Formatting Hard Drive with Windows 2000 on it

August 31, 2008

I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it worked out

fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been

something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know too much

about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type of

virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format the

hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send this to

me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure I'll

just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive? Any help

will be appreciated.

August 31, 2008

Re: Formatting Hard Drive with Windows 2000 on it

Yes. What are you going to install?

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.

Microsoft Certified Professional

Microsoft MVP [Windows]

http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Trainbuff" wrote:

>I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it worked

>out

> fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been

> something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know too

> much

> about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type of

> virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format the

> hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send this

> to

> me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure I'll

> just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive? Any

> help

> will be appreciated.

August 31, 2008

Re: Formatting Hard Drive with Windows 2000 on it

"Trainbuff" <Trainbuff@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:4BAF59D5-23D4-4C52-BAE4-42F57D46759B@microsoft.com...

>I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it worked

>out

> fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been

> something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know too

> much

> about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type of

> virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format the

> hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send this

> to

> me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure I'll

> just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive? Any

> help

> will be appreciated.

Sure - boot the machine with a Win98 boot diskette or CD (http://www.bootdisk.com),

then delete all partitions, create new ones and format them. The question

is, of course - what will you do with it after formatting, without having

any setup CDs?

August 31, 2008

Re: Formatting Hard Drive with Windows 2000 on it

In article <4BAF59D5-23D4-4C52-BAE4-42F57D46759B@microsoft.com>,

Trainbuff@discussions.microsoft.com says...

> I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it worked out

> fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been

> something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know too much

> about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type of

> virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format the

> hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send this to

> me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure I'll

> just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive? Any help

> will be appreciated.

>

No disk?

So if you get your answer on how to format how will you put an OS back

on it? Cus once you format it its all lost....Unless I missed something

in your question.

http://www.pcstats.com/articleview.cfm?articleID=1778

August 31, 2008

Re: Formatting Hard Drive with Windows 2000 on it

"Trainbuff" <Trainbuff@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:4BAF59D5-23D4-4C52-BAE4-42F57D46759B@microsoft.com...

> I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it worked

out

> fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been

> something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know too

much

> about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type of

> virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format the

> hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send this

to

> me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure I'll

> just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive? Any

help

> will be appreciated.

To reinstall Win2k you will need a disk...

you can probably find a win2k cd on ebay.

If you do not want to buy an operating system

you can always try PCLinuxOS

September 1, 2008

Re: Formatting Hard Drive with Windows 2000 on it

"philo" wrote:

>

> "Trainbuff" <Trainbuff@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

> news:4BAF59D5-23D4-4C52-BAE4-42F57D46759B@microsoft.com...

> > I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it worked

> out

> > fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been

> > something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know too

> much

> > about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type of

> > virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format the

> > hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send this

> to

> > me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure I'll

> > just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive? Any

> help

> > will be appreciated.

>

> To reinstall Win2k you will need a disk...

> you can probably find a win2k cd on ebay.

>

> If you do not want to buy an operating system

> you can always try PCLinuxOS

>

> After I reformat the hard drive, I'm going to leave the computer along for a while until I do buy a Windows 2000 Disk off of eBay. I do have the Windows 98 Upgrade CD; could I use this to help in reformatting the hard drive?

September 1, 2008

Re: Formatting Hard Drive with Windows 2000 on it

"Trainbuff" <Trainbuff@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

news:A6EEAE86-585D-474B-8B87-A49572ADCAE2@microsoft.com...

>

> "philo" wrote:

>

>>

>> "Trainbuff" <Trainbuff@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message

>> news:4BAF59D5-23D4-4C52-BAE4-42F57D46759B@microsoft.com...

>> > I bought a Dell Latitude C600 off of eBay a few months ago, and it

>> > worked

>> out

>> > fine, until it somehow contracted a virus (I believe it might have been

>> > something left on by the previous owner, as he stated he didn't know

>> > too

>> much

>> > about computers, and the fact I didn't get around to putting any type

>> > of

>> > virus protection on it.) I wanted to know if it was possible to format

>> > the

>> > hard drive without having the Windows 2000 disk, as he did not send

>> > this

>> to

>> > me. I didn't have anything of importance on the computer, so I figure

>> > I'll

>> > just go ahead and start it over. So, how do I format the hard drive?

>> > Any

>> help

>> > will be appreciated.

>>

>> To reinstall Win2k you will need a disk...

>> you can probably find a win2k cd on ebay.

>>

>> If you do not want to buy an operating system

>> you can always try PCLinuxOS

>>

>> After I reformat the hard drive, I'm going to leave the computer along

>> for a while until I do buy a Windows 2000 Disk off of eBay. I do have the

>> Windows 98 Upgrade CD; could I use this to help in reformatting the hard

>> drive?

The boys in a Win98 newsgroup could obviously tell you if a Win98 Upgrade CD

can be used to format the disk. Alternatively you could use one of the

methods suggested here so far.

September 1, 2008

Re: Formatting Hard Drive with Windows 2000 on it

When you get the disk to do a clean install, either boot the Windows 2000

install CD-Rom or setup disks. The set of four install disks can be created

from your Windows 2000 CD-Rom; change to the \bootdisk directory on the

CD-Rom and execute makeboot.exe (from dos) or makebt32.exe (from 32 bit) and

follow the prompts.

(Note: If your drive controller is not natively supported then you'll want

to boot the Windows 2000 install CD-Rom. Then *F6* very early and very

important (at setup is inspecting your system) in the setup to prevent drive

controller detection, and select S to specify additional drivers. Then later

you'll be prompted to insert the manufacturer supplied Windows 2000 driver

for your drive controller in drive "A")

Setup inspects your computer's hardware configuration and then begins to

install the Setup and driver files. When the Windows 2000 Professional

screen appears, press ENTER to set up Windows 2000 Professional.

Read the license agreement, and then press the F8 key to accept the terms of

the license agreement and continue the installation.

When the Windows 2000 Professional Setup screen appears, all the existing

partitions and the unpartitioned spaces are listed for each physical hard

disk. Use the ARROW keys to select the partitions Press D to delete an

existing partition, If you press D to delete an existing partition, you must

then press L (or press ENTER, and then press L if it is the System

partition) to confirm that you want to delete the partition. Repeat this

step for each of the existing partitions When all the partitions are deleted

press F3 to exit setup, (to avoid unexpected drive letter assignments with

your new install) then restart the pc then when you get to this point in

setup again select the unpartitioned space, and then press C to create a new

partition and specify the size (if required). Windows will by default use

all available space.

Be sure to apply SP4 and these two below to your new install before

connecting to any network. Internet included. (sasser, msblast)

http://download.microsoft.com/download/E/6/A/E6A04295-D2A8-40D0-A0C5-241BFECD095E/W2KSP4_EN.EXE

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-043.mspx

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/bulletin/MS03-049.mspx

Then

Rollup 1 for Microsoft Windows 2000 Service Pack 4

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?amp;displaylang=en&familyid=B54730CF-8850-4531-B52B-BF28B324C662&displaylang=en

--

Regards,

Dave Patrick ....Please no email replies - reply in newsgroup.

Microsoft Certified Professional

Microsoft MVP [Windows]

http://www.microsoft.com/protect

"Trainbuff" wrote:

>> After I reformat the hard drive, I'm going to leave the computer along

>> for a while until I do buy a Windows 2000 Disk off of eBay. I do have the

>> Windows 98 Upgrade CD; could I use this to help in reformatting the hard

>> drive?

September 8, 2008

RE: Formatting Hard Drive with Windows 2000 on it

Many major PC vendors put the files necessary to reinstall the operating

system and/or restore the system to the as-shipped configuration. Dell is one

of those vendors in many cases. Check this page from their support site for

information and instructions:

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?c=us&docid=3E48AE3870775D64E040A68F5B2877D4&l=en&s=gen

Of course this will not work if the hidden partition has already been wiped

out...

Good Luck.

Henry Cumbie