format hard drive

  • Thread starter Thread starter lrh381b2
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lrh381b2

My hard drive (with a messed up XP on it) is labeled G: for some reason. I
am trying to format it and label it the C: drive. Then I plan to do a clean
install of XP Pro. I tried to format it using Vista on my other hard drive,
but it won't allow it because it is "active". I also tried to format it
using MS-DOS 6.22, but MS-DOS won't recongnize G: as a hard drive so it won't
format it. If I boot from the XP Pro CD, will it give me an option to format
the drive and change drive letters? Thanks.
 
lrh381b2 wrote:
> My hard drive (with a messed up XP on it) is labeled G: for some
> reason. I am trying to format it and label it the C: drive. Then I
> plan to do a clean install of XP Pro. I tried to format it using
> Vista on my other hard drive, but it won't allow it because it is
> "active". I also tried to format it using MS-DOS 6.22, but MS-DOS
> won't recongnize G: as a hard drive so it won't format it. If I
> boot from the XP Pro CD, will it give me an option to format the
> drive and change drive letters? Thanks.

If you are performing a clean installation - just boot with whatever OS
installation media you will be using (after unhooking all external drives
and any internal ZIP drives) and use it's installation steps to delete and
create partitions on the drive and format those partitions.

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
 
"lrh381b2" <lrh381b2@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:F68CF195-D613-4391-96AB-E6DCFD30B229@microsoft.com...
> My hard drive (with a messed up XP on it) is labeled G: for some reason.
> I
> am trying to format it and label it the C: drive. Then I plan to do a
> clean
> install of XP Pro. I tried to format it using Vista on my other hard
> drive,
> but it won't allow it because it is "active". I also tried to format it
> using MS-DOS 6.22, but MS-DOS won't recongnize G: as a hard drive so it
> won't
> format it. If I boot from the XP Pro CD, will it give me an option to
> format
> the drive and change drive letters? Thanks.
>


In addition to what Shenan said, you need to be VERY careful. If in fact
your "G" drive is the primary active partition, it contains the MBR and if
you format it, you will not be able to boot into Vista.....
 
"Gordon" <gbplinux@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

>In addition to what Shenan said, you need to be VERY careful. If in fact
>your "G" drive is the primary active partition, it contains the MBR and if
>you format it, you will not be able to boot into Vista.....

Well, since a clean install of either Vista or XP actually formats the
drive/partition before installing, that shoots that all to hell.
 
"Uncle Grumpy" <unclegrumpy@ameritech.net> wrote in message
news:touo93pgucbhdivvs7ji982gegv0r15698@4ax.com...
> "Gordon" <gbplinux@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>
>>In addition to what Shenan said, you need to be VERY careful. If in fact
>>your "G" drive is the primary active partition, it contains the MBR and if
>>you format it, you will not be able to boot into Vista.....
>
> Well, since a clean install of either Vista or XP actually formats the
> drive/partition before installing, that shoots that all to hell.
>


No it doesn't because the OP is obviously dual-booting. If he formats the XP
drive, he won't then be able to boot into Vista.
 
lrh381b2 wrote:

> My hard drive (with a messed up XP on it) is labeled G: for some
> reason. I am trying to format it and label it the C: drive. Then I
> plan to do a clean install of XP Pro


No, that's not the way to do it.


>. I tried to format it using
> Vista on my other hard drive, but it won't allow it because it is
> "active". I also tried to format it using MS-DOS 6.22, but MS-DOS
> won't recongnize G: as a hard drive so it won't format it. If I boot
> from the XP Pro CD, will it give me an option to format the drive and
> change drive letters? Thanks.


Yes, booting from the XP CD *is* the correct way.
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


--
Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
Please reply to the newsgroup
 
"Gordon" <gbplinux@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:

>>>In addition to what Shenan said, you need to be VERY careful. If in fact
>>>your "G" drive is the primary active partition, it contains the MBR and if
>>>you format it, you will not be able to boot into Vista.....
>>
>> Well, since a clean install of either Vista or XP actually formats the
>> drive/partition before installing, that shoots that all to hell.
>>
>No it doesn't because the OP is obviously dual-booting. If he formats the XP
>drive, he won't then be able to boot into Vista.

Reading is a skill... one that you obviously lack. Here's the part of
the OP's original post that you didn't read:

"My hard drive (with a messed up XP on it) is labeled G: for some
reason. I am trying to format it and label it the C: drive. Then I
plan to do a clean install of XP Pro."

Your advice about the MBR was unfounded.
 
"Uncle Grumpy" <unclegrumpy@ameritech.net> wrote in message
news:tffq93haot49sd9loijgk8fnmfq1vnsnkp@4ax.com...
> "Gordon" <gbplinux@gmail.com.invalid> wrote:
>
>>>>In addition to what Shenan said, you need to be VERY careful. If in fact
>>>>your "G" drive is the primary active partition, it contains the MBR and
>>>>if
>>>>you format it, you will not be able to boot into Vista.....
>>>
>>> Well, since a clean install of either Vista or XP actually formats the
>>> drive/partition before installing, that shoots that all to hell.
>>>
>>No it doesn't because the OP is obviously dual-booting. If he formats the
>>XP
>>drive, he won't then be able to boot into Vista.
>
> Reading is a skill... one that you obviously lack. Here's the part of
> the OP's original post that you didn't read:

And here's the part of the OPs post YOU didn't read.

"I tried to format it using Vista on my other hard drive,
but it won't allow it because it is "active""

Now grovel.
 
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