Windows 2000 Formatting Hard Drive with Windows 2000 on it

  • Thread starter Thread starter Trainbuff
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Trainbuff

I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it worked out
fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been
something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know too much
about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type of
virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format the
hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send this to
me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure I'll
just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive? Any help
will be appreciated.
 
Yes. What are you going to install?



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Trainbuff" wrote:
>I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it worked
>out
> fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been
> something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know too
> much
> about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type of
> virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format the
> hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send this
> to
> me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure I'll
> just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive? Any
> help
> will be appreciated.
 
"Trainbuff" . wrote in message
news:4BAF59D5-23D4-4C52-BAE4-42F57D46759B@microsoft.com...
>I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it worked
>out
> fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been
> something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know too
> much
> about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type of
> virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format the
> hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send this
> to
> me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure I'll
> just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive? Any
> help
> will be appreciated.

Sure - boot the machine with a Win98 boot diskette or CD (www.bootdisk.com),
then delete all partitions, create new ones and format them. The question
is, of course - what will you do with it after formatting, without having
any setup CDs?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
In article <4BAF59D5-23D4-4C52-BAE4-42F57D46759B@microsoft.com>,
Trainbuff@discussions.microsoft.com says...

> I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it worked out
> fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been
> something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know too much
> about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type of
> virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format the
> hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send this to
> me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure I'll
> just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive? Any help
> will be appreciated.
>

No disk?

So if you get your answer on how to format how will you put an OS back
on it? Cus once you format it its all lost....Unless I missed something
in your question.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1778
 
"Trainbuff" . wrote in message
news:4BAF59D5-23D4-4C52-BAE4-42F57D46759B@microsoft.com...
> I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it worked
out
> fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been
> something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know too
much
> about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type of
> virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format the
> hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send this
to
> me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure I'll
> just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive? Any
help
> will be appreciated.


To reinstall Win2k you will need a disk...
you can probably find a win2k cd on ebay.

If you do not want to buy an operating system
you can always try PCLinuxOS
 
Last edited by a moderator:
"philo" wrote:

>
> "Trainbuff" . wrote in message
> news:4BAF59D5-23D4-4C52-BAE4-42F57D46759B@microsoft.com...
> > I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it worked
> out
> > fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been
> > something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know too
> much
> > about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type of
> > virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format the
> > hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send this
> to
> > me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure I'll
> > just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive? Any
> help
> > will be appreciated.
>
>
> To reinstall Win2k you will need a disk...
> you can probably find a win2k cd on ebay.
>
> If you do not want to buy an operating system
> you can always try PCLinuxOS
>
>
> After I reformat the hard drive, I'm going to leave the computer along for a while until I do buy a Windows 2000 Disk off of eBay. I do have the Windows 98 Upgrade CD could I use this to help in reformatting the hard drive?
 
Last edited by a moderator:
"Trainbuff" . wrote in message
news:A6EEAE86-585D-474B-8B87-A49572ADCAE2@microsoft.com...
>
>
> "philo" wrote:
>
>>
>> "Trainbuff" . wrote in message
>> news:4BAF59D5-23D4-4C52-BAE4-42F57D46759B@microsoft.com...
>> > I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it
>> > worked
>> out
>> > fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been
>> > something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know
>> > too
>> much
>> > about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type
>> > of
>> > virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format
>> > the
>> > hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send
>> > this
>> to
>> > me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure
>> > I'll
>> > just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive?
>> > Any
>> help
>> > will be appreciated.
>>
>>
>> To reinstall Win2k you will need a disk...
>> you can probably find a win2k cd on ebay.
>>
>> If you do not want to buy an operating system
>> you can always try PCLinuxOS
>>
>>
>> After I reformat the hard drive, I'm going to leave the computer along
>> for a while until I do buy a Windows 2000 Disk off of eBay. I do have the
>> Windows 98 Upgrade CD could I use this to help in reformatting the hard
>> drive?

The boys in a Win98 newsgroup could obviously tell you if a Win98 Upgrade CD
can be used to format the disk. Alternatively you could use one of the
methods suggested here so far.
 
Last edited by a moderator:
When you get the disk to do a clean install, either boot the Windows 2000
install CD-Rom or setup disks. The set of four install disks can be created
from your Windows 2000 CD-Rom change to the \bootdisk directory on the
CD-Rom and execute makeboot.exe (from dos) or makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and
follow the prompts.

(Note: If your drive controller is not natively supported then you'll want
to boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom. Then *F6* very early and very
important (at setup is inspecting your system) in the setup to prevent drive
controller detection, and select S to specify additional drivers. Then later
you'll be prompted to insert the manufacturer supplied Windows 2000 driver
for your drive controller in drive "A")

Setup inspects your computer's hardware configuration and then begins to
install the Setup and driver files. When the Windows 2000 Professional
screen appears, press ENTER to set up Windows 2000 Professional.

Read the license agreement, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms of
the license agreement and continue the installation.

When the Windows 2000 Professional Setup screen appears, all the existing
partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard
disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partitions Press D to delete an
existing partition, If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must
then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System
partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this
step for each of the existing partitions When all the partitions are deleted
press F3 to exit setup, (to avoid unexpected drive letter assignments with
your new install) then restart the pc then when you get to this point in
setup again select the unpartitioned space, and then press C to create a new
partition and specify the size (if required). Windows will by default use
all available space.

Be sure to apply SP4 and these two below to your new install before
connecting to any network. Internet included. (sasser, msblast)
http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx
http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx

Then

Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4
http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/...CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en



--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.
Microsoft Certified Professional
Microsoft MVP [Windows]
http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Trainbuff" wrote:
>> After I reformat the hard drive, I'm going to leave the computer along
>> for a while until I do buy a Windows 2000 Disk off of eBay. I do have the
>> Windows 98 Upgrade CD could I use this to help in reformatting the hard
>> drive?
 
Many major PC vendors put the files necessary to reinstall the operating
system and/or restore the system to the as-shipped configuration. Dell is one
of those vendors in many cases. Check this page from their support site for
information and instructions:
http://support.dell.com/support/top...d=3E48AE3870775D64E040A68F5B2877D4&l=en&s=gen

Of course this will not work if the hidden partition has already been wiped
out...

Good Luck.

Henry Cumbie

"Trainbuff" wrote:

> I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it worked out
> fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been
> something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know too much
> about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type of
> virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format the
> hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send this to
> me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure I'll
> just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive? Any help
> will be appreciated.
 
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