Formatting Hard Drive

caulfield53 · Post by **caulfield53** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:47 am

What is the correct way to format a hard drive? I just have a basic Dell computer with a Radeon video card with XP home, but can't find good instructions online. Thanks!

FireAza · Post by **FireAza** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 1:53 am

Use Fdisk (must be used in DOS) it can be found on the Win 98 CD or online. With it you can nuke a hard drive of your choosing then partition it.

Deacon · Post by **Deacon** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 2:51 am

Actually, that's a lot of work for nothing. The BETTER question for caulfield53 would be WHY do you want to reformat? What are you hoping to accomplish?

Post by **Blaze** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 3:20 am

If you just want to wipe the drive for a good reinstall of windows, from the disk or what have you, and as long as you have a basic boot disk with basic drivers you'll need to get started, Go to Dos and C:\> Format C:

Teranfirbt · Post by **Teranfirbt** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 3:21 am

XP disks are bootable and have a primative drive manager as part of the installation process...

caulfield53 · Post by **caulfield53** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 3:51 am

The reason I want to reformat is because I got a new computer, and I tried to look at a few filesharing programs now that Kazaalite is gone. I couldn't find anything I liked, but I can't get rid of the spyware, and I don't have anything saved so I assumed that it would be easiest to format the hard drive... unless anybody has a suggestion? I don't know enough to do what is probably correct, so thats all I could think of.

TopCat · Post by **TopCat** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 3:53 am

kazaalite isnt gone

its just hard to find

Deacon · Post by **Deacon** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 4:39 am

http://www.shareaza.com/

As far as your problem, caulfield53, just use a WinXP installation CD. You can delete the existing partition(s) and start from scratch, right there from the installation.

flamechocobo · Post by **flamechocobo** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 4:58 am

[quote="Deacon";p="394060"]http://www.shareaza.com/

As far as your problem, caulfield53, just use a WinXP installation CD. You can delete the existing partition(s) and start from scratch, right there from the installation.[/quote]
Shareaza is seconded. And it'a always nice to have a clean reinstall anyway.

FireAza · Post by **FireAza** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 5:17 am

I dunno. I had a lot of problems getting me, I mean Shareaza to connect to any of the networks....

Deacon · Post by **Deacon** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 5:29 am

Yeah, PEBKAC issues are usually the most common source for that kind of trouble, FireAza, and I'm willing to bet it was the case in yours.

FireAza · Post by **FireAza** » Wed Sep 08, 2004 6:13 am

/me shakes fist

caulfield53 · Post by **caulfield53** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 1:41 am

Thanks for all your help... but how do I reinstall windows if there are updates?

Nekra · Post by **Nekra** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 12:51 pm

you could download the updates and save the installs to a disk before you start, or you could do it after, but remember that stuff like blaster is still active and it might screw you over.

Infin8Cyn · Post by **Infin8Cyn** » Thu Sep 09, 2004 2:12 pm

Often removing Spyware is much easier than re-installing Windows XP, reinstalling office/w-e, Setting it up like it was, downloading all patches and updates, etc...

So, why not take the path of least resistance?

First, use an Online Virus Scanner:
Go to TREND MICRO’s free online virus scanner
Online Virus Scan
and deal with it there.

Here's an online Trojan scan:
Click yes when you get prompted...
Online Trojan scan
And do what they ask...

Then, run CWShredder. See if it finds/cleans anything.

If that doesn't help,

Spybot Search&Destroy

Download Spybot Search and Destroy from http://www.spybot.info/ ...
Once installed it is important to update before scanning with it...
Please use: Spybot-S&D (easy Mode)... In the left screen, click update... Next, at the top, click find updates, and after that Download updates...
After updating click the Search and Destroy button so you may do a full system scan... At the bottom press Check for Problems... When it finishes the scan fix everything in RED...

Finally, try Ad-Aware...

Ad-aware:
Download Ad-Aware at http://www.lavasoftusa.com/support/download/
After installing AAW, and before running the program, you NEED to FIRST update the reference file following these instructions...

Run the program, and click on the globe on the top-right... Click connect, answer yes when a new reference file is found, and after this, hit finish...

Now do the following:

- Under Ad-aware 6 > Settings (Gear at the top) > Tweaks > Scanning Engine:
check: "Unload recognized processes during scanning."

- Under Ad-aware 6 > Settings (Gear at the top) > Tweaks > Cleaning Engine:
Check: "Let Windows remove files in use after reboot."

Press "Scan Now"

- Check option "Use Custom scanning options"
- Check option "Activate In-Depth Scan"
- Press "Select drives\folders to scan"
- Select the active partition which is usually C:

Now press "Next" to let Ad-aware scan your drives...
It will find a number of "bad" files and registry keys... Click 'Next' again
Right-click in that pane and choose "select all"

If it finds "bad" files and registry keys, press "Next" again
It will ask you whether you'd like to remove all checked items... Click OK...

If none of those options work, I'll will talk you through the more intensive stuff.

Real Life Forums

Formatting Hard Drive

Formatting Hard Drive

Who is online