Formating c: drive?

[Bob Renault]

I have a HP pavilion and cannot figure out how to format
the main drive. I need to wipe it out and start over. I
have tried from the command prompt and it cannot lock the
system. allso tried to find in setup but that was no help
either. Would be gratfull for any help....

Bob

[Chris Lanier]

your Windows XP CD is bootable. boot to XP's setup and follow the onscreen
prompt's, you can format from their.

"Bob Renault" > wrote in message
...
> I have a HP pavilion and cannot figure out how to format
> the main drive. I need to wipe it out and start over. I
> have tried from the command prompt and it cannot lock the
> system. allso tried to find in setup but that was no help
> either. Would be gratfull for any help....
>
> Bob

[Jupiter Jones [MVP]]

Bob;
Disconnect all peripherals (camera, printer, scanner, etc)
Go to BIOS and set CDROM as boot device before hard drive.
Insert Windows XP CD and reboot.
At "Press any key to boot to CDROM" quickly press a key and follow the
prompts for a Clean installation:
http://www.winsupersite.com/showcase/windowsxp_sg_clean.asp
Delete all partitions in step 5 if you desire to erase all data on the
hard drive.
Partitioning and formatting will be done automatically.
All data will be destroyed, back-up important data first.

After you are finished, you will need to load the appropriate drivers.

If your computer was shipped with Windows XP, these procedures may or
may not apply.
Check your manual or contact the computer manufacturer for more
details.

--
Jupiter Jones [MVP]
An easier way to read newsgroup messages:
http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/pro/using/newsgroups/setup.asp
http://dts-l.org/index.html


"Bob Renault" > wrote in message
...
> I have a HP pavilion and cannot figure out how to format
> the main drive. I need to wipe it out and start over. I
> have tried from the command prompt and it cannot lock the
> system. allso tried to find in setup but that was no help
> either. Would be gratfull for any help....
>
> Bob

[NoNoBadDog!]

Since you have an HP computer, you probably did not receive any disks; there
is a hidden restore partition on your harddrive. Contact HP support for
assistance.

Bobby

"Bob Renault" > wrote in message
...
> I have a HP pavilion and cannot figure out how to format
> the main drive. I need to wipe it out and start over. I
> have tried from the command prompt and it cannot lock the
> system. allso tried to find in setup but that was no help
> either. Would be gratfull for any help....
>
> Bob