Reformatting C drive on partitioned disk

  • Thread starter Thread starter shirley
  • Start date Start date
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shirley

I am having problems with my main drive. Looked
throughout Microsoft help and could not find how to
reformat just the partition C drive. I have four
partitions on my hard drive because of the size and for
management. I had no problems using 98 after partitioning
it the hard way and with no assistance but the sporatic
directions from Microsoft, but unable to get specifics on
XP Home. I found it for shared disk and professional
version only.
 
The Windows XP CD is bootable and contains all the tools necessary
to partition and format your drive. Follow this procedure and allow
Windows XP to partition and format your drive:

NOTE: It would be best to physically disconnect all your peripheral hardware
devices, except the monitor, mouse and keyboard, before installing XP.

NOTE: If you have an internal Zip Drive installed, physically disconnect the
EIDE and power cable to it before proceeding, otherwise your main
hard drive may not be assigned the customary C: drive letter.
After installing Windows XP, you may then reconnect it.

1. Open your BIOS and set your "CD Drive as the first bootable device".

===> Accessing Motherboard BIOS
===> http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/bios_manufacturer.htm

2. Insert your Windows XP CD in the CD Drive and reboot your computer.
3. You'll see a message to boot to the CD....follow the instructions.
4. The setup menu will appear and you should elect to format the partition
you wish to reinstall Windows XP on (preferably NTFS).

5. Clean Install Windows XP
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

[Courtesy of Michael Stevens, MS-MVP]

6. ==> Immediately after installing Windows XP, turn on XP's Firewall.
==> http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

7. After Windows XP is installed, visit the Windows Update website
and download the available "Critical Updates".

8. After installing the critical updates, be sure and visit the support website
of the manufacturer of the computer to download and install any
available Windows XP compatible drivers, such as video adapter
and audio drivers.

9. If you happen to run into any installation difficulties, use the following resources:

How to Troubleshoot Windows XP Problems During Installation
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;310064

Troubleshooting Windows XP Setup
http://www.kellys-korner-xp.com/xp_setup.htm

[Courtesy of MS-MVP Kelly Theriot]

Note: If you are unable to activate Windows XP again via the internet,
then select the option to "activate by telephone".

--
Carey Frisch
Microsoft MVP
Windows XP - Shell/User

Be Smart! Protect your PC!
http://www.microsoft.com/security/protect/

----------------------------------------------------------------------


|I am having problems with my main drive. Looked
| throughout Microsoft help and could not find how to
| reformat just the partition C drive. I have four
| partitions on my hard drive because of the size and for
| management. I had no problems using 98 after partitioning
| it the hard way and with no assistance but the sporatic
| directions from Microsoft, but unable to get specifics on
| XP Home. I found it for shared disk and professional
| version only.
 
Hi, Shirley.

Even with Win98, if you wanted to format C:, you had to boot from some
source OTHER THAN C:, typically a floppy diskette. The same is true with
every operating system: it can't reformat the drive that is currently
running the format command.

So, follow the advice in the other posts: Boot from the WinXP CD-ROM (not
from C:) and let it format Drive C: for you. If you want to format any
volume other than the system partition (almost always C:) or the boot volume
(if different), then use Disk Management. At the Run prompt, type:
diskmgmt.msc. And read the very helpful Help file there; it explains a lot
of disk concepts that even many long-time users don't yet understand.

RC
 
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