how do i reformat the hard drive

sjh001 · 08-24-2005, 10:16 AM

Hi, I hope this isn't too dumb a question, but how do I reformat the hard drive and reinstall the OS?

I have an old PC which I want to replace ASAP, but in the meantime I want to try to get it working properly again by wiping the hard disk and reinstalling everything from scratch. I have the CD ROM for Windows 2000 Pro, but no bootdisk. I'm not sure where to start on this, any help would be much appreciated! Thanks.

SteveH.

kram_eidua · 08-24-2005, 12:02 PM

hi there.... Im a new member here...i hope this would be help

try to reboot your pc and then hit the F2 key and the bios setup will appear go to advance and try to find the boot disk priority or sounds like that then try to use the atapi drive and exit make sure your windows 2000 disk is inserted in the cdrom, and it will automatically formating your HDD. try your the instruction there. I hope this is correct.

**cjessee** · 08-24-2005, 12:24 PM

You may not even have to do that. Try booting from the CD first. It *should* say "Press any key to boot from CD", do this and it will start the installation process in windows. Select new install rather than repair. It will eventually come to a point were it asks what partition you would like to install to, you can simply delete the existing partition, then create a new partition and it select the new partition to install to. This will begin the formatting process and installation process. Hope this helps.

removed9808a · 08-25-2005, 05:35 PM

If you can't boot from CD, you will need 4 blank fully formatted floppy disks.
Insert your windows 2000 cd into your cd drive on your main computer, go into the CD and open the folder called BOOTDISK, then run the program MAKEBOOT. Follow the instructions, and be sure the label the disks 1 to 4 in the order they are made. Then put the windows 2000 cd into the cd drive of the pc you want to format, and then put the boot disk #1 in and start up the computer.

anniw2 · 11-29-2005, 11:53 AM

I have a computer that I would like to have windows 98 installed. It has windows xp professional now so what steps do I take to accomplish this.

**Bartender** · 11-29-2005, 10:20 PM

Hi, sjh001 -
Did you get anywhere with this? I just re-installed W2K a coupla days ago. You say you've got the W2K CD? Just go into your BIOS, make sure to set your CD drive as the first boot device (or even the second, so long as the computer looks there before going to the hard drive), then hit whichever keys it takes to save the change. If you're not sure about this, go back into BIOS when you think you're done and check to see that the change took. It's fairly easy to not make a change when you thought you did.
O.K., so the computer will try to boot from the CD drive before the hard drive. Toss the CD in the tray, restart the machine, and just follow the steps that the Windows CD takes you thru. The way I remember it, Windows loads a whole bunch of basic drivers against a blue background, and then the background goes black. You don't get to the "format" choice until several steps into the CD menu. Windows will say something about detecting a previous copy on the main partition (if that's where it is) and will ask if you want to repair or re-install. If I remember correctly you choose re-install and that's when it asks you about formatting. The first few times I did this I thought I'd screwed up somehow. Another important piece of advice - I keep a binder with records of all this stuff handy. Have that binder open to a new page, with the date written in on the top, and make a note of EVERY step you take.
My re-install the other day was on a hard drive that had W2K on it, so my experience should be identical to yours.
You know what? When you're done, you oughta just turn right around and do it again. Before loading chipset, video, modem, sound, etc. drivers, just go right back and re-install again. I guarantee you, practicing a few times will make you feel much more confident. BTW, do you have acopy of the W2K roll-up that M$ put out a coupla months ago? A friend with broadband downloaded the whole mess and burned it to a CD for me. After installing W2K (unless of course you have broadband and don't care about the huge download) run the roll-up package and then you'll have fewer updates left after that.

08-24-2005, 10:16 AM	#1 (permalink)
sjh001 Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 2 OS: Win 2000 Pro	how do i reformat the hard drive Hi, I hope this isn't too dumb a question, but how do I reformat the hard drive and reinstall the OS? I have an old PC which I want to replace ASAP, but in the meantime I want to try to get it working properly again by wiping the hard disk and reinstalling everything from scratch. I have the CD ROM for Windows 2000 Pro, but no bootdisk. I'm not sure where to start on this, any help would be much appreciated! Thanks. SteveH.

11-29-2005, 11:53 AM	#5 (permalink)
anniw2 Registered User Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: alabama Posts: 2 OS: xp	remove I have a computer that I would like to have windows 98 installed. It has windows xp professional now so what steps do I take to accomplish this. Last edited by anniw2; 11-29-2005 at 12:04 PM. Reason: need to add

08-24-2005, 12:02 PM	#2 (permalink)
kram_eidua Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 1 OS: XP	hi there.... Im a new member here...i hope this would be help try to reboot your pc and then hit the F2 key and the bios setup will appear go to advance and try to find the boot disk priority or sounds like that then try to use the atapi drive and exit make sure your windows 2000 disk is inserted in the cdrom, and it will automatically formating your HDD. try your the instruction there. I hope this is correct.

08-24-2005, 12:24 PM	#3 (permalink)
cjessee Uh oh. Join Date: Aug 2005 Location: Ohio Posts: 794 OS: Windows NT/2000/XP, Dictaphone, Windows 2003 Server	You may not even have to do that. Try booting from the CD first. It should say "Press any key to boot from CD", do this and it will start the installation process in windows. Select new install rather than repair. It will eventually come to a point were it asks what partition you would like to install to, you can simply delete the existing partition, then create a new partition and it select the new partition to install to. This will begin the formatting process and installation process. Hope this helps.

08-25-2005, 05:35 PM	#4 (permalink)
removed9808a Registered User Join Date: Aug 2005 Posts: 70 OS: .	If you can't boot from CD, you will need 4 blank fully formatted floppy disks. Insert your windows 2000 cd into your cd drive on your main computer, go into the CD and open the folder called BOOTDISK, then run the program MAKEBOOT. Follow the instructions, and be sure the label the disks 1 to 4 in the order they are made. Then put the windows 2000 cd into the cd drive of the pc you want to format, and then put the boot disk #1 in and start up the computer.

11-29-2005, 10:20 PM	#6 (permalink)
Bartender Mentally divergent Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Chehalis, WA, USA Posts: 1,285 OS: W2K, Ubuntu 8.04	Hi, sjh001 - Did you get anywhere with this? I just re-installed W2K a coupla days ago. You say you've got the W2K CD? Just go into your BIOS, make sure to set your CD drive as the first boot device (or even the second, so long as the computer looks there before going to the hard drive), then hit whichever keys it takes to save the change. If you're not sure about this, go back into BIOS when you think you're done and check to see that the change took. It's fairly easy to not make a change when you thought you did. O.K., so the computer will try to boot from the CD drive before the hard drive. Toss the CD in the tray, restart the machine, and just follow the steps that the Windows CD takes you thru. The way I remember it, Windows loads a whole bunch of basic drivers against a blue background, and then the background goes black. You don't get to the "format" choice until several steps into the CD menu. Windows will say something about detecting a previous copy on the main partition (if that's where it is) and will ask if you want to repair or re-install. If I remember correctly you choose re-install and that's when it asks you about formatting. The first few times I did this I thought I'd screwed up somehow. Another important piece of advice - I keep a binder with records of all this stuff handy. Have that binder open to a new page, with the date written in on the top, and make a note of EVERY step you take. My re-install the other day was on a hard drive that had W2K on it, so my experience should be identical to yours. You know what? When you're done, you oughta just turn right around and do it again. Before loading chipset, video, modem, sound, etc. drivers, just go right back and re-install again. I guarantee you, practicing a few times will make you feel much more confident. BTW, do you have acopy of the W2K roll-up that M$ put out a coupla months ago? A friend with broadband downloaded the whole mess and burned it to a CD for me. After installing W2K (unless of course you have broadband and don't care about the huge download) run the roll-up package and then you'll have fewer updates left after that.