slow laptop needs to be formatted, please help!

[djshowdown]

i have a fairly old laptop that i need to format

i want to absolutely wipe it and just have win 98 se on it

i would put xp on there but it wouldnt cope


my question is what is the easiest way of formatting my c: drive

i have the windows 98 disc if this helps

thanks ppl :thumbsup:

[profdlp]

Try the Windows 98 SE Custom, No Ramdrive (http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm) disk from www.bootdisk.com . Once you boot from it just run the Format C: command.

I would make sure that you have a list of all the hardware before you format. Tracking down laptop devices can be a pain. Make sure the boot disk works for your cdrom drive, too, or you'll be up a creek when you go to reinstall. :p

[djshowdown]

"Once you boot from it just run the Format C: command."

clearly i havent explained the fact that i am fairly good with sorting out my little windows niggles but when it comes to commands and stuff like that i know NOTHING!

could you walk me through how to do it please :thumbsup:

[profdlp]

The file you download will make the floppy for you all by itself. Just put a blank disk in the drive and double-click it.

Then, make sure that the floppy drive is set as the first boot device in your bios. Put the disk in the drive and reboot the computer. Once it's booted, you should see a command prompt which looks like this:

A:\

Type in Format C: and hit enter. It should ask you if you're sure and remind you that all data on the drive will be lost. Just continue the process until it says that it's complete. :)

[djshowdown]

and will this wipe everything?

i basically need to get rid of everything on there so it is 'as new'

will this do the trick?

[djshowdown]

ok i have done this

it said enter volume label or press enter to leave blank

i pressed enter

no it just shows

A:\>

what do i do?

[shwaip]

you just formatted the drive.

type "d:" (no quotes)

the prompt should change to
d:\>

type "setup" (no quotes)

follow the instructions.

[djshowdown]

the prompt wont change to d:\>

it says invalid drive specification

:(

what do i do now :bawling:

[profdlp]

Do what shwaip said, except substitute the letter c for d. :thumbsup:

(shwaip - I referred him to the "no ramdrive" bootdisk. :) )

[shwaip]

I assumed that since he formatted c:\, c: would just be a blank fat32 drive. I haven't done this in a long while, so I was going from memory.

[djshowdown]

ok well i had no luck with that

however

i took a risk and turned off the compter

when it loaded back up i pressed f2 which on my computer takes me to the boot options screen

i selected boot from cd rom

i am now halfway through installing windows

will let you know how i get on!

cheers for the help guys :thumbsup:

dos still scares me a bit though :(

[djshowdown]

ok now my screen is set at 16 colours and 640X480 :bawling:

how can i rectify this?

[profdlp]

See what it says for Display Adapter. I'm betting it says something like "Standard...".

You'll need to install the driver for your graphic chip.

[djshowdown]

did say standard

managed to cop a driver from driverguide.com

cheers for the help guys

im a producer so if you ever need a bit of music for a site or something let me know!

peace