• We’re currently investigating an issue related to the forum theme and styling that is impacting page layout and visual formatting. The problem has been identified, and we are actively working on a resolution. There is no impact to user data or functionality, this is strictly a front-end display issue. We’ll post an update once the fix has been deployed. Thanks for your patience while we get this sorted.

How do I wipe my hard drive clean?

R

RedScare

Member
hey guys, i know this question should be easily answered but im just not sure how to do it. im building a new system but i am porting several things over from my old system including the vid card and the hard drive. i want to wipe my C drive completely clean so i can install the OS on a fresh drive. i know it wont work if i just boot from the XP cd cause it will give me the option of either a repair install (which i dont want) or a full install (which is not effective of wiping the drive clean. i have done this and there have been remnants of old applications left over). so how would i go about formatting my C drive in the new system so i can install XP fresh?

oh, and if it makes any difference, my C drive is just a partition of my 120G hard drive, and i want to keep the other partitions completely intact as they house all my data and music and what not.
 
You're wrong, let it do a full install.

Just install XP, it will ask what partition. Press D to delete the existing C: partition then let it recreate it with a long format and you're done.
 
When you boot to the windows xp install cd you are given an option of which partition to isntall. When you choose the C: and if there is still a OS on thier the install you are given the option to format the partition. Format then your on your way.
 
guys i know this is what everyone has told me. but i am telling you from experience that this has not worked to my liking. i have reinstalled XP from the disc and it has NOT cleared the hard drive. when i started it up after the format, there were still programs (such as Light Alloy) in the start menu. although the links didnt work as the program was deleted, the fact that the icon was still there (among others) proves that it did not wipe the drive clean. is there any other way?
 
Originally posted by: redscare05
guys i know this is what everyone has told me. but i am telling you from experience that this has not worked to my liking. i have reinstalled XP from the disc and it has NOT cleared the hard drive. when i started it up after the format, there were still programs (such as Light Alloy) in the start menu. although the links didnt work as the program was deleted, the fact that the icon was still there (among others) proves that it did not wipe the drive clean. is there any other way?
Click to expand...

You must have done an in-place re-install, or a repair install.

What the other posters were suggesting, was to boot up the XP install CD, and then actually delete the OS partition. At that point, it can't do a re-install or a repair install, because the partition doesn't exist! So then, create a new partition in that space, and then format it, and then do a fresh install of the OS onto it.

Note that if you want to create/install onto a FAT32 partition greater than 32GiB in size, then you will have to use a Win98se boot disk, or some other partitioning/formatting tool, as both W2K and XP have been arbitrarily crippled such that they cannot format FAT32 partitions larger than 32GiB.

(MS wants to force users to use their proprietary NTFS filesystem instead, which means that you can't dual-boot with other OSes and be able to share your files. MS loves to eliminate competition that way.)
 
Originally posted by: redscare05
guys i know this is what everyone has told me. but i am telling you from experience that this has not worked to my liking. i have reinstalled XP from the disc and it has NOT cleared the hard drive. when i started it up after the format, there were still programs (such as Light Alloy) in the start menu. although the links didnt work as the program was deleted, the fact that the icon was still there (among others) proves that it did not wipe the drive clean. is there any other way?
Click to expand...

Pay attention- I said to choose D for delete the partition.
 
I have done multiple clean installs on Windows XP Pro by simply placing the CD in the drive and going for a new install and it asks to re-format the drive that you select to install. It worked perfectly for me everytime so something sounds odd with your issue. Perhaps you are doing repair install like the other posters said hmmm
 
Originally posted by: michaelpatrick33
I have done multiple clean installs on Windows XP Pro by simply placing the CD in the drive and going for a new install and it asks to re-format the drive that you select to install. It worked perfectly for me everytime so something sounds odd with your issue. Perhaps you are doing repair install like the other posters said hmmm
Click to expand...

His only problem is pebcak related.
 
i know i wasnt doing repair installs. i guess i just wasnt paying attention or something. i didnt know that there was an option to delete a partion. i only remember having the option of doing 1. repair install or 2. full install (effectively erasing and writing over the existing install). so i guess ill take youre advice and give this a whirl with my XP disc and see what happens. thanks for the input.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

TRENDING THREADS

Back
Top