Formating

[peruney]

Hi guys, I need some help. My rig is a Duron 800MGHZ<>128SDRAM<> burner<>40GBHDDX7200<>OS ME.
I want to completely clean my HDD so the buyer can get it that way. It refuses to recognise the bootdisk and when I use the
DOS comand [ format c: } it tells me all data will be lost on drive
c will be lost proceed with format (Y/N) . I type Y. Then It tells me
drive c is in use by another process. Aborting format. I am sure there is another way but I dont know how.
Help from anyone will be greatly appreciated
peruney





















THISISAGOODWON

[maxximilian]

Question......

If the system isn't recognizing your bootdisk....what method are you using to get to true DOS. You can't use an MSDOS box from within windows for this process.

[peruney]

Hi Max, That is the only way I know how to get to MS-DOS.
I cant get to it with bootdisk.
Thanks for replying






























THISISAGOODWON

:rolleyes:

[maxximilian]

The MSDOS box is not true DOS. You must have true DOS to reformat. In ME, that means a bootdisk.

So...the first thing to do is try another ME bootdisk. It's fairly common for floppies to be bad or go bad over time. Try making another one on a new floppy and give it a whirl. I personally have 6 ME bootdisks because I want to be sure I have one when needed.

[slipshod]

If you know the manufacturer of the drive you can go to their website and look thru their utilities to see if the offer a program to write zero's to the drive.

I know Maxtor and WD offer such a program.

[peruney]

:confused: Hi Max, I did as you suggested and a bit more.
I did an overinstall and at the prompt made a new bootdisk.
That one dont work either. I went into the setup in the advanced part to see things. I noticed the first boot device was IDE<>
second was cdrom third was floopy. Is this the correct sequence.
If not how do i change it. I am a dummy on that stuff so if I have to make a change I will need step by step instructions.
BTW Slipshod thanks. I went to the WD site but did not see or
recognise anything that you spoke of. Might be it was there but
I didn't know what I was looking at.
peruney








THISISAGOODWON

[slipshod]

Go here (http://support.wdc.com/download/) and move down to diagnostic this is the one to download.

Not knowing what motherboard and bios you have I cannot help you with the boot sequence.

You will have to read the instructions at the bottom of that screen it will tell you how to do this.

You need to make the floppy the first boot device then IDE followed by the CD-Rom.

[peruney]

Hi Slipshod and thanks for replying. Some info, my BIOS is
Ambios simple setup utility Version 1.21.05 <>MTBD M830LR
Duron AK7. HDD is a WD 40GX7200. Windows ME. I went into the bios and somehow changed the floopy to second boot. IDE is still #1 . I dont understand how to change the sequence the way it should be. Like I said I am a dummy in this.
If you can/will help I am very grateful.
peruney











THISISAGOODWON

[slipshod]

Look here (http://www.bzboyz.com/store/product1422.html) is this your motherboard?

[slipshod]

highlight the floppy in the bios boot sequence and hit enter and see if it gives you a menu.

If that doesn't work try the up and down arrows on the keyboard.

Also the plus and minus keys may work......:D

You may have to fudge with it awhile til you figure it out.

[Alfons]

You can try the Page Up & Page Down keys to cycle through the available selections of the highlighted item in some BIOS's. Your Arrow keys can navigate you on a page in this type of BIOS, and ESC takes you to the main menu. These navigation & selection keys are usually described at the bottom of each page.

If the main menu has a bunch of "boxes" and rough graphics, then your mouse probably works as well as the arrow keys. Pressing Enter on a highlighted item will usually show selections in this type of MMI.

If you really want to know without guessing, go to the Motherboard Manufacturer's site and download a manual (you'll probably need Acrobat Reader for it & it's free & downloadable). The BIOS is usually described in this manual, so you can find out how to use it & what the settings mean.

[peruney]

:D Hi guys, Slipshod you nailed the motherboard and I have an
800MGHZ Duron processor. I did try to hglt floopy and hit enter but it did nuthin. Arrow up-down just changed the selection.
Alfons your tip on using the + - did it. Now it is set floopy#1
IDE#2 CD-ROM#3. Now a little help to clean the HDD.
I do not have it partitioned so the normal steps in the tutorial
that's been posted dont help. I sure hope others appreciate this
website as much as I do. You guys are the BEST.

:D :D :D Thanky much peruney









THISISAGOODWON

[slipshod]

Did you download the program from WD and extract it to a floppy?

If so go here (http://www.bootdisk.com/) and download DrDos 7.X.

After you download it put a blank floppy in the drive and double click the program that you downloaded, It will create a boot disk.

Boot to the DrDos 7.X disk, At the A:> prompt remove the DrDos disk and insert the the WD disk.

Type dir then enter.

Then type dlgdiag.exe, Enter

Enter again.

Y Enter

N Enter for no Lifeline Installation.

Arrow down to Write Zeros To Drive

Enter

Then follow the instructions from there.

[peruney]

:D Hi Slipshod, Yep I did download and put digdiag and DR Dos 7x on floopys. I used them the way you instructed and it did a
great job.BTW I apologise for giving Alfons credit for using the plus minus keys when it was you. It was late and past my bedtime. I am 71 yrs senior and things slip by more than ever.
The suggestions made by Alfons are rite on but I dont need to get anything from the manufactures website since this worked so well. Thanks anyway Alfons.
I appreciate all the help and might be someone else can use this info. THANKS AGAIN TO ALL
peruney








THISISAGOODWON

[Alfons]

Anytime Peruney, glad you got it all squared away. I generally like to have a copy of all my motherboard documentation, even the poorly written ones usually have something in them that I wouldn't have known otherwise.