Computer Wizards

[dalegoldston]

I need the info on formatting a hard drive with windows Xp on it. I go to the cmd prompt and type format c:, I recieve an error that the drive is in use. I want a fresh start to get rid of some crap on my pc. THANKS

[sredish]

Dale, what the hell did you do this time? hehe

 

I'm no computer wizard, but I believe you have to boot up on your XP cd then choose the volume to format, then reinstall off the booted cd.

 

BTW, rode Rip Char the other weekend, had a hella good time. We need to bust it down there soon. Get back to riding, eh?

[dalegoldston]

Dude my P.C. is infested with viruses that norton will not delete. Just some sites you gotta stay away from. hehe. And the quad is torn down for the moment doing a little p.m. on the frame and shit. Ill probably be down for a month but I will look you up when Im done.

[01bansheefox]

Not sure on xp but all other windows you put in a Boot Disk and run it from A: and type format c:

[STLBILL]

Hi Dale:

 

I usually get enough computers at my day job, but I'm willing to help a Banshee rider in need. My background is working for companies (13 years) not home use but the only real difference is the budget. Here are some suggestions:

 

1. What viruses? Any chance you confusing spyware with viruses? Try AdAware or SpyBot before formatting your entire box. It's worth the ten minutes it'll take and might save you a lot of trouble. Remember to run them in Safe Mode just in case there is a process reinstalling the spyware when you reboot. There is some Spyware called browser hijacks that it is easier to reload Windows to get rid of.

 

2. Is your anti-virus up to date? It can only detect what it knows about.

 

3. Use a Zero Disk utility to completely and securely erase the contents of your hard drive. Formatting leaves the partition table in tact and doesn't do much for something called the master boot record (MBR). In the old days viruses used the master boot record a lot. These days most updated version of Norton will get MBR resident viruses.

 

4. Once you get your system clean, patch it and patch it often. Unless you have some applications that will be broken by Service Pack 2 and you cannot live without those programs put on Service Pack 2. In the old days the motto was "If it works don't fix it." We have officially crossed a line in the computer industry where there are enough "zero day" attacks that an unpatched computer will break either way. It most cases it's better to break it for a patch then let it get compromised or have a security incident. Keep in mind not all patches are going to break your system.

 

 

If this doesn't help just yell...

 

 

Regards,

Bill

[nater006]

For a fresh start:

 

Boot off of the XP CD. When it asks you where to install XP and has your hard drive(s) listed, highlight the one listed as C and hit D to delete it -- pretty sure it's D, its one of the choices in the menu above it. It'll then ask you to comfirm and hit L or something silly. It will then show up as "Unpartitioned space". Now when it asks you where to install XP, choose that "Unpartitioned Space" ((where the C drive used to be) and it will ask you how you want to format it -- NTFS (Quick) is the best choice, IMHO.

[iceman]

go into your bios set your computer to boot the cd rom first. put the winxp disc in and restart, windows will start installation and you can delete the partition.

[redcell43]

boot from a XP cd. when formating make sure you use ntfs not fat16. then recreate the partion use all the disk space and reload. make sure if you change the bios boot to cd to change it back to the a: or floppy drive.(cause if you useing xp home edition i have seen it have boot conflicts when trying to load a new program from cd-rom)

[redcell43]

just a add in youll will still have to load all your drivers after your done reloading so make sure you have these you can download them after but good to have befor hand. videocard, nic, printer and so on

[dalegoldston]

Ya norton is up to date and I can locate most of the threast on symantech.com but that looks to be a pain in the ass to delete all that is screwed up. Can I locate a zero disk util on the net for free? Guess I can do that. I will try the other options also.

 

Thanks for the Help ALL.

 

Hi Dale:

 

I usually get enough computers at my day job, but I'm willing to help a Banshee rider in need.  My background is working for companies (13 years) not home use but the only real difference is the budget.  Here are some suggestions:

 

1.  What viruses?  Any chance you confusing spyware with viruses?  Try AdAware  or SpyBot before formatting your entire box.  It's worth the ten minutes it'll take and might save you a lot of trouble.  Remember to run them in Safe Mode just in case there is a process reinstalling the spyware when you reboot.  There is some Spyware called browser hijacks that it is easier to reload Windows to get rid of.

 

2.  Is your anti-virus up to date?  It can only detect what it knows about.

 

3.  Use a Zero Disk utility to completely and securely erase the contents of your hard drive.  Formatting leaves the partition table in tact and doesn't do much for something called the master boot record (MBR).  In the old days viruses used the master boot record a lot.  These days most updated version of Norton will get MBR resident viruses.

 

4.  Once you get your system clean, patch it and patch it often.  Unless you have some applications that will be broken by Service Pack 2 and you cannot live without those programs put on Service Pack 2.  In the old days the motto was "If it works don't fix it."  We have officially crossed a line in the computer industry where there are enough "zero day" attacks that an unpatched computer will break either way.  It most cases it's better to break it for a patch then let it get compromised or have a security incident.  Keep in mind not all patches are going to break your system.

If this doesn't help just yell...

Regards,

Bill

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