If you want everything completely off the drive ... partitions included, you can use a disk utility from the hard drive manufacturer, and low level format the disk.
To remove the partitions and format a hard drive in a less destructive fashion, use the FDISK and FORMAT utilities on a Win9x <A HREF="http://www.mirrors.org/archived_software/www.bootdisk.com/original.htm" target="_new">boot disk</A>.
Always remove partitions in this order: Logical Drives, Extended Partitions, and then the Primary DOS Partition. This is the exact reverse of how they are created on a clean, blank drive.
The Primary DOS Partition must be made active, if this is the only hard drive in the system. This is where the operating system should be installed.
Hint: It is easier to choose the size of a partition by using a number and the (%) sign than by typing in the entire size of the partition. In other words, if I wanted to split a drive in half, and have two partitions, the Primary DOS Partition would be 50% of the available free space. The Extended Partition would be the rest of the free space. The Logical Drive created inside the Extended Partition would use all the free space allocated to the Extended Partition. Then the Primary DOS Partition would be (C
and the Logical Drive would also be assigned a drive letter, which would be the next available letter in the sequence. Each would be 50% of the drive. It's as simple as that.
Note: Extended Partitions are not assigned a drive letter, and this is why is it necessary to have a Logical Drive created within the Extended Partition. You can have more than one Logical Drive in an Extended Partition.
A second hard drive can either be set up in exactly the same manner (except that the Primary DOS Partition cannot be made active ... only one active partition per computer) <i>or</i> with nothing but Extended Partitions and Logical Drives. However, if you wish to dual-boot and run two operating systems, I'd suggest having Primary DOS Partitions on both hard drives, with the first bootable device containing the Primary DOS Partition that is active.
If you don't want to remove or recreate the partitions, but just clean off a partition so you can install a newer operating system, then use nothing but the FORMAT command.
If you are going to install another version of Win9x, use the FORMAT X: /s command (with X being the drive letter, such as C to transfer the system files from the boot disk to the partition. If you are installing Win2K or WinXP, when formatting, do not add the /s switch. Or just use the operating system CD to format the Primary DOS Partition during Setup. Other partitions can easily be formatted from within the GUI after the operating system is loaded and running, just by right-clicking on a drive letter in My Computer, choosing Format, and then selecting the file system that you prefer.
With Win9x, you have the choice between the FAT16 or the FAT32 file system. I'd suggest enabling support for large hard drives, and choosing FAT32. WIth Win2K and WinXP, you have the option between FAT32 and NTFS. The choice between the two file systems is entirely up to you. I'd suggest checking out the Hard Drive FAQ located in this forum before making a decision.
Generally, it's a good idea to use NTFS if the partition to be formatted is 32GB in size or larger.
The size limit to a FAT32 partition created with the Win2K or WinXP installation CDs is 32GB. For a larger FAT32 partition, you'll have to create the partition with the Win9x boot disk, or with a disk utility from the drive manufacturer. With some older systems, and a new, large hard drives ... to avoid problems with the BIOS recognizing the entire size of the drive, using the disk utility is the best option.
Final Note: To avoid problems, when dual-booting, always install the older operating system first.
<A HREF="http://myrosa.com/fdiskformat.html" target="_new">FDISK and FORMAT Instructions</A>
<A HREF="http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;q255867&" target="_new">How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or Repartition a Hard Disk</A>
Toejam31
<font color=red>First Rig:</font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=17935" target="_new"><font color=green>Toejam31's Devastating Dalek Destroyer</font color=green></A>
<font color=red>Second Rig:</font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=15942" target="_new"><font color=green>Toey's Dynamite DDR Duron</font color=green></A>
__________________________________________________________
<font color=purple>"Some push the envelope. Some just lick it. And some can't find the flap."</font color=purple>
To remove the partitions and format a hard drive in a less destructive fashion, use the FDISK and FORMAT utilities on a Win9x <A HREF="http://www.mirrors.org/archived_software/www.bootdisk.com/original.htm" target="_new">boot disk</A>.
Always remove partitions in this order: Logical Drives, Extended Partitions, and then the Primary DOS Partition. This is the exact reverse of how they are created on a clean, blank drive.
The Primary DOS Partition must be made active, if this is the only hard drive in the system. This is where the operating system should be installed.
Hint: It is easier to choose the size of a partition by using a number and the (%) sign than by typing in the entire size of the partition. In other words, if I wanted to split a drive in half, and have two partitions, the Primary DOS Partition would be 50% of the available free space. The Extended Partition would be the rest of the free space. The Logical Drive created inside the Extended Partition would use all the free space allocated to the Extended Partition. Then the Primary DOS Partition would be (C
and the Logical Drive would also be assigned a drive letter, which would be the next available letter in the sequence. Each would be 50% of the drive. It's as simple as that. Note: Extended Partitions are not assigned a drive letter, and this is why is it necessary to have a Logical Drive created within the Extended Partition. You can have more than one Logical Drive in an Extended Partition.
A second hard drive can either be set up in exactly the same manner (except that the Primary DOS Partition cannot be made active ... only one active partition per computer) <i>or</i> with nothing but Extended Partitions and Logical Drives. However, if you wish to dual-boot and run two operating systems, I'd suggest having Primary DOS Partitions on both hard drives, with the first bootable device containing the Primary DOS Partition that is active.
If you don't want to remove or recreate the partitions, but just clean off a partition so you can install a newer operating system, then use nothing but the FORMAT command.
If you are going to install another version of Win9x, use the FORMAT X: /s command (with X being the drive letter, such as C
to transfer the system files from the boot disk to the partition. If you are installing Win2K or WinXP, when formatting, do not add the /s switch. Or just use the operating system CD to format the Primary DOS Partition during Setup. Other partitions can easily be formatted from within the GUI after the operating system is loaded and running, just by right-clicking on a drive letter in My Computer, choosing Format, and then selecting the file system that you prefer.With Win9x, you have the choice between the FAT16 or the FAT32 file system. I'd suggest enabling support for large hard drives, and choosing FAT32. WIth Win2K and WinXP, you have the option between FAT32 and NTFS. The choice between the two file systems is entirely up to you. I'd suggest checking out the Hard Drive FAQ located in this forum before making a decision.
Generally, it's a good idea to use NTFS if the partition to be formatted is 32GB in size or larger.
The size limit to a FAT32 partition created with the Win2K or WinXP installation CDs is 32GB. For a larger FAT32 partition, you'll have to create the partition with the Win9x boot disk, or with a disk utility from the drive manufacturer. With some older systems, and a new, large hard drives ... to avoid problems with the BIOS recognizing the entire size of the drive, using the disk utility is the best option.
Final Note: To avoid problems, when dual-booting, always install the older operating system first.
<A HREF="http://myrosa.com/fdiskformat.html" target="_new">FDISK and FORMAT Instructions</A>
<A HREF="http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=KB;EN-US;q255867&" target="_new">How to Use the Fdisk Tool and the Format Tool to Partition or Repartition a Hard Disk</A>
Toejam31
<font color=red>First Rig:</font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=17935" target="_new"><font color=green>Toejam31's Devastating Dalek Destroyer</font color=green></A>
<font color=red>Second Rig:</font color=red> <A HREF="http://www.anandtech.com/mysystemrig.html?rigid=15942" target="_new"><font color=green>Toey's Dynamite DDR Duron</font color=green></A>
__________________________________________________________
<font color=purple>"Some push the envelope. Some just lick it. And some can't find the flap."</font color=purple>
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