reformattng XP{ harddrive

[TechieChick]

If your system came pre-installed with XP then you should have either the XP cd or recovery disks that came with the system.
If you don't, well then we just opened another whole can of worms.

In regards to image disks from some manufacturers formatting in fat32, you can convert the file system after the fact. While this isn't my preferred choice, you can do so by using disk management. (start|run diskmgmt.msc)

[avenger_jcc]

Incidently -- exactly what happens to the worms after you open that can? Whats the need of opening another one?? lol

[TechieChick]

We get to go fishing!

Heh...I really show my age when I say stuff like that, eh?

[hogfly]

formatting XP....easy enough

if its not the root drive, use disk manager- control panel-administrative tools-computer management-disk management, format from there.
if it is the root drive then do ask techiechick said, and pop in your system restore disk, and boot from it, XP will format it.

windows XP can use fat32 or NTFS....it runs better on NTFS though.

ps..how the hell did this thread make it to 2 pages ? sheesh

[<tr1><14>]

is there any difference in reformatting a hard drive on 98 and XP?

Yup, there are lots of difference.
Win98 only runs of fat32 while WinXP can run on fat32 or NTFS. In XP you have to choose from fat32 or ntfs.

There are lots of tutorial on the web on how to format a hard disk. Try searching the web or try this site http://www.pcguide.com/proc/setup/hdd-c.html

[Ascii555]

what exactly do you want to do? do you want to wipe you hard drive completely, if so just fdisk it.

i dont think there is a difference. i believe M$ would have some kind of safty to stop you from formating through windows so you might have to do it through command promt if not, it could be hand to have and old dos boot disk

[TechieChick]

Wrong.
If the drive is currently formated as NTFS, a 9x boot floppy just isn't going to work unless you're looking for total annihilation of your current setup.

There are differences between the OS's and booting to the XP cd will allow you to set partitions etc.

[dreamcatcher79]

ok, so how do i figure out what format my HD is in?

[TechieChick]

start|run
diskmgmt.msc

That will give you file format for your hard drive.

[avdven]

You can also just right click on the drive(s) in Windows Explorer or in the My Computer window and it will tell you what format your drive is.

AJ