I am planning a format of my hdd , i have always been comfortable using Dos but apparently thats not how you do it with XP can anyone enlighten me as to what i have to do?.
Whats CMD??>.
cmd as far as i know it to be is COMMAND as in command prompt for dos where it has
a:/ or such like
as for formatting xp i am not that widely familiar with it
these may help you out a bit
microsoft.com/windows/default.mspx
or this may help
utteraccess.com/forums/acces … 63678.html
i am a win98 person as they only just got allt he bugs sorted in that lol
If your planning on re-installing everything i.e. Win XP, your applications and own files. Then the simplest way to do it would be use a Win 98 or 95 boot floppy. Use Fdisk to remove any partions on the drive, both DOS and NON-DOS. Then use FDISK to create your new drive partion(s).
Then start your PC with the XP Cd in the drive and install it. As part of the install process it will format your drive. Don’t forget though to back up your own files before you do this as everything will be wiped from the drive.
Did your PC come with any restore or system disks. If it did you can use them to do same thing, plus it will have the correct drivers for sound card, video card etc, plus all the software that was pre-installed when you got the machine.
Colin, Metal my machine is not self built but self altered as in motherboard , hdd, cd writer etc etc i have replaced all these through the years.
I used to run a disc format monthly rather than use anti-virus or firewalls i cant afford my machine being slowed due to alot of online gaming.
I am new to XP though i can format in 98 me etc with my eyes closed but with XP it doesnt seem to understand the “format” command in the dos screen and you cant run setup.exe from the cd rom as it doesnt have one!! so the last time i had to install me first and then XP on top that seems to work fine i just wondered rather than the setup command what else do you have to say?.
Maybe i will try to boot it from the cdrom?.
Dont worry about backing upi have 2 pc,s on a network i just transfer important stuff or store it online.
I wanted to do the same a while ago
I just put the xp CD in the drive and it does a new install romoving all the old XP first all automatic!
It has increased the speed of my PC by about 50%
mine is a self build bit old compared to most now nd it was only built last year but one thing i do want to kknwo is how many of you know about and how to defrag and empty your temp folders @ least once a month as i find that thsi is the most frequent asked question Why does my pc run slow blah blah its like asking why my truck goes 10km/h slower maybe its because of the mountain of mc’ds packaging etc on the bottom bunk weighing it down 
so a good clean up is needed as in a pc
common way to clean disk up is
open browser click on tools then internet options then there it says Delete Temp files click this then ok
same goes for cookies ( they store little bits of info ) if you have sites like this one where when you log on that it logs you in automatically make sure that you know the password as it is normally stored in a cookie ( encrypted i may add )
and depending on what you been looking at you could always do the history as well and that gets rid of all those sites listed in the address bar that pop up when you type something
or another way (not all windows) is to right click the mouse on the C:/ drive icon in my computer and then select properties and from there click on disk cleanup and select what you want from there
To defrag win98
Right click on c/drive icon and select properties and then select tools and then select Defrag ( if you havent scanned for errors in a while dp this first ) also when doing this try not to use the pc etc as this will make it take longer as it keeps restarting the defrag/scandisk
Win xp
To open Disk Defragmenter, click Start, point to All Programs, point to Accessories, point to System Tools, and then click Disk Defragmenter.
microsoft.com/windowsxp/home … erview.asp
I am a bit puzzled Jammy. 
I tried the format/? command from a DOS prompt and got a list of all the switches etc to use with the command, so it seems to recognise on mine OK. I put in my XP (Pro) Cd and it showed a menu with an option to install XP. Browsed the XP CD and found a setup.exe in the root of it.
I am not sure which is the best way for you to do this. If you right click on the c drive, there is a format option in the menu. I’m not sure how well this works as I have never tried. Logically it must fail at some point as it wipes out its own command !!!
Interested to hear how you get on.
I’ve just thought 
, as Metal is going to formatted on a regular basis, why not get a copy of Norton Ghost or similar. Take a “ghost image” of the PC after you have formatted it and built up the other software you want on it. Store it on your network or CD. Then all you’ll have to do each month is re-apply the image. That will save a lot of grief and time.
no i dont mean format reguraly i mean defrag it reguraly ( any one know of a good spelling teacher lol ) as in sort it out where it all meant to be
For those who dont knwo what defrag is just in case ( defragmentation)
is when you use your pc parts of the file system get moved around etc and mixed up so that when pc needs to find it it takes a bit longer hence the slow running
so what a defrag does is basically sorts it all out eg>
Having a book case with 4 authors in it
stephen king ,james herbert ,terry pratchett,spike milligan and you have the full collection from each but instead of them been sorted into their respective group you would have for instance
sk,sm,tp,tp,sk,jh,sm,sk, on one shelf and so on
what defrag does is puts them in order
eg: sk,sk,sk,sk,tp,tp,tp,tp,jh,jh,jh,sm,sm,sm
also point with ghost and imaging make sure that the image you are creating is pure with no spyware etc etc and especially viruses as it defeats the object of a restore 
Don’t bother buy a ZX Spectrum 48K never had to defrag it once
Irlamsdriver:
Don’t bother buy a ZX Spectrum 48K never had to defrag it once
you lucky booger i couldnt afford a speccy i had a zx81 omg 16k ( upgraded ram) 4 hrs to make a game that didnt work lol
I’ll bet you the old cassette player with a pen mark at the right volume level to load games as well
At least my Vic 20 and Commodore 64 had their own tape players
I defragmented a ZX Spectrum once - accidentally dropped a 5 tray cantilever toolbox full of spanners on my brothers’ and, after picking up all the fragments, glued it back together - don’t know if he ever found out as he seemed to loose interest in computers about that time
Jules
Remember this… If you are going to install xp via the cd, you will need to ensure that your computer will boot from the cd rom drive. Older computers will boot from the floppy because the old win 98 etc did just that, installing all the drivers from the floppy first before using the cd drive.
To do this you will have to go into your bios and ajust the boot sequence. This is very easy, just dont change anything else. www.theeldergeek.com plus many other help websites can show you how to do this. I have a dell and to access the bios I just keep pressing the del button during the boot up.
Hope this helps…
Is your HDD formatted with FAT32 or NTFS ? If its fomatted with FAT32, all you have to do is insert a Windows 98SE or ME startup disk into your floppy drive, start your machine and follow the on-screen instructions.
If its formatted with NTFS then you have to “fdisk” your HDD, delete all the partitions and then create a new one(s). You then have to format each partiton using the Windows 98SE/ME startup disk.
You use a Windows 98SE/ME startup disk because it loads standard CD-ROM drivers onto your system, allowing you to use your CD-ROM drive if you have no OS installed.
Most modern PCs will boot from the CD-ROM but I find that if you “manually” format the HDD it gives a cleaner installation. Also, create a partition in your HDD and copy your Windows XP CD to it, along with all your essential drivers for monitor, graphics card, peripherals, etc. The reason for this is that it stops your Windows CD and Driver CDs from getting damaged if you add new hardware or software in the future. Also, if you ever format your HDD in the future then you just reinstall XP and your drivers from the partition you created.
As for keeping your PC in tip-top condition, I use Executive Software’s Diskeeper Pro 8.0 to defrag the HDD - its far superior to the one you get in Windows; Webroot’s Windows Washer 5.0 to clean virtually every part of the HDD after a session on the internet (it also “bleaches” your HDD to stop files ever being recovered); RegVac 2.0 to keep the registry optimised; and, Norton Internet Security 2004 Pro because its the best Anti-Virus, Firewall and e-mail filtering software on the market.
I’m a bit of an anorak when it comes to PCs so if anybody has any problems whatsoever, PM me and I’ll be glad to help you out !
I ain’t askin you if you use fdisk 
, mate . There are plenty of disc partitioning progs about, which operate in DOS, that are much easier to use than fdisk. I’ve got Partition Commander 6, by VCOM, it was free with the mag’ I get monthly. P. C. 8 is now available for about £30.
P.C.6 gives you a visual of your HDD, which you can partition and format in several different types, eg FAT16, FAT32, NTFS, Linux etc and see what you are doing. It can be wizard driven or straight manual.
My first 'puter was a Commodore 64 , with tape drive. I never had to defrag it either. But was it slow 
I have been to help a mate out today.
He has a Packard Bell running ME, He has tried to load XP on it but has somehow got his partitions mixed up.
Whats the difference between primary dos and extended dos, It appears that there is 14500mb on primary and a similar amount on extended. 50% on each section.
FDISK shows the primary is active FAT32 but the extended is unknown. He thinks it was NTFS
Both are not showing values.
I tried to load Windows 98SE that Microsoft have sent FOC but got an error message about the file partition and a SU00012 error.
It seems the problem stems from not having a Packard bell original setup disc.
What dos command should I use to put the disc back to 32FAT in one partition.
fdisk brings up the menu to deleteor create partitions but it says both are linked and cannot be deleted.
Im struggling to remember exactly what he told me he had done. PC is not in front of me at moment.
If I put 98SE boot disk in it just locks up
I need help.
It sounds like a low level format might be required - this is not a place you want to go to unless you are very confidant and have the right tools.
The easiest option would be to buy a new hard drive and start from scratch.
example: aria do a 40Gb IBM for £36.43 inc VAT
install new drive and fdisk and format off 98 bootdisk, or better yet if you can boot from cd just install off XP - it will lead you through partition and formatting on the way.
The only problem you could come up against is getting the drivers for the Packard Bell gear although these should be available from the PB website.
Jules
Thanks Guys
I spoke to Microsoft support in New Delhi today!!!
but, but, but, but they said it is a common problem which the engineers are working on. They understood straight away what I was telling them and have said it is a compatibility issue between 2000 ME and XP.
I cant do any harm as the files are all corrupt anyway.
I understand 3.1 and Win98
Never mind its modern technology
Wheel Nut:
I have been to help a mate out today.
He has a Packard Bell running ME, He has tried to load XP on it but has somehow got his partitions mixed up.
Packard Hell are notorius for this sort of problem, they have a hidden partition on them, to do with their recovery disc, and they don’t like other operating systems being installed. I’ve battled with Packard Hell machines on a couple of occasions for friends and it has always been a nightmare.
Getting rid of the hidden partition is hard and I can’t recall what I did in the past as it was a while ago and I refuse to work on them any more because they are so bad.
It may work if you boot from the XP disc, let it format the drive, you said his files are corrupt anyway so no more to lose and XP works better when installed clean rather than as an update, and then it will create the partitions for you but because of the hidden partition it may fail.
Best bet is to ditch the HDD and get a new one, for all they cost these days