Shoutbox

how do i format my secondary hhd in windows xp?

i tried by going inot dos mode, then typing in:
format e:

but a message saying unable to format showed up

In "My PC", right click the crive and select "Format...". A window will open. You probably won't have to change any option. Click Format. Two things may happen then: Either the drive is being formated or it says you can't format the drive because it's used by some program or because it's used by the operating system. In the first case, close as many programs as you can and try again. In the second case, you'll have to reboot in dos mode * and formatting from there **.

* -> You'll need a floppy disk to boot from there. Using command or cmd won't work.

** -> Use the format program, however it may not work if the drive is in ntfs. In that case you'll have to use fdisk to delete the partition and create it again. Format it in FAT and boot in Windows. Format it again in NTFS (or you can use programs like partition magic, but it isn't free).

how do i make a floppy disk?
how do i get into the mode to format the dive?

quote:

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Originally posted by irish_king
how do i make a floppy disk?

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in "My PC", right click the A: drive (with a floppy inside) and select Format. Choose the option to create a system disk or bootable disk and format. You're done.

quote:

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Originally posted by irish_king
how do i get into the mode to format the dive?

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what? i don't get you, sorry.
First of all , try to format the drive from My PC.

quote:

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Originally posted by Choli

quote:

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Originally posted by irish_king
how do i get into the mode to format the dive?

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what? i don't get you, sorry.
First of all , try to format the drive from My PC.

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You cannot format a hard drive from within Windows.

Try the following
Open My Computer Right Click the drive you wish to format and select Properties

You will a screen like the following.


If the File System says NTFS you wont be able to format it in DOS because DOS cannot read NTFS partitions.

What you can do tho is Repartition the Drive.
Download and create a Windows 98 bootdisk from here (http://bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm) Restart the computer with the floppy disk inserted in the drive. At an A Prompt (A:\>) type in fdisk *press enter*

Press enter on the next screen about large disk support

Press the number 3 then enter
(3: Delete partition or logical DOS drives)
Then press the number 4 then enter
(4. Delete Non-Dos Partition)

After you have deleted them go back to the main menu by using esc.

Press option 1 then 2 (you want to use all the available size)
Then you go back to the main menu and Press 1 then 3 and use all available size

here is a website with screenshots.
http://www.perfectdrivers.com/howto/fdisk-format.html

You can format a hard drive in windows.
Just right click the drive you want to format and click "format..."


Obviously you cannot format the drive that has windows on though but you can format a secondary hard drive

quote:

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Originally posted by Matty.
You cannot format a hard drive from within Windows.

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Yes you can. As you can see, Grue says the same I've just told you on messenger Inside Windows, drives can be formatted if they aren't used, and only the partition where Windows is installed is always being used. The others can be formatted if you close all your programs.