DOS boot disk won't recognize C:\ to format

[evilmantis]

Hello...
My problem is this. My computer sucks.

My plan was to format my hard drive tonight. I am running windows XP and created a bootable floppy disk. So I booted from floppy and typed in, "format C:\".

Invalid command. Huh??

So I tried a few other things, then just typed "C:"

Invalid drive specification. What?? I tried all letters of the alphabet to see what it could be. Nothing is valid except of course, A: . SO basically, DOS on the floppy is not recognizing my hard drive, so I can't format. AARGH!!

So what do I have to do to make the floppy able to format my hard drive? Or is it something else altogether?

ANY ideas?

TIA
Goldie

 

[Mucho]

You can boot from your XP CD, you will be given the option to format your drive and do a clean install. You can also download a bootdisk with format.com from: www.bootdisk.com

 

[josphII]

your partition/drive is probably formated with an NTFS file system, which dos doesnt recognize. you'll have to use fdisk first or simply do as Mucho suggests

 

[jfall]

Yep, your gonna have to fdisk the partition first then format it

 

[evilmantis]

Okay, how do I fdisk it?

I tried using my XP disk to get to the formatting part, but I couldn't get there. Simply wanted me to repair or reinstall but did NOT format. (I tried this twice. Same programs and crap still on here.)


Thanks

 

[GonzoDaGr8]

Boot up to your WinXP CD. Go forward like you are doing a fresh install. When you get to the part where XP wants to know what partition you want to install on, You will have to delete your current partition. Do so, by typing D, then L. You will then have a partition labeled "unpartitioned space", Choose to install XP there, then when prompted, format with the file system you choose. Prefferably NTFS. Good luck.

 

[evilmantis]

Ahh, took care of it

Thanks to the fdisk suggestion, I did a search and found a nifty program called wreckit. It created a bootable floppy that when prompted deleted my partitions. I now have a clean, faster computer with alot less crap on it.

Thank you all for helping me out!!