Preserved Topic: re-formatting win 2k (Page 1 of 1)

Hi.

Im stoopid.

How do I go about Formating C: if I already have windows 2K on drive C? Like... How do i get to the command prompt?

and my boot disks keep giving me errors... dunno what that is about.

. . .

dont quote me on this Izzy, but dont you boot into DOS first, then Format C: b4 you even let Windows load?

dont ya hit somethig like f8 or sumin? as the machine is booting, and get to your command prompt that way?

*warning* I am an amateur so please feel free to ignore this post! (seriously)

right... boot to dos... f8? I will try that.

. . .

itwas sumin like that , last time I did was years ago (no wise cracks). Got the DOS command line and formatted and partitioned from there.

If I rememebr, make sure you got a floppy with your CDrom driver so you can get that recogniszed from which you can reinstall your OS from the CD. I think the floopy needs someother stuff on it too.

Maybe ya should wait for some 'real' advice? ehh

yah... heheh.... I have done it on a win 98 box... but 2k is just funkay.

. . .

all you really have to do is put your win2k CD in the drive and reformat from there... The CD is a bootable disc... works even on a clean drive. Put in the CD and reboot your system..make sure your cd rom is somewhere in the boot sequence.. and just follow the steps.

Eyezaer, since you'll be formatting the partition where your system is, don't forget to backup all your data!

hehehe.... 12 cds.... um.... 3 are music though... so... 9 cd's of data.

Thanks! I will give it a shot tomorrow so I wont pull an all nighter during finals week. heheh... That would be fun.

. . .

i wonder if you can format a ntfs disk with a dos that comes from a bootdisk.

i always thought this is not possible due to security restrictions.

You can format it but you can't read from it.

You can always fdsisk and wipe out all partitions, reset them and then format from there.



.:[ The Tao of Steve ]:.
Be Desireless
Be Excellent
Be Gone
...................................

lol...I reformat my win2k disk every other month because it helps to speed it up the computer! Just remember NOT, as in NEVER to rely on a Win98 or 95 or ME etc...because they can't read an NTFS partition...I didn't know that when I first got an NT based system, it wasn't pretty!

{<<-<< >>->>}
"People who think they know everything are really just an annoyance to those of us who really do"

-counterfeitbacon

c-bacon... do something about the size of that sig, man!


Harmonizing new illusions...
ICQ: 67751342

I used to do this alot, but havn't recently so here is the best I can remember on how to reformat using win2k.

1. Put the win2k disk in the cd-drive.
2. Restart your computer with the disk in the drive.
3. Enter into you BIOS screen before windows begins loading (often during RAM check, but it varies with the computer.
4. Set to boot from the CD first
5. Save and Exit from the BIOS
6. Allow the computer to boot from the CD, you may have to press a button to confirm this.
7. Follow the onscreen instructions. You need to select install new win2k installation, drive C: (or whereever you want it), tell the computer yes to format the drive, and that about covers the technichal aspects of it.

Hope this helps. About the BIOS, be vary careful what you change in there. This controls the magority of what your computer does, and the wrong change won't let your computer boot in a worst case scenario. If that does happen there is usually a BIOS or CMOS reset jumper on the motherboard. Consult the manual for specifics. If that doesn't work, find a professional or a garbage dump. There should be no problems with changing the boot sequence though just set it so that the first letter in the sequence is your CD-drive letter. You might want to record what the current letter sequence is first though.

Sweet! hmmm.... Yes, took a some notes from my bios settings.. .just for fun. Thanks!

. . .

oh yeah... One of the reasons in am reformating is cuz my cd rom is not workin... um... that could be a problem no?

. . .

OH MAN... okay, so I tryed using my floppy disk boot disks 3 diff times... and they were always corrupt... but my cd rom drive was having problems and has been haveing problems for a long time... well... I tryed to boot from it a few time... it didnt work, and my boot disks failed again so i decided to pull the CD out of the cd rom... and it was not there. I fell... computer illiterate. hahahahaha..... sleep time.

I cant boot from the cd. It is a win 2000 upgrade disk... from 98. Hmm.... I tryed makin the boot disks again, and this time i got a disc I/0 error. what? My machine is trying to kill me? oh.... that explains it.

i suppose you need NT-bootdisks...theres a four-pack of them that you should use...this pac is optional if you use ntfs...and much simplier to use than regular fat boot-disk if you are going to install w2k...

you can make this disks from the w2k-cd...just search the help file for boot-disk and there shouldnt be a problem...but if there is, just let me know and i mail you those disks...

but anyway...if your cd-rom isnt working this doesnt help much....is it??


/m

upgrading 98 to 2000? Doesn't sound possible since they work on a completley different architechture.

Koan 63:
Those who Believe
Can
Those who Try
Do
Those who Love
Live

hahahahaha.... well.... I am glad this is over. Thanks people. I got it... only took 3 days.

. . .

3 DAYS!!! I CAN REFORMAT MINE IN A NIGHT!!!

{<<-<< >>->>}
"People who think they know everything are really just an annoyance to those of us who really do"

-counterfeitbacon

shut up.

I had to reformat it all again... cuz i screwed up someting. blah.

. . .

atually, any windows upgrade disk is the full version... (shh you didnt hear this from me)

there is a catch though, you have to prove your the owner of a full version.

way back in the days, I bought a full version win 95 disk. since then I have only bought upgrade disks.. '98, NT, win2k and xp pro.

This is what you do, buy a new HDD, slap it into your computer and boot right from the upgrade disk (win2k or xp... I dont think 98 is bootable)

You'll go through a few screens and you'll be prompted to "prove you own a full version" simplly insert your full version disk (in my case, win '95) and let it do whatever it does. (takes about 30 seconds to a minute) Then, it will tell you to remove the disk and insert the windows xp (or 2k) back into the drive and click continue.

45 minutes later you have a "true" operating system, instead of an upgrade of a previous version (and we all know what kind of junk is left over after a basic upgrade)

FYI in about 2 weeks I am reverting back to win2k from xp and this is the method I will be using

Reformat or reinstall?
They seem to be used in this thread as synonyms...they're not.
You only need to format once.
If you screw up your install, then you reinstall but don't bother with another reformat.
The only major advantage of a format in the first place is to remove
any possible problems with the boot sector and/or a boot virus.
http://www.windowsreinstall.com/install/win2k/installw2k/page1.htm

Human22:

quote:

---

any windows upgrade disk is the full version

---

i'll go one better, the last time i installed office 2000 (the upgrade)
it asked me for proof of eligibility. given this was a clean install
it meant getting out the Office 97 CD and swapping it. Given I
was too lazy I just hit the continue button with the Office 2000
cd still in the drive...guess what? no problem, it kept on going.
man those MS programmers are stupid.

my god....

20+ replies to just "how to format c:\"

You made my point, this thread has very little to do
about format c:

it has lots to do about reinstalling an OS.

hahahaha... well... Im up an runnin now... gotta install junk now. Atleast im not afraid to ask eh?

. . .

if I make a thread titled "how to search for free pornography on the internet?", I'll probably get 100 replies. That'll be so cool!

So seriously, where do you guys go for that kind of FREE stuff? The free ones I found are all ugly women, and I don't like them.

ahem...dicussing that here is a big nono...we DO have a rapidly growing female population...

Koan 63:
Those who Believe
Can
Those who Try
Do
Those who Love
Live