Formatting C

[punkerdude]

I need a tool to format my hard drive, I have a compaq presario and it has 1 hard drive divided into 2 partitions (C,D) and i want to format just the c drive because D holds important compaq stuff (i guess).
And, will it delete windows? if it does what im left with and how do i install windows again?

im doing this because one day my 2 cd drives dissapered from "My PC" so i cant use them anymore, i have Win Me anyone may know another solution?

[DreamCaster]

Greetings punkerdude and welcome

I'm a little rusty on ME Does it have any sort of Device Manager listed in the Control Panel ? My first step would probably be to have windows try and re-detect the cd rom drives? I'm assuming that they're IDE type connections?

Do you have a full version of your OS on disk? Or is it a recovery disk type of deal? If you do end up re-installing your OS, you might want to look into something other than ME. What are the specs of your system?

As far as formatting goes, you should be able to use the format command from a boot disk for your "C" drive. I'd recommend using a win98 boot disk and choosing the option of CD-Rom support. Make sure tht you can read from it BEFORE you go the format route.

That's off the top of my head for now. Maybe someone else will chime in here as well

~Peace
DC

[punkerdude]

i know ME isnt the best OS but my pc with 64mb ram cant run smoothly xp i have installed it once and i had to go back because it was VERY slow. I bought a 256 ram card but the motherboard didnt supported it so it ended on my other pc, maybe i will end buying and expensive card on compaq, its really expensive they want to sell a 256mb dimm in 100bucks thats too much for a card of that type.

I dont have a full version OS on cd just a "recovery cd" from compaq wich kinda reformats your pc leaving it with windows ME but i cant load cds right now, btw i can borrow a windows 98 cd, but if i format how do i install it?

With the "add new hardware" option of the control panel it doesnt find the cd drives, niether the device manager.

PC Specs:
Compaq Presario 5bw353
64MB Ram
P3 933MHZ
40GB Hard drive partitioned into C,D

hope thats all, thank you for your help and hopefully you can tell me more with this info.

[NUTNDUN]

hi punkerdude, do you know how to get into your systems bios? If so, check to see if it lists your cdrom drives in there, if it doesn't then that will answer the question of whether or not the ide header plug on the motherboard is bad. If both cdrom drives are listed the you should be able to run the recovery cd from system boot.

[LPDad]

Punkerdude...

You should be able to get a nice inexpensive (but high quality) memory chip for your computer from www.crucial.com

Run through their little memory selector engine and it will tell you exactly which memory chip you need...and it will probably be a whole lot less than what compaq would charge you for it.

Also crucial often has specials, and they give you free shipping.

I order it before 9 am Pacific time and I receive it the very next day!! Some of the best memory--I have even been able to play around and overclock it without problems.

Just a thought.

[NUTNDUN]

I agree with LPDad on the memory, crucial is the only memory I ever run anymore, plus note their banner at the top when it shows

[LPDad]

I always click on that banner.
I even bought some last week.

Great stuff.

[NUTNDUN]

LOL so thats why I have like $2.00 in commisssion, I can't collect till it hits $25 though

[DreamCaster]

I dont have a full version OS on cd just a "recovery cd" from compaq wich kinda reformats your pc leaving it with windows ME but i cant load cds right now, btw i can borrow a windows 98 cd, but if i format how do i install it?

If you have access to a PC that's running Win98 you can create a startup disk to use on your system. That disk will have an option to load generic cd-rom drivers from the boot sequence. When it does, It will assign a drive letter to your cd-rom so watch for that.
From there you should be able to change to the drive and read the files from the cd. All of this can be done before you re-format your hard drive. Are you familiar with dos commands?

[punkerdude]

I will enter the bios and check if the cds are in there.
I think i will end buing more ram and installing xp, thanks all for your ideas.
Dreamcaster, im not really familiar with dos commands, i can get a 98 cd that says "For PCs that have not windows insatlled" and i have access to a machine that runs on that OS but it is a compaq too (does it matter?).
Lets say i make a startup disc from a 98 system, so i start my pc and what will it say or how do i start it? i hope i wont mess up my pc so thats why i came here for help, thanks
And LPDad i already asked a guy for a dimm i saw on the crucial site, thank you for your tip on that.

Im reporting back if something curios hapen until i fix this thing.

[DreamCaster]

Dreamcaster, im not really familiar with dos commands, i can get a 98 cd that says "For PCs that have not windows installed" and i have access to a machine that runs on that OS but it is a compaq too (does it matter?).

Try this -link- for information on dos commands and how they are used. If you get your hands on the cd you've listed above that should work fine. What it means is it is a full version of the OS and not an upgrade, which would require proof that you had another version previously.

As far as booting your pc from a startup disc goes, it will not affect your current system if you do so unless you're reformatting or something like that. You can test out your cd-rom that way by what i've suggested in my earlier post without causing any damage to your system

When you boot from a floppy disc, you'll get to a blank screen with a flashing prompt that should look something like this: A:\

To change drives, you'll need to enter the drive letter followed by the colon and slash symbols. Lets say you've booted your system and chosen to have it start with cd-rom support. During the boot sequence it has loaded the generic cd-rom drivers and assigned E:\ as the drive letter. To get to your cd-rom from A:\ you'd type in E:\. Your flashing prompt should now be E:\. If you have a disc in your cd-rom you should be able to browse it's contents by typing dir at the prompt.

[henryguy79]

Have you seen this new hot site where you can vote for the hottest celebrities wallpapers? It looks like hotornot.com, but the pics are celebrities wallpapers.

I have been banned because I was an idiot and spammed this forum, maybe I will be a better person next time.

[NUTNDUN]

Hey henryguy it's a shame there are idiots like you out there that have nothing better to do with their lives then to spam a forum with your useless bullshit. You made 7 posts all with the same text with something that is totally off-topic, it would be one thing if you posted once in the lounge, but not to other threads totally not pertaining to what you are spamming......... goodbye