drive C: or into a different
partition. Let WinXP Setup create at least Drive C: (you specify the size;
else is will create a single partition using the whole HD) and put the boot
sector and few "system files" there. If you want to put the bulk of WinXP
into a separate partition, let Setup create and format that one, too, and
then install WinXP there.

Once WinXP is up and running, find Disk Management, the built in utility
first introduced in Win2K. A quick way to DM is to type diskmgmt.msc at the
Run prompt. As you can see from the program interface (use View to arrange
it the way you like) and from its Help file, Disk Management is the tool
that we use in WinXP to create partitions or delete them, to assign or
reassign drive letters, and to format them. The old MS-DOS tools FDISK and
Format.exe are no longer needed - or available - in WinXP.

RC
 
R. C. White said:
Disk Management is the tool that we use in WinXP to create
partitions or delete them, to assign or reassign drive letters,
and to format them. The old MS-DOS tools FDISK and
Format.exe are no longer needed - or available - in WinXP.


Is there a tutorial available on-line that explains how to use
diskmgmt.msc?


-\Stan/-
 
Hi, Stanley.

I'm not aware of a tutorial, but the Help file reached from Disk Management
has tons of information about hard drives and file systems.

I like to arrange the DM GUI by clicking View and then putting the Folder
List on top and the Graphical View on the bottom. This gives me a pretty
good picture of my drive lineup.

RC
 
Formating disc is just go into command prompt ie Dos then
write [format x: /fs:ntfs] and the disk will be formatted
and unpartitioned it will run under NTFS [ x is drive
letter]
 
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