Format hard disc questions

[Piff]

I built my current pc a couple of months ago and you may remember I had problems as I tried to include old components (additional hard disc) from a previous machine, leading to conflicts.
The old hard disc has subsequently been removed, leaving my new hard disc labled 'I' and occasionally I have start up problems, either asking for XP disc to be inserted or not starting at all.

I am now changing ISP from AOL and I am aware that it is particularly difficult to remove all traces of AOL from a pc.

I conclude that it would make sense to format my hard disc now & start from scratch.

2 questions:-

1. Is there a recommended method to completely wipe the hard disc & start again as if it was freshly built? Do I go to the DOS prompt & type "format I"?
   I would really like my hard disc to be labled 'C' if possible.
   Advice on the correct method would be appreciated.
   
2. The XP disc I have is am OEM version. I assume on reloading that it will want to register with Microsoft again. Do I need to contact Microsoft first to sort out re-registration?

 

[whitenemesis]

Not 100% sure but do you not get the oppertunity to format the hard drive when you boot from the WIN XP disc?

 

[fuzzer]

when the xp setup is run the hard drive will be scanned for previous versions of the software. at this point it will give you the option to either repair the version it finds or continue with a fresh version.

Do a new install from this screen a delete the partition and start again and create it the way you want it

 

[Piff]

when the xp setup is run the hard drive will be scanned for previous versions of the software. at this point it will give you the option to either repair the version it finds or continue with a fresh version.

Do a new install from this screen a delete the partition and start again and create it the way you want it

Not familiar with this. I don't think I have any partitions on my hard disc.
Will this also completely format the hard disc, removing previous bad info?

 

[stevesey]

Not familiar with this. I don't think I have any partitions on my hard disc.
Will this also completely format the hard disc, removing previous bad info?

You have to have at least 1.

I'd have a go at removing AOL and setting up your new ISP first (lot of hassle to re-install all your applications and config as well as XP).

Did you not resolve the drive lettering issue - I remember the thread.

 

[Piff]

No, I was not able to change the drive letter. If I remember correctly it would not allow me to re-name the "main" drive. I could have re-named any of the other drives (which I subsequently removed).
Don't mind re-installing applications as I haven't put too many on yet (it's always been in the back of my mind that this may be necessary).
It seems that the new ISP (Post Office) installation is simple. They have sent me a new router (Netgear DG834GSP v3), I currently have a DG834G. There is no installation disc. Just plug in the new router, let it self install for 2 to 5 minutes and then use Internet Explorer (I actually use Firefox). No Post Office software to install!

 

[The G.F.P]

2 questions:-

1. Is there a recommended method to completely wipe the hard disc & start again as if it was freshly built? Do I go to the DOS prompt & type "format I"?
   I would really like my hard disc to be labled 'C' if possible.
   Advice on the correct method would be appreciated.
   
2. The XP disc I have is am OEM version. I assume on reloading that it will want to register with Microsoft again. Do I need to contact Microsoft first to sort out re-registration?

1 - i have 3 hard drives (500, 500 & 750) and use xp and if i wat to format any of the non main drives then just goto my computer, right button on the drive then pick the format option and do it like that but dont tick quick as thats not a full format

2 - when you re-install your own copy of xp (mine too is oem) you will have 30 days to register it and so install it then get all your stuff up and running like virus & spywear stuff before you go onto the net (getting updates for windows is ok) then once its ready it just authenticate it

i once had to re-do mine 3 times in a day so they thought i was putting it on 3 different pc's so the 3rd time i had to ring them to authenticate it

if you do it every 6 months it does it online with no hassle

 

[WLeg]

You could just remove AOHell from add remove programs, then run CCleaner (sometimes takes 2-3 passes)......but if you really need to wipe your disk download and create a copy of Hiren boot CD - the utilities here will wipe, clean, erase (unrecoverable) all the data.

 

[Antharro]

You always have partitions on your hard drive, even if it is just one.

A clean install is rarely a bad thing and you can betcha your system will run faster afterwards. If you want to completely erase the hard drive first, then grab a copy of DBAN from here: http://www.dban.org/ and run that overnight. Quick erase will be fine, otherwise choose from any of the various standards the program offers.

To do a clean install you will need:
- XP CD
- License key (should be on the side of the PC or underneath on a laptop)
- Drivers for EVERYTHING - graphics, sound, chipset, modem, network card.
- Install CDs/DVDs for any software you want to install.

Boot from the XP CD. After it loads a load of drivers, it will give you the "welcome to windows setup" screen. Hit enter, agree to the license agreement (F8) then it will take you to the disk partition screen. If you have run DBAN then it will show no partitions.

This is where you get to choose your partitions and make sure the drive letters are correct. You have two options:

1) The quick method. Select the drive you want to install to, hit enter, choose NTFS (quick) format, hit enter. This MAY end up with the drive letter being something other than C.

2)i)Highlight the drive you want to install to.
ii)Press 'C' to create a partition. Unless you want more than one, just hit enter when it tells you the size - it will automatically use the entire drive so you won't need to change this.

You will now be back at the previous screen. Except now, you will see one partition, using all the space on the drive, hopefully labeled as Drive C. If it isn't C, and you have no other hard drives in the system, here's a little trick you can use to make it C.

3)i) With the new partition with the incorrect drive letter selected, press 'D'. Setup will prompt you, probably twice, to make sure you absolutely want to delete the partition as it may be a system partition, etc. Confirm that you do want to delete it.
ii) Go to step 2.i above.

After re-creating the partition and returning to the partition list, you should see your new partiton now is labelled as Drive C:. Hit enter to install to this partition, then hit enter again to confirm NTFS (Quick) format.

Once you're done with Windows setup, install your drivers, (hint: you do NOT need to reboot after every installation, XP is stable enough that you can reboot after you are finished installing all your drivers), software, then reboot. Then prepare to run a LOT of windows updates! Once you're done installing Windows updates, run CCleaner a few times to clean up temp files, then defragment the drive. Job done!

 

[Piff]

As it's a rainy day I thought I would get onto this wipe & re-install of my hard disc. I've saved all necessary files to a usb stick ready to re-install, got all software discs to hand, etc, etc.

To format the hard disc I thought I would give this DBAN a try, but I've come unstuck. I don't have a floppy disc drive, only a cd/dvd so I have downloaded their dban-1.0.7_i386.iso file to burn to a cd.
It seems I don't have suitable software to burn an iso file to a disc!
Can anyone recommend free iso burning software or suggest an alternative method to format the hard disc?

 

[stevesey]

Why bother? It's only worth Nukeing the drive if you are going to sell/pass it on. As you are using it yourself you don't really care (unless you don't trust youself not to go snooping around and steeling your data. )

 

[Piff]

I found an iso burner, burnt the disc, ran it & it failed to work!
I am now on a re-install using the xp disc, hopfully I'm doing it right & it formats the hard disc sufficiently to work properly in future. Doesn't look like I can re-name the disc "c" using this method though.

 

[Antharro]

Doesn't look like I can re-name the disc "c" using this method though.

If you are referring to having the drive letter as 'C', then yes you can. See my directions above, I use those on a near daily basis.

If you're just wanting to NAME the drive 'C' then wait until Windows is installed and you can rename it in My Computer.

I suspect what you are referring to is the former option.

You don't need to use DBAN unless you actually want to securely erase the drive first. If you just want to quickly clear its contents so you're starting fresh, then delete the partition during XP setup then follow the instructions above to re-create it.

 

[Piff]

When I put the xp disc in & selected a new install, I had the choice to format the hard disc. The end result is that the hard disc is now labled C without any input from me!
Gradually getting back to normal. System is definately "cleaner".
Only downside is that some files (.tif format) have been corrupted when saving to usb stick this morning. Not a major disaster as I have .pdf copies of the most recent, but annoying as I'm now having to check through them all rather than just copying back to the hard disc.

 

[Antharro]

Yup, most of the time it will get it right without user intervention. Just with some combinations of hardware, or if you have other drives plugged in or drives in the computer that already have partitions on them, then it can get a bit confused.

Glad it's working tho!