format help

[rici1]

Hi,
Ive just assembled a new PC but put a hard drive in from my old computer and I want to format it, I have a startup disc and followed the instuctions but they don't work. Could someone please run through what comands to type into DOS to format my hard drive and install windows?
Thanks for any help.
rici

 

[TheMaverick]

Well you first might want to Fdisk if your old computer was using an old file system or you either want to get rid of some partitions or add some..

Basicly I just us a Win98 bootup disk and when it starts I go to start computer with CD-Rom support and when it boots and everything is setup and I am at the A:\ I just type

Format C:

and then it will go ahead and format... There are other commands like Format C:/x then add something where the X is but this works just fine for me...

However I am still new to computers I may be doing something wrong but like I said it works great for me

AMD XP 1900+
A7V-333
Geforce 3 TI 200
PC2100 512MB

 

[rici1]

thats exactly what I did but it said
'bad command or file name'
thanks

 

[ahw]

"Bad command or file name" means there is no such file with this name. You will find the files "format.exe" and "fdisk.exe" in c:\windows\command
just copy them in your floppy disk.

 

[4Ryan6]

What is the hardrive brand?
Which Windows?

 

[kief]

is the bootup disk a win98 bootup disk or another? What is the new Operating system you are installing?

Jesus saves, but Mario scores!!!

 

[Crashman]

OK, I think I know your problem
If you are booting from the Win98SE CD, fdisk is located in the root directory, change the letter to the one assigned to your CD drive by typeing in the drive letter plus a colon then enter, such as:
d:
Now you can type fdisk and partition your drive
The tricky part is when you restart to enable the partion! Format.EXE is NOT in the root directory of your CD, but in the Win98 directory!
So change to the CD drive letter as before, then type
cd win98
format c:

And that's it!

What's the frequency, Kenneth?

 

[TheMaverick]

Sounds like you need a new Boot disk =)

AMD XP 1900+
A7V-333
Geforce 3 TI 200
PC2100 512MB

 

[Crashman]

No, I don't need a new bootdisk, booting from CD works fine as long as you know which directory format.exe is located in.

What's the frequency, Kenneth?