Preserved Topic: reformatting drive C (Page 1 of 1)

I've got an old 233 pentium 2 (running Win95) that has been freezing up a lot lately. Can't seem to find the problem, and I think I may need to reformat the drive.

Anyone care to give me a hand as to how to do it??

It's an IBM Aptiva .

Thanks!!!!!

boot holding "ctrl" down and load ms dos then type "format c:\" then follow the promnts...

i think thats right... eh havent used dos for ages

I had an Aptiva before.

Here is what you do. Just like in any other computers. When you are up and running click on Start then Shut down and then check Shut down in MS DOS mode.

From there you will see a c:\ type in c:\format c:

It will say that all date will be lost. Type in letter Y for yes and you are done.

To reinstall windows, you will need a boot floppy disk and Win9x CD.

You might run into some sound card problems is you don't use their recovery CD.

Make a Windows 95 boot disk. Boot from the disk, and when you get to the command prompt, type
format c: /q/u/s
When that's done, create a dirctory called c:\windows\options\cabs.
Copy the contents of the /win95 folder of the CD to that folder, then remove the disk and reboot from the hard drive. Go to that folder and run SETUP.EXE.

Many people might ask why do it that way? Well, setup runs faster from the hard drive, and the files are now local and always available without having to search for the CD should you need to update something. You'll find that just about every computer manufacturer does it that way, including HP, Compaq, Dell, and Gateway.

ooouu, thanx, pugzly, you damn right about the c:\windows\options\cab, I though of that, but too chicken to test it.
by the way, what's option /u for?

If I remember correctly, it's UNCONDITIONAL.

I'm not sure if Win95 has the option built in however many newer motherboards have the ability to boot from a CD-ROM. Check your BIOS and look for an option that says Boot sequence and see if it has an option for CD-ROM. I think this is only an option on Win98+ but that way you don't need a floppy boot disk.

Here's the trick if you don't have your DOS CD-ROM drivers you are going to be in a world of trouble. Make sure you test a boot disk first and that at the DOS prompt you can get to your D: drive (or whatever your CD-ROm is) and browser the disk.

I used to have a "Magic" boot disk that would load a default set of drivers for any CD-ROM but I don't know what happend to it. Search Google for a boot disk and you should be able to find one.

Also if you feel adventerous before installing I like to partition my hard-drive into 2. One for Windows and Program Files and the other partition for data. This way if I need or want to reformat again I can just format the C: partition and not lose the data on the D: partition. Quite a lifesaver.


Walking the Earth like Kane

Yea, Bitdamaged has the ticket. I wish I had thought far enough ahead to partition my drive when my computer was new. I'm thinking about buying Partition Magic and doing it now, so I can save what I want behind the partition, and just format the rest.

Still seems like it could turn into a bit of a pain in the ass though.

- Resolutions, Of All My Fruitless Searches -

You can use "Windows emergency boot disk" (you can create it from Control Panel) and you it boot your computer (it has all necessary drivers).

As far as partitioning is concerned, it is a very good practice to make partitions smaller than 8Gb, so that cluster size remains at 4Kbs (this will reduce the amount of wasted space).

Oh, I didn't see Butcher's reply...

Anyway, Butcher, you can try freeware Ranish Partition Manager instead of Partition Magic. But, be warned, no matter what partition management program you use, something can always go wrong and you can end up loosing all your data.



[This message has been edited by mr.maX (edited 07-02-2001).]

Thanks everybody, the reformat went well, and appears to have solved the problem.

This is a machine I had given my Mom, who uses it primarily for e-mail. (She's an addict--big time).

I found out something no good in reformatting.......Computer Associates is no longer offering InoculatIT Personal Edition!!

Any suggestions on another product??

(Or do ya think I can send my copy to her through e-mail? Or burn a disc of it? Would that work?)

Thanks again.

If you have installation/setup file of InoculatIT, you can simply transfer that file using a few floppy disks...

You can also try this free AV program: http://www.free-av.de/