restarting computer in DOS mode

[Guest]

I am running XP Home edition. I would like to restart my computer in DOS
mode (not MSDOS). Could anyone help me do this???

 

[André Gulliksen]

I am running XP Home edition. I would like to restart my computer in
DOS mode (not MSDOS). Could anyone help me do this???

Sorry Mac, can't be done. There is no "DOS mode" in XP. This particular dog
was shot, skinned and buried together with Windows Millennium Edition.

What excactly were you hoping to accomplish from DOS mode?

 

[Guest]

I would like to Format my C: drive. I have a nasty virus on my computer and
was planning on starting over. Any idea how to do this without going into
DOS mode?

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I am running XP Home edition. I would like to restart my
computer in
DOS mode (not MSDOS). Could anyone help me do this???

First of all what do you mean by "DOS mode (not MSDOS)"? MS-DOS
is not different from DOS; it's just a particular variety of DOS,
and is the variety that's normally been used on PCs.

But regardless of what you mean by that, there is no DOS within
Windows XP, MS-DOS or not. The only way to boot to DOS is to to
do it from a DOS diskette, and if you do that, and your hard
drive is NTFS, that drive will be invisible, unless you use
special software.

Moreover, it's seldom if ever necessary to do this. Please
explain what it is that you're trying to accomplish, and why, and
we can probably be of much more help to you.

 

[Ken Blake]

In

I would like to Format my C: drive. I have a nasty virus on my
computer and was planning on starting over. Any idea how to do
this
without going into DOS mode?

Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if
necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean
installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
prompted, then create a new one).

You can find detailed instructions here:
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm



However, it's extremely rare that this needs to be done to get
rid of a virus. There are usually much easier ways available.
What virus is it?

 

[Jim Macklin]

You can install the Recovery Console to your hard drive, on
booting you'll get a dual boot menu and can select one or
the other interface.
How to ...
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;307654


--
The people think the Constitution protects their rights;
But government sees it as an obstacle to be overcome.


|I am running XP Home edition. I would like to restart my
computer in DOS
| mode (not MSDOS). Could anyone help me do this???

 

[Jim Macklin]

Boot the XP CD and install, deleting the current partition
and reformatting.


|I would like to Format my C: drive. I have a nasty virus on
my computer and
| was planning on starting over. Any idea how to do this
without going into
| DOS mode?
|
|
|
| "André Gulliksen" wrote:
|
| > Stadly wrote:
| > > I am running XP Home edition. I would like to restart
my computer in
| > > DOS mode (not MSDOS). Could anyone help me do
this???
| >
| > Sorry Mac, can't be done. There is no "DOS mode" in XP.
This particular dog
| > was shot, skinned and buried together with Windows
Millennium Edition.
| >
| > What excactly were you hoping to accomplish from DOS
mode?
| >
| >
| >

 

[Colin Barnhorst]

There is no Dos. There is a command line that accepts dos-like commands.
It will accept "Format C:" but you will only get an error message. The
format command will not work on the system drive. There are many ways in XP
to format a drive, but none permit formatting the system drive, only other
partitions or drives. To format C:, you must boot with the XP cd, delete
all the partitions and then create a new partition. If you don't you are
likely to install Windows with the wrong drive letter. For that reason,
disconnect any other drives attached to the system before starting.

 

[André Gulliksen]

To
format C:, you must boot with the XP cd, delete all the partitions
and then create a new partition. If you don't you are likely to
install Windows with the wrong drive letter. For that reason,
disconnect any other drives attached to the system before starting.

Disconnecting drives is way overkill. Besides, this method does not take
into account the possibility of other partitions existing on the primary
drive, so you still risk getting jumbled drive letters.

The easiest is to _not_ repartition. Just pop in the installation CD,
select the C: partition for installation destination, and then quick format
as NTFS. This preserves drive letters with the minimum fuzz.

Not formatting at all is also an option. Simply install Windows on top of
the existing installation. This way you don't delete documents and data that
are stored on C:. The downside to this is that there will be more clutter
left on the drive. Besides, since this is a virus infected PC, there is the
possibility of accidental reinfection by running a leftover executable.

That being said, there should be better ways to get rid of the virus than
reformatting.