Guest lrh381b2 Posted July 17, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 My hard drive (with a messed up XP on it) is labeled G: for some reason. I am trying to format it and label it the C: drive. Then I plan to do a clean install of XP Pro. I tried to format it using Vista on my other hard drive, but it won't allow it because it is "active". I also tried to format it using MS-DOS 6.22, but MS-DOS won't recongnize G: as a hard drive so it won't format it. If I boot from the XP Pro CD, will it give me an option to format the drive and change drive letters? Thanks.
Guest Shenan Stanley Posted July 17, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 Re: format hard drive lrh381b2 wrote: > My hard drive (with a messed up XP on it) is labeled G: for some > reason. I am trying to format it and label it the C: drive. Then I > plan to do a clean install of XP Pro. I tried to format it using > Vista on my other hard drive, but it won't allow it because it is > "active". I also tried to format it using MS-DOS 6.22, but MS-DOS > won't recongnize G: as a hard drive so it won't format it. If I > boot from the XP Pro CD, will it give me an option to format the > drive and change drive letters? Thanks. If you are performing a clean installation - just boot with whatever OS installation media you will be using (after unhooking all external drives and any internal ZIP drives) and use it's installation steps to delete and create partitions on the drive and format those partitions. -- Shenan Stanley MS-MVP -- How To Ask Questions The Smart Way http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html
Guest Gordon Posted July 17, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 Re: format hard drive "lrh381b2" <lrh381b2@discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:F68CF195-D613-4391-96AB-E6DCFD30B229@microsoft.com... > My hard drive (with a messed up XP on it) is labeled G: for some reason. > I > am trying to format it and label it the C: drive. Then I plan to do a > clean > install of XP Pro. I tried to format it using Vista on my other hard > drive, > but it won't allow it because it is "active". I also tried to format it > using MS-DOS 6.22, but MS-DOS won't recongnize G: as a hard drive so it > won't > format it. If I boot from the XP Pro CD, will it give me an option to > format > the drive and change drive letters? Thanks. > In addition to what Shenan said, you need to be VERY careful. If in fact your "G" drive is the primary active partition, it contains the MBR and if you format it, you will not be able to boot into Vista.....
Guest Uncle Grumpy Posted July 17, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 Re: format hard drive "Gordon" <gbplinux@gmail.com.invalid> wrote: >In addition to what Shenan said, you need to be VERY careful. If in fact >your "G" drive is the primary active partition, it contains the MBR and if >you format it, you will not be able to boot into Vista..... Well, since a clean install of either Vista or XP actually formats the drive/partition before installing, that shoots that all to hell.
Guest Gordon Posted July 17, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 Re: format hard drive "Uncle Grumpy" <unclegrumpy@ameritech.net> wrote in message news:touo93pgucbhdivvs7ji982gegv0r15698@4ax.com... > "Gordon" <gbplinux@gmail.com.invalid> wrote: > >>In addition to what Shenan said, you need to be VERY careful. If in fact >>your "G" drive is the primary active partition, it contains the MBR and if >>you format it, you will not be able to boot into Vista..... > > Well, since a clean install of either Vista or XP actually formats the > drive/partition before installing, that shoots that all to hell. > No it doesn't because the OP is obviously dual-booting. If he formats the XP drive, he won't then be able to boot into Vista.
Guest Ken Blake Posted July 17, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 Re: format hard drive lrh381b2 wrote: > My hard drive (with a messed up XP on it) is labeled G: for some > reason. I am trying to format it and label it the C: drive. Then I > plan to do a clean install of XP Pro No, that's not the way to do it. >. I tried to format it using > Vista on my other hard drive, but it won't allow it because it is > "active". I also tried to format it using MS-DOS 6.22, but MS-DOS > won't recongnize G: as a hard drive so it won't format it. If I boot > from the XP Pro CD, will it give me an option to format the drive and > change drive letters? Thanks. Yes, booting from the XP CD *is* the correct way. Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when prompted, then create a new one). You can find detailed instructions here: http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm -- Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User Please reply to the newsgroup
Guest Uncle Grumpy Posted July 17, 2007 Posted July 17, 2007 Re: format hard drive "Gordon" <gbplinux@gmail.com.invalid> wrote: >>>In addition to what Shenan said, you need to be VERY careful. If in fact >>>your "G" drive is the primary active partition, it contains the MBR and if >>>you format it, you will not be able to boot into Vista..... >> >> Well, since a clean install of either Vista or XP actually formats the >> drive/partition before installing, that shoots that all to hell. >> >No it doesn't because the OP is obviously dual-booting. If he formats the XP >drive, he won't then be able to boot into Vista. Reading is a skill... one that you obviously lack. Here's the part of the OP's original post that you didn't read: "My hard drive (with a messed up XP on it) is labeled G: for some reason. I am trying to format it and label it the C: drive. Then I plan to do a clean install of XP Pro." Your advice about the MBR was unfounded.
Guest Gordon Posted July 18, 2007 Posted July 18, 2007 Re: format hard drive "Uncle Grumpy" <unclegrumpy@ameritech.net> wrote in message news:tffq93haot49sd9loijgk8fnmfq1vnsnkp@4ax.com... > "Gordon" <gbplinux@gmail.com.invalid> wrote: > >>>>In addition to what Shenan said, you need to be VERY careful. If in fact >>>>your "G" drive is the primary active partition, it contains the MBR and >>>>if >>>>you format it, you will not be able to boot into Vista..... >>> >>> Well, since a clean install of either Vista or XP actually formats the >>> drive/partition before installing, that shoots that all to hell. >>> >>No it doesn't because the OP is obviously dual-booting. If he formats the >>XP >>drive, he won't then be able to boot into Vista. > > Reading is a skill... one that you obviously lack. Here's the part of > the OP's original post that you didn't read: And here's the part of the OPs post YOU didn't read. "I tried to format it using Vista on my other hard drive, but it won't allow it because it is "active"" Now grovel.
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