HDD help please :(

[qiwibunni]

I feel really stupid for asking for help on this...

How do I use an older HDD for data? It's from a dell computer, and I managed to delete most of the folders on it. However, it still has over 100 GB used up and still tells me I don't have the administrator's permission to access it sometimes....if I format it, will I be able to clear everything on it? And if so, how exactly do I format it? Do I just right click and select "format" ? I have done something like that before with an external drive, and it completely messed it up to a point where I had to throw it out -- so I'm afraid to do the same thing with this HDD .

Thanks so much for the help!!

 

[cl-scott]

If this is the boot drive with the OS on it, then you cannot format it from within the OS because it will wipe out the OS.

One option you have would be to simply reinstall Windows, and format the drive along the way. Before you do that however, you may want to try googling "xp take ownership" and see if that will resolve your issues.

 

[qiwibunni]

Thanks for your reply!!

Currently I am using a different HDD with windows 7 professional on it. The old HDD is just sitting in my computer all hooked up -- but I haven't used it for anything really because I haven't wiped it clean :3. I want to use it for data though ~ In this case do I just simply right click and select "format"?

Thanks again~

 

[Hawkeye22]

Yes, a format will clear the drive and make it ready for use.

 

[qiwibunni]

thank you!

 

[qiwibunni]

Best answer selected by qiwibunni.