xenophon

Hey Guys
Ok I have a computer with a 20 gig hard drive and its 16 gigs full. I'm not sure why its so full so I wanted to erase it and start over.

Seems stupid but I cant figure out how to restart the computer in Dos so I can start the re format process.

I have also never done this so any advise is welcome.

Thank you very much.

{E}Xenophon

CingularDuality

What OS are you using? The easiest way to boot to DOS is with a bootdisk.

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TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

xenophon

I am using XP pro

xenophon

I am trying a boot disk and it doesnt seem to be working i dont know what i am doing wron

{E}Xenophon

CingularDuality

Try one from www.bootdisk.com ?

Are you sure that your BIOS is set to boot from the A: drive before the C: drive? I know that I set my computer to boot from C: first, then D: when I'm not working on it... Make sure it's checking A:

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TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran:

Overlag

firstly, how many games do you have on that HDD? because 20gig is very small these days. most games take 1gig, and some games even take upto 4gig! (unmodded FS2004).

and, not to make you sound like a newbie or anything, but formating will DELETE EVERYTHING. Do you not have anything important on that pc?

It just seems a extreme way of freeing up "abit" of space, because after a month or so, it will probably be back to 16gig again.......

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From Adam Webb

Mot73

Ahhhhhhhhh the feeling of a newly formated HD..yummy!

Peice o cake wiff XP.

Pop the cd in and then reboot and watch your screen...when it says boot to cd? hit enter and away you go.

There is an option to "delete partition" delete it then do the reformat option (quick version) and the installation begins.

As others have mentioned....make sure you have what you need off the old...primarily "how to get your internet connection back up and running". Then if you've lost drivers or something at least you can redownload them. You may want to make sure you have your mobo drivers nearby, I typically load those first. Then drivers for your other components, sound/video card/modem (if you have one), NIC (if its onboard its on the mobo drivers cd).

Invariably you'll forget something but just take some time and limit your headaches with some good planning

Good Luck!
Have an experienced friend who is a phone call away just in case

Wolfie

I like to reformat my main HD every 6 months or so. I have a tendacy to install and delete games and it is nice to clean everything out once in awhile that the automatic program removers don't get.

Though currently my main driver is only 20 GB (slave drive is 120 GB though) so I may get a new HD after I move to Michigan.

Overlag

seems habits from win98 days have not worn off yet wolfie

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From Adam Webb

Quarath

I agree I used to reformat every 6 months or so with 98(every 3 with 95) but I have not had to with XP.

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"they're more like guidelines, than actual rules,"....Captain Barbossa - Pirates of the Caribbean

=DdogG=

before, I would reformat every month or so with '98.

now, on my desktop, I format every 6-9 months (depending on how much I use it and what changes/ troubleshooting I am doing) and my laptop has been done twice since I got it... an both were from a hard drive upgrade.

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The two most common elements in the universe are Hydrogen and stupidity. -Harlan Ellison

If all else fails: "rm -rf /"

Overlag

the only reason i had to reinstall winxp from oct03 was due to some stupid bloody virus.

my dad/sister/mums pc is win98me (haha) and its 2.5years since i reinstalled that
my "server" is 2000pro, and thats 3 years since reinstall

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From Adam Webb

Wolfie

Actually, I hardly ever reformatted when I had win98.

It is just nice to clean out my registry every now and then and to be sure that any files that are not being used anymore are completely off my hard drive.

xenophon

Thank you very much for your help. And on this comp there are no games because its my moms. So it xp microsoft office, quiken and thats about all. Thats why I dont understand why its so full and thats why i want to reformat.

But its done, its all good and thanks for the help..


Xenophon

CingularDuality

I'll tell you, the System Restore points take up a LOT of room.... Did you try deleting all but the most recent restore point? There might be another way to delete them, but I use the Windows Disk Cleanup utility and click on the "More Options" tab and then click on the System Restore Clean Up button. It cleared up over 12 gig of space the first time I did that... 'Course, that was a year's worth of restore points.

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TacticalGamer TX LAN/BBQ Veteran: