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Does anyone know how I can erase my whole hard disk?

Forum Storage : Hard Disks - Does anyone know how I can erase my whole hard disk?

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ispy   10-04-2008 at 05:19:05 PM

First off, I had two partitions - one for games and one for everything else, including os (stupid idea)

I re-installed vista, but all the info on my hard drive was still there.

I download killdisk and it erased the game partition, but I didnt do anything to the other partition, which is local disk c: (and stores the o/s). How can i get rid of the o/s and all the stuff on c drive permantely?

Gonna re-install vista later.

I have OEM version of vista, so I dont have a recovery CD - just the installation cd for vista.

I tried re-intalling vista, but it didnt give me a chance to format my drives.


So, can anyone help me with this? Basically I want to return my hard drive to the state it was before I installed it in my computer.

Thanks! :pt1cable:


Message edited by ispy on 10-04-2008 at 05:25:33 PM
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paq7512   10-04-2008 at 05:31:08 PM
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When installing vista, you have a chance where to install. There is an advanced drop-down option that will allow for formatting entire drive.

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crowheart27us   10-04-2008 at 05:42:10 PM
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Ok this might help you. on the start menu right click on computer and select manage. on the right side of the screen look for disk management,click it. it shoud show a bar graph of your hard drives and partitions. right click on the drive that says d:(if thats where your games are stored). i believe you can delete the volume(partition) trhen after right click on your c: drive and click on extend volume. choose the max space you want to extend it by. that should make it into one volume.(partition)

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ispy   10-04-2008 at 05:57:05 PM
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nope, my d drive is "35 mb CDFS (primary partition)"

total hard drive space is 500 gb

c drive is 232 gb
unallocated drive is 232 gb
d drive is 35mb


and crowheart, i want to delete everything on the drive, all the partitions nad everything


Message edited by ispy on 10-04-2008 at 05:59:53 PM
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crowheart27us   10-04-2008 at 06:20:21 PM
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if thats the case just follow paq7512 instructions. when reinstalling your os it will give you an option to where you want to install vista. go under advanced options. you then can delete all your partitions then create a single partion out of the unallocated space. if your reinstalling straight from windows you wont be able to do it. you'll have to boot from your vista disk when you restart your pc.
good luck
do you have an upgrade or full version of vista?


Message edited by crowheart27us on 10-04-2008 at 06:24:15 PM
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ispy   10-04-2008 at 06:43:17 PM
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I have full version of vista x64. how do i boot from vista disk?

I went into the BIOS and selected boot from CD. When the computer boots though, it says "press any key to boot from cd". I have a wireless keyboard, and it doesnt work until windows loads. SO how can i boot from my windows disk?


Message edited by ispy on 10-04-2008 at 06:59:05 PM
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Rogue77777   10-04-2008 at 07:09:58 PM
- 0 +

Just purchase a cheap ps/2 keyboard -

------------------------------ C2D E6850@ 3.6Ghz-Sunbeam CR-CCTF cooler - Gigabyte EP45-UD3P
Patriot 8GB DDR2 PC6400 - X-FI PLATINUM
EVGA GTX 260 Core 216 1Gig Super Clocked - Antec EA-750W psu
Silverstone case - Dual Boot XP Pro 32bit / Windows 7 RC 64bit
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crowheart27us   10-04-2008 at 07:28:50 PM
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Because the drivers cant load for the wireless keyboard you'll need to get a cheap one like rogue said. you could get one from newegg for about $4 bucks but with shipping it'll come out to about $12. just go to wal-mart and grab the cheapest keyboard they got. if its a usb one, make sure you enable that option in your bios.

Reply to crowheart27us
gogster2k   10-04-2008 at 07:57:41 PM
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If you pc is fairly new, you could also enable LEGACY USB in the BIOS, so your wireless keyboard would work all the time.

Reply to gogster2k
teh_boxzor   10-04-2008 at 08:29:46 PM
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^ yep except mine says enable usb keyboard support.

------------------------------ | Athlon x2 5000+ @ 3.2 | Biostar Tforce 570 sli | Sli 9800GT | 2x 512mb Corsair xms ddr2-800 | 2x 512mb Crucial Tracers ddr-800 | Antec 900 | 22" HannSpree | Creative Itrigue 3000 | PS triple
 Reply to teh_boxzor
ispy   10-05-2008 at 12:57:49 AM
- 0 +

Ok, I managed to enable legacy usb, so i can use my mouse and keyboard in BIOS.

When I try formatting my hard drive, though, it gives me the message "0x80070057" and it cant format it!

why@!@!#!@!@$!

Reply to ispy
juvealert   10-05-2008 at 01:40:31 AM
- 0 +

if u you want to completly delete all the crap from your hard disk use dban

 

this will wipe all data including partitions

 

http://www.dban.org/download

 

Edit: Added Link


Message edited by juvealert on 10-05-2008 at 01:41:20 AM
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