Formatting XP

  • Thread starter Thread starter jas
  • Start date Start date
J

jas

I'm having trouble formatting XP from my hard disk. When
I try in Windows it tells me the disk is locked. If I go
through a command prompt it does the same. In FDISK it
tells me that I can't delete the partition as there are
logical drives within that partition. when i ask it to
display logical drives it tells me there are no l;ogical
drives defined. I don't know what else to do. i created
the partition using Partition Magic 8.0
 
You can't format the drive XP is installed on from within XP. It's kinda
like sitting on a limb and sawing it off. You can boot from the XP CD (you
may have to set your BIOS so the CD drive is the first boot device). All the
tools necessary to partition and format are on the XP CD.
 
jas said:
I'm having trouble formatting XP from my hard disk. When
I try in Windows it tells me the disk is locked. If I go
through a command prompt it does the same. In FDISK it
tells me that I can't delete the partition as there are
logical drives within that partition.
Click to expand...

You do it as part of a reinstall of the system after booting the XP CD
direct. Enter Setup, and after the license agreement take New Install.
When it asks you to confirm where, hit ESC; select and delete the
current partition and make a new RAW one to be formatted at the next
stage
 
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