Formatting C:\

[thedirtyd]

ok i'm trying to format my computer and make it an NTFS system instead of FAT32. i went into my computer and tried it by the right click menu but it said i couldn't. then i tried through the command prompt and it wouldn't let me.

i'm on WindowsXP with only 1 hard drive and that's the one i'm trying to format.

help please!

[chinook_apache]

lol yeah im not suprised. let me know what windows you running then i can help. if its win 98 just got start----> shutdown----> then restart in ms dos mode then you just type format c:
simple with win 98. let me know which os it is

[chinook_apache]

sorry i dont see that you mentioned its win xp well have you a start up disk?

[thedirtyd]

yeah i have the startup disk. just pop it in and restart?

[exeus]

u can change fat32 to ntfs in xp at the command prompt...


In the command prompt window, type
convert drive_letter: /fs:ntfs

For example, typing convert D: /fs:ntfs would format drive D: with the ntfs format

[thedirtyd]

u can change fat32 to ntfs in xp at the command prompt...

i know but my computer's been acting up anyway. i just want to start fresh.

[footballmad]

Exactly.

Go to "run" then type cmd,

Then in command prompt type, "convert c: /fs:ntfs" (without the " )

I'm sure thats right.
Let me know if it works (after you reboot)

[exeus]

oh ok sorry i jumped in there like that

[thedirtyd]

that's alright. i'm going to try out that boot disk i'll be back if it doesn't work.

if i'm not back then thanks guys!

[clocker]

Originally posted by thedirtyd@21 September 2003 - 10:27

u can change fat32 to ntfs in xp at the command prompt...

i know but my computer's been acting up anyway. i just want to start fresh.
Then just insert your disk and reboot.
You will be offered the chance to format and change the file system in the installation process.

[fr600]

If u r using WinXP then its better if u don't convert to ntfs. Format ur drive but use fat32 as usual...

[thedirtyd]

i thought ntfs was better.

oh well. i'll be back and tell you all how it goes.

[clocker]

Originally posted by fr600@21 September 2003 - 10:31
If u r using WinXP then its better if u don't convert to ntfs. Format ur drive but use fat32 as usual...
What?

I think not.

[exeus]

ntfs = new technology file system
fat32 = old technology

[chinook_apache]

lol he wants to format it not convert it. read carefully then understand then post lol i know kazaa lite is being played about with i dont suppose its effecting your understanding capabilities?

[exeus]

Originally posted by chinook_apache@21 September 2003 - 17:39
lol he wants to format it not convert it. read carefully then understand then post lol i know kazaa lite is being played about with i dont suppose its effecting your understanding capabilities?
i would really like to say something to that .....but i spose there would be no point

[thedirtyd]

alright well it turns out that my startup disk was for my old windows 98. i can't find my xp one. i know there's a website out there that has boot disks in a zip file for you to download but i don't remember what it is.

anybody know? if not i'll google it.

[chinook_apache]

yeah you rite i was gonna say something too but i kept civilised and so did you! well done!

[exeus]

You will find plenty here (http://www.bootdisk.com/)

[thedirtyd]

yeah! that's the site i was looking for! haha i probably could've guessed it with the name "bootdisk.com".

thanks!

[exeus]

no probs mate :)

[Johnny_B]

If you have a bootable CD and your computer supports booting from the CD-ROM, you don't need the boot disks (6 of them for XP!).

[thedirtyd]

Originally posted by Johnny_B@21 September 2003 - 17:58
If you have a bootable CD and your computer supports booting from the CD-ROM, you don't need the boot disks (6 of them for XP!).
i doubt my computer supports that. it's from 97. and most of the stuff in there is probably older than that. it was an old one that the computer shop put together and wanted to get rid of. i cold always try it though.

[ilw]

Are you upgrading to xp (will your computer be able to handle that) and if not have you checked about any compatibility issues between 98 and ntfs because i think there are some.

[thedirtyd]

no i already have XP pro. i just wanted to start over with a clean install of XP instead of an upgrade. not everything is old. i've been upgrading bits and pieces of my pc over the years. so yeah it'll work. i downloaded the boot disk from microsoft.com but some of the files were corrupted. this really sucks. there's gotta be a way to do it.

[chinook_apache]

corrupt files from m$. use that link in the earlier posts. they have them there

[thedirtyd]

i did use the link. it brought me to microsoft's download page.

[ilw]

You might as well try just putting in the cd, restarting and seeing if it'll read it automatically (if your bios is set to boot cd first) because if it does then its really easy to format the drive.

[thedirtyd]

alright i'll try that. be back in a few.

[Mr. Blunt]

Originally posted by Johnny_B@21 September 2003 - 10:58
If you have a bootable CD and your computer supports booting from the CD-ROM, you don't need the boot disks (6 of them for XP!).
I downloaded a boot disk for WinXP a while back and it was only one disk. I know the one from Microsoft requires more floppy disks.

I took the time to copy all the contents on my bootdisk and make it into a zip file. I've uploaded onto my webspace and you can download it from there.

Just download it and unzipp the contents. Copy ALL the files onto a floppy disk.

After this is done, you should be able to insert the disk in the computer and boot up from it. If it don't boot up from the floppy your going to have to enter your BIOS and change it. (That's another story)

You can download the .zip file here:

http://home.earthlink.net/~akademiikz07/Wi...P_Boot_Disk.zip (http://home.earthlink.net/~akademiikz07/Windows_XP_Boot_Disk.zip)

If it does bootup from the floppy, just type 'fdisk' (without the quotes) and follow the onscreen instructions. It's not that hard at all.

If you need help using fdisk, you can check here (http://www.blackviper.com/Articles/OS/fdisk/fdisk1.htm). It was pretty easy for me the first time, so i don't know if you'll need that page. If you do, it's there anyway.

[thedirtyd]

i did it right off of my windows xp cd. i set the BIOS to boot on the cd-rom and it worked.

thank you so much everybody!