Solved: Reformat ?

[Money Pit]

Is there a step x step tutorial for reformatting a hard drive in Win. Me. somewhere? Thanks Dave.

 

[Bryan]

First you need a Windows ME boot diskette.

Start>Settings>CP>Add/RemovePrograms>StartupDisk>CreateDisk.

Then be sure you have your Microsoft Windows ME CD and the Product Key. If it's an Upgrade CD, then you'll also need the original W95 or W98 CD, too.

Then you can follow <a href=http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=http://support.microsoft.com/support/windows/readme/winme/cleanhd.asp> this </a> and just jump to the section titled "Formatting the Drives". And assuming you only have one drive partition, "C:", you only need to do the "Format C:".

 

[Money Pit]

Thanks Brian: Yes I already have a start up disk. What I need is step x step instructions on how to wipe my hard disk and reinstal Win. Me. I marked the page you referred to, but I need the steps to delete my OS first?.
Seems like I get reformated 3-4 times a year and I'm getting tired of the expense and torment getting this proceedure done at my retail store.
I'm aware this is highly techincal but with your help, I'm sure we can get the job done. Thanks Dave.

 

[Bryan]

The Format C: deletes everything on the drive including the OS. That's all you need to do prior to reinstalling Windows from the CD.

Insert the bootdisk and power on the machine. It should boot up to a boot menu. Take the option to "Start With CDRom Support".

Somewhere on the screen at the very end, it tells you what drive letter it has temporarily assigned to the CDRom drive. It will look something like this, "Drive X =MSCD001", where "X" is the drive letter that's been temporarily assigned to your CDRom drive for the install. Make a note of what drive letter it displays. If you don't see that phrase on the screen then you didn't get CD Rom support. Stop and do not go any further since you won't be able to install Windows from CD without CDRom support.

Run a test to be sure you can access the CDRom drive. Do this to test it,

Insert the Windows CD and then at a A:\> prompt see if you can list a directory of the CD. If you can, then your fine. Be sure to replace the letter "X" below with the drive letter that was temporarily assigned to your CDRom drive that you should have made note of earlier.

dir x:

Assuming you were able to list a directory of the Windows CD, remove the CD. Then at this point, once you've formatted the drive, there's no going back. All of the data and programs will be erased from the drive. At an A:\> prompt key in the following,

format c:

When it's done insert your Windows CD. Then key in the following command at the prompt and be sure to change the drive letter, "X", to the drive letter that was temporarily assigned to your CDRom drive that you should have made note of earlier.

X:\setup

 

[Money Pit]

HUH???????????? LOL
You don't have this proceedure saved somewhere? Thanks Dave.

 

[Bryan]

Your welcome, let us know how it went.

 

[Money Pit]

Thanks for the help Bryan.
I need to resolve the my other issue re. a printer conflict to be able to print out your instructions.
I'll try this reformatting later. Thanks Dave.

 

[mhughes]

Also a good link for re-format:

http://www.everythingcomputers.com/reformat.htm

 

[Money Pit]

mhughes: Thanks that page looks GREAT. I bookmarked it for later. Thanks a LOT. Dave.