Reformat hard drive under XP?
"I have Windows XP and the system has gotten very slow and flaky. I would like to learn how to reformat the drive. Can you teach me in simple English how to completely format the drive and then re-install the operating system?" Yes, but... you might want to think about some alternatives first.
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Do You Really Want To Format That Hard Drive?
Be forewarned, formatting a hard drive is MUCH different than formatting a Word document. The format will erase *everything* on the disk (the operating system, your programs and data files) and leave you unable to even boot up the PC. About the only thing you can do with a freshly formatted drive is install an operating system from CDROM.
I know... that's exactly what you said you wanted to do. But that *may* be a bit drastic. After re-installing Windows XP, you will need to reapply all the patches and fixes from Microsoft, then reinstall all the software packages you previously had. It could take many hours just to download the Windows Update files.
I'm guessing you're considering this move because your PC has been infested by a bunch of spyware and/or viruses, and is now acting sluggish and flaky. But before you go all samurai on your hard drive, I recommend you follow all the steps in my Make Windows Run Faster! article. It's my special recipe to clean gunk out of your computer's pipes, so Windows will start quicker, run more reliably, and go faster on the info-superhighway.
If you really want to format your hard drive...
You can't... at least not while you're running Windows. You'll have to reboot from the Windows XP installation CD, because you can't format the drive on which Windows is running. But first you'll probably want to back up your hard drive, or at least part of it. For help with that, see Backing Up Your Files and explore the various options for backing up your personal files.
Okay, back to reformatting... when the install disk boots up, press ENTER at the "Welcome to Setup" screen. If prompted to do so, press F8 to agree to the license. Next, you’ll see a message asking if you want to repair your existing installtion. You don't, so press ESC to bypass the repair option.
Now select the partition where Windows is installed, then press D to delete it. Press L to confirm the delete. Okay, it's time to create and format a new partition. Select the unpartitioned space and press C to create a new partition. Allot the maximum amount of space available, then press Enter.
Now select the partition you’ve just created, and format it. Choose the NTFS option, go for the "quick format" then sit and wait. When the new partition is formatted, you're ready to (re)install Windows. Depending on your hardware, you may also need to re-install some software drivers to support a modem, router, printer or other devices. Make sure that you have the driver CDs handy in advance. Don't forget to reinstall your anti-virus and anti-spyware software, and be sure to visit Windows Update as soon as possible to ensure that you have all the latest security fixes.
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Posted by Bob Rankin on March 14, 2006 12:02 PM
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Article information: AskBobRankin -- Reformat hard drive under XP? (Posted: March 14, 2006 12:02 PM)
Printed from: http://askbobrankin.com/reformat_hard_drive_under_xp.html
Copyright © 2005 - Bob Rankin - All Rights Reserved
Most recent comments on "Reformat hard drive under XP?"
(See all 102 comments for this article.)Posted by:
Johnny
07 Apr 2009
Ok.. here is my prob... I have an older(6 or older) HP PC it starts up fine. .. But when you go to try to update anything(mozilla-IE6-Safari-WoW...etc) you no longer can view the internet but it says your fully connected to the internet... So will reformating the drive fix my prob and also.. no true restore disc came with this pc.. they made it on a partition of the hard drive.. which I have made a back up disc of... will this allow me to totally wipe my drive and restore it back to factory (i kinda only want windows and drivers on the pc...)??? Any help will be appreciated!! :)
EDITOR'S NOTE: Reformatting the drive and re-installing the operating system will cure ANY software problem. But in most cases, it's an extreme solution of last resort. Have you tried scanning for viruses and spyware?
If you can boot from the CD you made, it MAY act like a Windows Setup disk, but I'm not sure. Usually, there's an option at boot time to reload your system from the recovery partition.
Posted by:
Nauratan
15 Apr 2009
I have Windows XP on my Compaq PC, Now somehow certain Spyware came into the PC through Internet even though I had the Cyberdefender running on the PC. Now, due to the spyware the computer got a problem of restarting on running the spyware scan and on opening ebay etc.
So, I decided to reformat the C drive and reinstall Windows XP from the CD and I did exactly as what is written in your article about formatting the hard drive but after choosing the NTFS format and pressing ENTER for Windows to Install on C Drive just a few seconds later a Blue screen appeared showing: A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.
Page_Fault_In_Nonpaged_Area with the Technical Information: STOP: 0x00000050 (0xE95D5618, 0x00000000, 0x8081882C, 0x00000002)
I wonder why it showed that windows has been shut down because I had already formatted the C Drive containing the Windows XP and its reinstall was still in process.
Now, later I realized that my system was a FAT32. So, I again did the same procedure and converted it into FAT32 from NTFS but still the same screen appeared and I am unable to install the Windows XP any longer. The system's hardware is absolutely fine because I had started using it a fresh since 2 weeks back only, and it was doing wonderfully well before that spyware came in.
EDITOR'S NOTE: My guess would be faulty RAM memory. Try swapping out the RAM to see if that fixes the problem.
Posted by:
Alex
15 May 2009
I recently formatted my drive (320GB Hitachi) and now my OS (XP) will not install. I do not have a single install disk, I have a dual disk that came with my computer (Power Spec) I have tried to install in every which-a-way with every jumper settings and ribbon settings (master/slave slave/master, stand alone etc...Nothing. When I try to install it'll go thru the steps but hangs/freezes up. Is there something im not doing?
Posted by:
Brian
23 Jul 2009
I have the serial number for my original copy of XP, but I no longer have the original install discs. I do however have a different copy of XP that I got from a tech. So my question is, can I install Windows from this disc using my own serial number; and if so will Microsoft still read it as a legitimate copy.
EDITOR'S NOTE: My understanding is that the serial number is not bound to the CD. If you have an XP install CD, and a valid license/serial number, you should be good.
Posted by:
steve
24 Jul 2009
Your article was helpful because I reformat once in a blue moon and never remember how to do it. All of the similar tips and articles I read assume yoiu are infected with virus or spyware or the like. My problems are from old files from deleted programs or down loads that take up space but Ican't find to get rid of. (I find files but can't tell if they are used by a current application or not. I find it helpful sometimes just to back up specific items, wipe the drive
Posted by:
Gary Gilmore
28 Jul 2009
Read all the comments. This one not addressed. In reformatting XP, first blue screen, I pressed Enter. Then comes the message that no hard drives are found, press F3 to quit. In my Bios, on the Main tab there are no IDEs listed, in the Boot tab my IDE is listed. So I can start XP, and reboot, no prob. Just can't reformat. How can I get the Bios Main to see my harddrives. I have never had the CPU open, never bothered the connections.
Posted by:
Kirk
20 Aug 2009
I tried but when I chose "delete primary partition" It will not let me. So all it will let me do is re-install windows xp. I want a clear hard drive, but it wont let me....
EDITOR'S NOTE: Are you sure you booted from the Setup CD? Windows will not let you delete the partition that it was booted from. So if you booted up from the hard drive, that would explain the problem.
Posted by:
Barbara Ferriol
15 Sep 2009
I reformatted my computer which I have done a thousand times on other computers exactly the way you directions said but when I started reformating it, the 'D' drive had all the space instead of the 'C'. The "C" drive for some reason said it had the system recovery on it which is usually on the 'D') and not enough space to put the operating system on it. So, I put it on the 'D' drive.
Everything is on the 'D" now and so far I only find a couple of problems that some programs can't access on the “D”. Is there is way to reformat again and put the operating system back on the “C”?
Posted by:
Rita
19 Oct 2009
I keep loosing disk space all the time. I don't have enough space on hard drive to defragment. Any suggesstions? I have a 4.00 GB hard drive and only 2 MB left on hard drive, but I have deleted so many programs. Shows in the add/remove programs that I have only 89.22 MB used space. Will reformating hard drive solve problem?
EDITOR'S NOTE: If you really meant to say 4GB hard drive, then that's TINY by modern standards -- just barely enough to run Windows XP. I think you would be best served by adding a second drive, or replacing the current one. You can get a 1 teraybyte drive (1000 GB) for under $100 now.
Posted by:
Melody
29 Oct 2009
Yay!!! Thank you for the clear and easy instructions! It worked beautifully! A side note, I had to go to a different search to understand how to change my BIOS options so that my windows cd would actually boot first! When you are rebooting your computer, you must press ESC at the beginning to access your BIOS boot options...Changed it from floppy to cd-rom as first boot and voila!