how do you format your hd

[toffeeboy]

i have xp ,i did press f2 which got me into a dos menu but still dont know how to format also do i need to make a bootdisk or anything else i should know b4 reloadind my windows xp
thanx ppl

[B B Leo]

u can reformat m8 just put the disk into ur pc and boot for the cd and chose the new install

[toffeeboy]

oh ok give that ago then will it copletly erase hard drive first i dont want it too just overwrite files ???
the reason im resorting to this is most of my keys appear to have gone into shift mode and not even pressing shift again reveses this or caps lock ,its doin my head in

[mrbongo]

hit delete button or watever it is to get u 2 ur bios then goto boot menu and choose "boot cd rom drive ) or watever it says and save f10 and pc should reboot and when promt hit the button to boot and then delete the install that u have on and should get u back to full drive again then format and install all should be good ...hope this helps

[mrbongo]

oh ok give that ago then will it copletly erase hard drive first i dont want it too just overwrite files ???
the reason im resorting to this is most of my keys appear to have gone into shift mode and not even pressing shift again reveses this or caps lock ,its doin my head in

mayb u got a virus or mayb ur keyboard button is stuck wel down try n c if thats the prob other wise mayb virus if not format her ..but make backup files of wat ya need good luck

[toffeeboy]

ok thanx ill try in the morn just one thing .the fn button reverses this but i do have to keep it held down , does fn mean function?

[Over Carl]

What you need to do is first make a boot floopy from a working pc (go to format but tell it to make it a system disk).

Boot from the boot floppy and type these commands all followed by return

c:
deltree c:windows
y
deltree c:progra~1
y

This will delete the c:\windows\ and c:\program files\ directories.

The type

cd docume~1
dir

Normally windows will keep data in these folders but it says it won't so if you value the data it is worth copying these folders to another location on your drive with a different name. Remember it's not just the my documents folder but you may want the cookies, history, etc. etc.

Anyway, then boot from windows xp cd, install but leave file system intact. Then login, create the logins you wanted, can copy the data back from the folder you earlier created.

[mrbongo]

ok thanx ill try in the morn just one thing .the fn button reverses this but i do have to keep it held down , does fn mean function?

fn buton
dunno wat this is hehe ..u mean f keys ????
mayb its just the keyboard ,try mayb taking some of the buttons of thats doin it ,give them a we blow and blow rould or clean dust etc off and put backin and try again,good luck

[Pegasus]

The Fn button normally has to be held down to activate the alternative options on the keys that have them.

Ignore Carlover's instructions, they will not format your hard drive and they won't even work if you are using the NTFS filing system

When you boot from the XP CD, you are given a choice to delete the active partition during Windows setup.
Taking this option will result in all data being wiped and a clean install of Windows taking place.

[Over Carl]

Ignore Carlover's instructions, they will not format your hard drive and they won't even work if you are using the NTFS filing system

True, but he said he wanted to keep data which is incompatible with a format. Method I described is probably closest way to a clean install without actually formatting.

[liaeb]

Yes FN is the function key, its used as Pegasus described!

[Pegasus]

True, but he said he wanted to keep data which is incompatible with a format. Method I described is probably closest way to a clean install without actually formatting.

Ignoring the fact that there is no such thing as data that is incompatible with formatting (the data is neither here nor there), where exactly did he say that?