windows xp reformatting

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henry_mullis

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Hey,
This is probably a dumb question but how do you reformat windows xp since it does not run any DOS. It will let me format other hard drives while running the OS but it will not let me format the c: drive. Help please. Also, what does NTLDR mean?

Thanks,
Henry
 
I think you have to do it from the DOS prompt. I have done it that way every time.
 
You are right, you can format the other drives within XP but the C or system drive. What I did recently, check up on this, is insert the XP cd, choose, install, then it will ask you where and if you want to format and delete everything in the drive or partition. You choose what you want and where you want it to install, and then it will go on by itself. It is as simple as that. Of course back up everything you don't want to lose.
 
You can format the drive if you boot from a Win9x floppy that has FDISK.EXE and FORMAT.COM on it.

Or, boot off the CD-ROM as Alonso suggests.
 
It is a lot easier to just boot off the XP CD and then follow the instructions.

That's the first thing I did when I got my Gateway laptop. They put so much shit on their computers, it's incredible.
 
NTLDR is the Windows NT Loader (a throwback to Windows NT - 3,51 and 4.0). It still exists as a legacy. Remember that XP is based on NT technology (kinda of a redundancy since the "T" in NT stands for Technology).

How you format depends on what you wish to accomplish, especially in terms of choosing a file system. You have options of FAT32 and NTFS.

I HIGHLY recommned against using NTFS. This is the native NT File System, designed for higher security, but can reak havoc with some programs, system resources, and - of course - recording software and devices. CHOOSE FAT32.

If you currently have NT or some OS on your computer that uses NTFS, use a boot disk from Windows 98 / ME etc, and run FDISK from the floppy after the system boots. There you can delete the NON DOS partition, and partition the entire drive as FAT32.


Good luck

-BM
 
limitations!

Hey everybody,
this might not apply to you but I just wanted to let you know that if your hard drive is an 80gb or higher fdisk will just flip out and will see your hard drive as 10gb. You can download an updated fdisk off the internet that should resolve this problem. Or you can use partition magic 8.0. That's the most user friendly way to do it if your OS isn't already up and running.
dlv
 
Muskgrave is right about FDISK. I posted something in this forum awhile back about it, which has the exact link to the updated FDISK. Search and ye shall receive.

Booting from the XP CD is fine, assuming your PC supports booting from CD (all but the oldest ones do). I always keep a few Win98SE boot floppies arround though. A Win98 startup disk will work, but I prefer my own. A useful thing to keep arround.

As for FAT32 vs NTFS, wow there has been a LOT of posting here on that issue. Suffice to say that so far as audio recording performance goes, there is no significant difference between them. NTFS is less likely to become corrupted, although harder to recover from if it does. NTFS can also be made more secure from prying eyes, however a typical Win9X boot floppy will not be able to read it. So for dual-booting systems FAT32 is a much better choice. There is a small shareware driver you can download that will allow Win 9X boot disks to read NTFS partitions. Again, I posted that info already, do a seach for the word NTFSDOS.
 
BibleMan said:

I HIGHLY recommned against using NTFS. This is the native NT File System, designed for higher security, but can reak havoc with some programs, system resources, and - of course - recording software and devices. CHOOSE FAT32.
Click to expand...

Completely untrue. There is no significant performance loss when using NTFS over FAT32. Unless you are using some extremely old software, you will have no problems.

I've been using NT based systems with NTFS for around 7 years now and never had any issues like BibleMan describes.
 
how do you reformat windows xp since it does not run any DOS.
Click to expand...

put a blank floppy into your A drive and select format. An option here is to create a MSDOS disk. Now boot from your A drive and you'll be in DOS.

It's easier to use the XP CD for reformatting but rememeber to use the files and setup transfer wizard when you do it.

check out the post I made here


https://homerecording.com/bbs/showthread.php?s=&threadid=65901&pagenumber=2

cheers
John
 
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