format a hard drive

bikerboybikerboy PA
edited July 2004 in Science & Tech
im trying to format a hard drive but it isn't working all that is happening is it keeps reinstalling window ME. I tried to convince the guy to let me install 2000 but he said he liked ME and he wanted to keep it. I can't seem to figure out a way to format the hard drive. Pease help

Comments

  • bikerboybikerboy PA
    edited July 2004
    just relized i shoulda put this thread in the hardware discussion section. If someone could do that i'd appreciate it
  • csimoncsimon Acadiana Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    how are you formatting it?

    you should be able to just make a bootable floppy disk and then put the format.com file on it and format the hd like that.
  • ArmoArmo Mr. Nice Guy Is Dead,Only Aqua Remains Member
    edited July 2004
    yea www.bootdisk.com has alot of options, just make sure it has format.exe on it and boot from it, type C:> format C: <enter> and shes gone then boot from cd :)
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    Well, is this something that has a full Me CD??? IF it has recovery CDs, you need to be careful what part of HD you format.... If I get a box like that, I look at it with Partition Magic first, see if there is a hidden partition on the HD. THEN if it DOES, I leave it there, and format only the frist partition (normally C:). Otherwise, if you format and fdisk whole drive, you can end up with a destruction of your Me image when you do the format. Partition Magic will let you format it also. A windows 98 SE Widnows startup disk will have Format on it also, in the recovery utils compressed file on it. This will show up as a "logical drive" to the boot disk, will not be a normal drive, it will be a RAMDISK in reality. It can show up as C: or D: or E drive, if this is an OEM box. But, the programs in the RAMDISK are usable.

    NOTE: A Full Recovery, destructive type, will rebuild with a format included in recovery run, normally, with Me. BUT, you will end up with only the stuff in the recovery image you have. IF you need to get data off the HD, do that before you do a full (destructive) recovery.

    IF you cannot get a recovery to work, one possible cause is a virus in boot sector or elsewhere on HD. At the time I suspect that, I get very careful about what I do and exactly how I do it. I check HD first with a HD checker util (on a write-protected floppy), then think a lot about what I do next. Next step, if HD passes checking, is to Virus scan HD from Floppy or CD booted virus killing programs on media. IF HD passes checking and viruses get killed or none can be found, I image ALL the data (including hidden partitions) on HD to another HD. THEN I restore Windows to original, then I recover what data I can from the image I made.
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited July 2004
    I'd put 2000 on there any, and tell him that 2000 is much better for data security and reliability of the computer. Tell him even though he thinks the world of WinME, that it was actually the worse OS that Microsoft put out.
  • ArmoArmo Mr. Nice Guy Is Dead,Only Aqua Remains Member
    edited July 2004
    dan, u mean tell him the truth :D
  • danball1976danball1976 Wichita Falls, TX
    edited July 2004
    Yeah
  • edcentricedcentric near Milwaukee, Wisconsin Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    His ME disk may only be for recovery. Oh my, sorry, it can't be reinstalled.
  • bikerboybikerboy PA
    edited July 2004
    dan, i was gonna do that but i don't really now the guy that well and i don't wanna get on his bad side.

    edcentric, it's a dell computer and the cd that im trying to use is a recovvery cd that came with the dell pc when he bought it. the computer is ancient but he won't buy another one.

    i think i will try to put 20000 on it and se if i can pursuade him to leave it on
  • Straight_ManStraight_Man Geeky, in my own way Naples, FL Icrontian
    edited July 2004
    Me = NOT /me for an O\S. Period. There were so many reasons you got to reload, it is not funny-- mostly due to its propensity to recover viruses with its Restore functions, and the requirements for drivers it would accept, and its inability to roll back if a driver got mashed on install attempt (all those things TOGETHER).

    Note, Recovery, with a full destructive option in recovery, CAN mean there is a copy of Me CABs present on the HD. The most common way to do this was to HIDE the partition that contained the CABs, let the recovery software UNHIDE the partition, then autorestart, resume after restart from CD and a read of a file-based note to recovery program written on originally unhidden partition (the one Me will be running from, not the one with the CABs in it) to resume, then a run of the full Me installer from a scripted install on the recovery CD. It was hidden and marked inactive to prevent piracy, typically. With it hidden like this, users who fdisk and wipe HD have no recovery option afterward except to go to the OEM and either get a full Me CD, or get the HD reimaged by the OEM. 2000 or XP Home are best substitutes, except fro Compaqs and some HPs. Those can have Power Management so morphed by OEM that they need custom OEM editions of the O\S to work right afterwards.

    Try 2000 or XP HOME if you have no ME CD and the Power Management custom OEM drivers and underlayments are unavailable from OEM's website. SOME 2000 (OS supplied, not year of mfr) boxes also came this way. While recovery is sometimes POSSIBLE, it is often not economical for Me boxes now, lots of the Me boxes no longer have support options at all for them. Most of the clients I have had with this package of OS on HD with a Me gen box have moved to new computers, donated parts to folks that build for handicapped or charity purposes, using what parts can be salvaged. If I run into this, I tell the client right away exactly what is and is not there to recover his box. Yup, tell the truth. One reason to have Partition Magic to hand, also.
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