I Cannot Format My C Drive....pls Help

Abhi

Jan 29 2008, 05:36 PM

When I tried to install XP as a fresh copy. I couldn’t able to format my C drive at the starting of the installation. So I installed XP in D drive and after that I forcibly deleted all the contents from C Drive. Now when I try to format C drive, its not getting formatted. I need to format my C drive coz there is a lot of virus in it. The C drive shows nothing in it but when I see the properties it takes 1.76GB as used space. Please any method or software’s to delete the C drive or format it. I'm ready to re-format my whole PC. Please any help.....

dserban

Jan 29 2008, 06:08 PM

The first thing that comes to mind is to use a Knoppix live CD to wipe out the offending partition.

Miles

Jan 29 2008, 06:19 PM

I suggest you use a real parition program, like partition magic. The one coming with the Windows XP cd isn't very good, where as partition magic has provided me great service for many years, I was very young when I started using it. If you have the multi boot program called hyperos it includes partition magic on it's cd. If not you can get it and put it on a floppy drive.

Read a tutorial online and you should find out how to use it.

Eggie

Jan 29 2008, 06:44 PM

put your Windows XP into your CD-rom and restart your PC after that when you boot it you get options...you need to go to the step before you choose where to install Windows where you can arrange your Partitions...you can delete(with "L"),or create new ones...delete C: partition and than recreate it,after that choose install partition of your windows(with ENTER key)
i hope this helps!

Abhi

Jan 29 2008, 07:40 PM

QUOTE(Eggie @ Jan 30 2008, 12:14 AM)

I already done what you said but its not working in this way. When I tried to del d,e,f partitions. It was done smoothly. But when deleting c it gives me a message that "some files are needed to format XP which are in C drive, so it cannot del the c drive" but there nothing in the c Drive. I had deleted everything forcibly. Any other way.....

Abhi

Jan 29 2008, 07:52 PM

QUOTE(dserban @ Jan 29 2008, 11:38 PM)

The first thing that comes to mind is to use a Knoppix live CD to wipe out the offending partition.

In what way does Knoppix live CD helps me out.....
How to use this software.....
Pls explain me in detail... I am little bit confused coz I'm in a hurry?????

Abhi

Jan 29 2008, 07:57 PM

QUOTE(Miles @ Jan 29 2008, 11:49 PM)

I suggest you use a real parition program, like partition magic. The one coming with the Windows XP cd isn't very good, where as partition magic has provided me great service for many years, I was very young when I started using it. If you have the multi boot program called hyperos it includes partition magic on it's cd. If not you can get it and put it on a floppy drive.
Read a tutorial online and you should find out how to use it.

When I bought XP cd. The delear had given me only the bootable CD. Except that I didnt get nothing. Pls help in in any easier ways guys.....

docduke

Jan 29 2008, 09:27 PM

Comments on this thread:

1. I have used Power Quest Partition Magic for more than a decade. That is the best choice, if your can get it. Unfortunately, they were bought out by Symantec and shut down, because their Drive Image product was the strongest competition to Symantec's Ghost. You may be able to get a copy of it off Ebay or some other reseller. Do that if you can. It'll be around $70, and worth it.

2. I have also used Knoppix, and like it. However, you have to be fluent in Linux commands to use it. "Free" comes with a learning curve.

3. An alternative I've used is Bing (Boot-It Next Generation) by TeraByte. It costs $35, and does a lot more than format drives, but, again, you need to know something about Master Boot Records. That is a smaller learning curve than Linux, but it'll still take a day or two of reading. Terabyte also has a Forum with people who can help you walk through the reformatting process.

My advice is: Get PM if you can find it. If not, try Bing. Some time in the future when you don't have an immediate problem, learn Linux. Knoppix is a good place to start, because you can run it off a CD without touching your hard drive!

yordan

Jan 29 2008, 09:45 PM

I would say that fdisk, booting from a MS-DOS disk, should be able to remove the c: partition. If not, you can use knoppix to remove the partition, you need rather few Linux knowledge in order to destroy a partition, just turn around the menus.

docduke

Jan 29 2008, 10:03 PM

QUOTE(yordan @ Jan 29 2008, 02:45 PM)

Except MS-DOS may not be easy to find. Microsoft has a Knowledge Base article How to partition and format a hard disk in Windows XP which can be used from the Startup disk. That is hopefully the "bootable CD" the dealer provided.

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yordan

Jan 30 2008, 04:18 PM

Concerning the floppy, remember virtualfloppy, which gives you an "a:" disk even if you have no hardware floppy on your system. So, no need to really go to shop and buy a real floppy, you can work only on image files.
Then, if you lost your MS-DOS disks, you download the Windows 98 or windows Millenium or free DRDOS floppy disks images from http://bootdisk.com/ , and use them as a: or b: floppy on your system, and use Nero to create a bootable CD from them.
By the way, the problem is not solved yet,

QUOTE

it’s not my system which was wrecked, it’s my cousin’s. So the next Sunday we’ll see whether this software will successfully erase the hard disk or not….

Jimmy89

Jan 30 2008, 12:00 PM

It looks like the problems solved (maybe...), but I'll throw in my two cents. The Ultimate Boot CD has a great selection of different software that you can use to wipe your hard drive. It can be a bit intimidating for a new user, but it can be very useful!

Have a look at it at www.ultimatebootcd.com/.

QUOTE

It took me a while to find a shop that sold floppy disks and that was over a year ago so I imagine you'll have more trouble finding them now and since people don't have floppy disk drives anymore, it might be harder.

I have draws full of them if you want some, how many can I put you down for?

pyost

Jan 30 2008, 09:45 AM

There is no need to download full Linux operating systems such as Knoppix and Ubuntu. Instead, download the GParted LiveCD, which is approximately 50MB in size, and use it to format the drives. Since it doesn't depend on Windows in any way, the operation should go smoothly.

Abhi

Jan 30 2008, 07:14 AM

QUOTE(Sten @ Jan 30 2008, 10:30 AM)

I was going to mention Darik's Boot And Nuke.

I used it once when my boot sector died and I was trying to wipe the hard drive. Just install it to a floppy disk and boot from it. You can choose your type of wipe, one of them takes like 6 hours but it completely gets rid of everything.

It took me a while to find a shop that sold floppy disks and that was over a year ago so I imagine you'll have more trouble finding them now and since people don't have floppy disk drives anymore, it might be harder.

I had downloaded DBAN in both floppy and CDRW format. Since it’s not my system which was wrecked, it’s my cousin’s. So the next Sunday we’ll see whether this software will successfully erase the hard disk or not….

Thanks to Firefox, sten, Xboxrules and to everyone…..

Abhi

Jan 30 2008, 07:03 AM

QUOTE(docduke @ Jan 30 2008, 02:57 AM)

Thanks for your suggestion. Here in India, its better to spend $35 for a new 120GB hard disk rather than buying software. But thanks a lot for your suggestion.