DRC Forum » Personal Interests » Computers » help formating » Page 1 of 1

[Cannonfodder]

ok heres a strange situation
i want to format my computer, as of right now my computer has no internet connection,

Drives:
CD *busted*
A *functional*
HD *functional* => NTFS, Dynamic Drive, 1 simple partition with WinXP SP1

i have tried booting from a WIN98 boot disk
and running format but, it says C is an invaild drive specification, what the hell!?!?
also i have tried hitting F8 durring start up, but the same thing happens in format.exe

the CD drive is not fixable but would make this 100% easier.
is there a stupid switch in format that i need to know about or what.
ask me questions here, cuz it doesnt look like a bunch of info, but thats why i am posting here
i am stuck.

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[|DRC| psycheus]

It's because win98 boot disc is for a FAT32 partition, not NTFS. It will not be able to read any NTFS partitions.
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psycheus.com
tacnit.com

[Cannonfodder]

ok how you format a NTFS withoiut booting to XP?


ps dont you look microsoft, its like a big riddle. thanks to Mr. Gates for keeping our problem solving well practiced

[|DRC| Iceman]

As far as I know Windows XP is the only OS that has NTFS. Thats why I did mine in FAT32 in case I ever wanted to revert back

[|DRC| Zyprexa]

NTFS = NT File System :-)
Get a NTFS file system loader. NTFSPRO.exe is what you're looking for.
It will act as an interface between DOS and your HD. Gimme a holler if you
can't find the file (it's not that easy :-)

[|DRC| Wartex]

|DRC| ZyPReXA wrote:

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NTFS = NT File System :-)
Get a NTFS file system loader. NTFSPRO.exe is what you're looking for.
It will act as an interface between DOS and your HD. Gimme a holler if you
can't find the file (it's not that easy :-)

I have it. It's only read-only afaik. He used partitionmagic to fix it.
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[Cannonfodder]

nope PM didnt fix it. PM wont let me use any operations or wizards!!!!
will a big magnet do?

[HAL9000]

|DRC| Iceman wrote:

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As far as I know Windows XP is the only OS that has NTFS. Thats why I did mine in FAT32 in case I ever wanted to revert back

and 2000. I know that doesn't solve the prolblem but I wanted to throw that in there for info
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[|DRC| SLIM]

|DRC| Cannonfodder wrote:

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nope PM didnt fix it. PM wont let me use any operations or wizards!!!!
will a big magnet do?

Funny you would say that, because about a week ago I opened my pc to remove a dvdrom i was selling to a friend. In the process I noticed how dirty my case was. Being out of compressed air(I always end up messing around with it and using up the while can), I thought why not switch the nozzle on my dad's shop vac and blow that mother fucker out!!! It worked great, except the air in my house was filled with shit, like after a large volcano eruption. Back to how this related, I went to boot up my system and encountered mad probs. When I though about it in hind site, I realized that my hds were right up next to the motor in the shop vac; I think that remagnatized my shit and corrupted data on my hds. lesson learned

[Anonymous]

Let me get this straight! You definitely want to format the drive, right?? Cause if you don't, the following instructions will fuck you!

1. Boot computer using Win98 boot disk.
2. At Cmd prompt type fdisk
3. Select menu item #4 - View drive details. (note partition number)
4. Select menu item #3 -- Delete partition.
PLEASE NOTE THAT I AM TYPING THIS FROM MEMORY. THE MENU NUMBERS MAY NOT BE CORRECT. FOLLOW THE DESCRIPTION -- NOT THE MENU NUMBERS!
5. fdisk will see the partition as a non-DOS partition. That's okay! Select the non-DOS partition as the one to be deleted.
6. Once partition has been deleted, reboot to Win98 boot disk.
7. type format c: /u at Cmd prompt
NOTE: YOU WILL NOT BE ABLE TO FORMAT THE DRIVE TO ANYTHING OTHER THAN FAT16. HOWEVER, THE OS INSTALLATION *SHOULD* ALLOW YOU TO CONVERT TO FAT32 OR NTFS. NTFS IS USED ON ALL NT BASED OSes -- NT, WIN2k, XP THAT I KNOW OF.

If you have problems, email me. I'll give ya a hand.

[Anonymous]

Dammit... I forgot that the usual Win98 boot disk does NOT have format.com on it. Before you do the above, put a copy of format.com on the Win98 boot disk. (There isn't much room left on floppy, but format.com will fit!)

[Cannonfodder]

Found an easier way,
my friend gave me a new CD drive i am set. thanks for the help people everything is working fine now!