fdisk

I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over. can I use the WinXP disk to
run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but with XP I have no idea.
Any help would be great.

WevilHitch wrote:
I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over. can I use the
WinXP disk to run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but
with XP I have no idea. Any help would be great.

Change your computer (in the system BIOS) to boot from the CD Drive.
Put in your Windows XP CD.
Turn off/Turn on your computer.
Look for the "Press any key to boot from CD" message (and press a key when
you see it.)
Continue through the steps to install Windows XP.
When you get to the part where you choose where to install - delete the
partition(s), create new partition(s), continue.

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

--
Shenan Stanley
MS-MVP
--
How To Ask Questions The Smart Way
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

WevilHitch wrote:
I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over. can I use the WinXP
disk to run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but with XP I
have no idea. Any help would be great.

You cannot use the XP disk to run fdisk. Mainly because fdisk is not
necessary. Nor is it necessary to wipe out the hard drive in order to start
over. Further, it will be a long time before the U.S. adopts the metric
system.

Boot from a Win 95,98,SE, or ME disk and run it.

"WevilHitch" wrote in message
...
I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over. can I use the WinXP disk
to
run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but with XP I have no
idea.
Any help would be great.

Curious... If you want to start over why not use Format. Are you attempting
to repartition your drive? If so The Windows Installation Procedure can do
that.

--
Randem Systems
Your Installation Specialist
The Top Inno Setup Script Generator
http://www.randem.com/innoscript.html
http://www.rndem.com/installerproblems.html
http://www.randem.com/vistainstalls.html
http://www.financialtrainingservices.org


"HeyBub" wrote in message
...
WevilHitch wrote:
I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over. can I use the WinXP
disk to run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but with XP I
have no idea. Any help would be great.

You cannot use the XP disk to run fdisk. Mainly because fdisk is not
necessary. Nor is it necessary to wipe out the hard drive in order to
start over. Further, it will be a long time before the U.S. adopts the
metric system.

WevilHitch wrote:
I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over. can I use the WinXP disk to
run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but with XP I have no idea.
Any help would be great.


FDisk was an old MS-DOS utility that is neither available or needed
in WinXP. All legitimate WinXP installation CDs are bootable and have
the capability of deleting, creating, and formatting partitions.

Simply boot from the WinXP installation CD. You'll be offered the
opportunity to delete, create, and format partitions as part of the
installation process. (You may need to re-arrange the order of boot
devices in the PC's BIOS to boot from the CD.)

HOW TO Install Windows XP
http://support.microsoft.com/default...B;en-us;316941

http://www.michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm



--

Bruce Chambers

Help us help you:
http://www.catb.org/~esr/faqs/smart-questions.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx/kb/555375

They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary
safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. ~Benjamin Franklin

Many people would rather die than think; in fact, most do. ~Bertrand Russell

The philosopher has never killed any priests, whereas the priest has
killed a great many philosophers.
~ Denis Diderot

On Tue, 9 Dec 2008 19:32:03 -0800, WevilHitch
wrote:

I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over.


Why? Many people who want to do this want it for invalid reasons.


can I use the WinXP disk to
run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but with XP I have no idea.
Any help would be great.



Running fdisk is not needed, and besides it won't let you create an
NTFS drive.

Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if
necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean
installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
prompted, then create a new one).

You can find detailed instructions he
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html

or here
http://xphelpandsupport.mvps.org/how...windows_xp.htm

or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm

or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm


--
Ken Blake, Microsoft MVP - Windows Desktop Experience
Please Reply to the Newsgroup

What you said will run Fdisk, however, I don't think he really wants to do
that, as fdisk will not read an NTFS formatted disk, and NTFS is a much
better file structure than FAT32. and allows for larger files to be created,
and better usage of large hard disks.

"Jerry" wrote:

Boot from a Win 95,98,SE, or ME disk and run it.

"WevilHitch" wrote in message
...
I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over. can I use the WinXP disk
to
run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but with XP I have no
idea.
Any help would be great.

Fdisk can delete any NTFS primary partition. However, NTFS logical
partitions within an extended partition, it cannot delete.

Don't know if fdisk.exe is available from the XP installation CD. The first
step in installation of XP allows access to deletion or creation of
partitions without aid from another program. So, all is immaterial
regarding fdisk.

Partition deletions in fact are modifications to the master boot record, not
actual removal of the partition itself. That is, regarding MS tools that
"delete" a partition. Some 3rd party tools may a different matter.

--
Dave

"sgopus" wrote in message
...
What you said will run Fdisk, however, I don't think he really wants to do
that, as fdisk will not read an NTFS formatted disk, and NTFS is a much
better file structure than FAT32. and allows for larger files to be
created,
and better usage of large hard disks.

"Jerry" wrote:

Boot from a Win 95,98,SE, or ME disk and run it.

"WevilHitch" wrote in message
...
I want to wipe out my hard drive and start over. can I use the WinXP
disk
to
run fdisk? I used to do this when I ran Win98, but with XP I have no
idea.
Any help would be great.