Y i can't format my hard drive partitions

[kaitoyes]

helo....
my harddisk is fdisk 2 partitions
but when i boot disk ..it say operating syetem problem.....
now i want to format this drive and don't want partition again....i just want a master drive.....how i do
please help...thanks

[Theoran]

Are you saying that you don't want 2 partitions any more. You just want 1 large partition? If so, then you will need to use fdisk and remove all of the partitions and then repartition your hard drive into one large Primary DOS Partition and then format that one partition.

The instructions for doing this, if you need them, are below.

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How to Remove a Partition from a Hard Disk

1.) Insert the Startup disk in the floppy disk drive, restart your computer. When the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed, select the Start computer without CD-ROM support menu option, and then press ENTER.

At a command prompt, type fdisk, and then press ENTER.

2.) Do you wish to enable large disk support?
Press Y and then press ENTER. This will enable the FAT32 file system

3.) After you press ENTER, the following Fdisk Options menu is displayed:
1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive
2. Set active partition
3. Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive
4. Display partition information
5. Change current fixed disk drive

**Note** that option 5 is available only if you have two physical hard disks in the computer.

4.) Press 3 to select the Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive menu option, and then press ENTER.

5.) After you press ENTER, the following Fdisk Options menu is displayed:
1. Delete Primary DOD Partition
2. Delete Extended DOS Partition
3. Delete Logical DOS Drive(s) in the Extended DOS Partition
4. Delete Non-DOS Partition

6.) Press 3 to select Delete Logical DOS Drive(s) in the Extended DOS Partition menu option, and then press ENTER.

7.) After you press ENTER, you will get the following sentence: What drive do you want to delete. Press Z and then press Enter. **Note** Z represents the drive letter that corresponds with your logical drive

8.) The next sentence states Enter Volume Label. If your partition doesn’t have a volume label then leave this blank and press Enter, if it does then type it in and then press Enter.

9.) The next sentence states Are you sure (Y/N). Press Y and then press Enter.

10.) Press ESC twice to get back to the main fdisk menu.

11.) Press 3 to select the Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive menu option, and then press ENTER

12.) Press 2 to select Delete Extended DOS Partition menu option, and then press ENTER.

13.) After you press ENTER, you will get the following sentence: Do you wish to continue (Y/N). Press Y and then press Enter.

14.) Press ESC to get back to the main fdisk menu.

15.) Press 3 to select the Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive menu option, and then press ENTER.

16.) Press 1 to select Delete Primary DOS Partition Press Y and then press Enter.

17.) After you press ENTER, you will get the following sentence: What primary partition do you want to delete..?). Press 1 and then press Enter.

18.) The next sentence states Enter Volume Label. If your partition doesn’t have a volume label then leave this blank and press Enter, if it does then type it in and then press Enter.

19.) The next sentence states Are you sure (Y/N). Press Y and then press Enter.

20.) Press ESC to get to the main fdisk menu

21.) You are now ready to create your partition or partitions

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How to Partition a Hard Disk

IMPORTANT: If you use the following steps on a hard disk that is not empty, all of the data on that hard disk is permanently deleted.

How to Partition a Master Hard Disk
To partition a master hard disk, run the fdisk command:

1.) Insert the Startup disk in the floppy disk drive, restart your computer. When the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed, select the Start computer without CD-ROM support menu option, and then press ENTER.

At a command prompt, type fdisk, and then press ENTER.

2.) Do you wish to enable large disk support?
Press Y and then press ENTER. This will enable the FAT32 file system

3.) After you press ENTER, the following Fdisk Options menu is displayed:
1. Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive
2. Set active partition
3. Delete partition or Logical DOS Drive
4. Display partition information
5. Change current fixed disk drive

**Note** that option 5 is available only if you have two physical hard disks in the computer.

4.) Press 1 to select the Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive menu option, and then press ENTER.

5.) Press 1 to select the Create Primary DOS Partition menu option, and then press ENTER.

6.) After you press ENTER, you receive the following message:

Do you wish to use the maximum available size for primary DOS partition?
A.) After you receive this message, use the following method:
B.) Press Y if you want all of the space on the hard disk to be assigned to drive C, press Y, and then press ENTER. Go to Step 7
C.) Press N if you do not want all of the space on the hard disk to be assigned to drive C.
a.) If you select N then continue to follow these instructions
b.) Enter the size of the partition you wish to make and then press Enter
c.) Press ESC
d.) Press 1 to select the Create DOS partition or Logical DOS Drive menu option, and then press ENTER.
e.) Press 2 to select the Create Extended Partition menu option, and then press ENTER
f.) Press Enter to create an extended DOS partition that uses up the rest of the hard drive
g.) Press ESC. After pressing ESC fdisk will automatically try to create a logical DOS drive
h.) Enter the size of the second partition you wish to create and then press Enter
i.) If you created your second partition to use the entire size of the Extended DOS Partition go to Step 7
J.) If not then repeat step h until you have used up the rest of the Extended DOS Partition Go to Step 7

7.) Press ESC, and then press ESC to quit the Fdisk tool and return to a command prompt.

8.) Reboot

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How to Format a Hard Disk

After you create the partitions, you must format the partitions:

1.) Restart your computer with the Startup disk in the floppy disk drive.
NOTE:
a.) If you are using a Windows 95 Startup disk, a command prompt is displayed and you can skip to step 2.
b.) If you are using a Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, or Windows Me Startup disk, select the Start computer without CD-ROM support menu option when the Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed.

2.) When a command prompt is displayed, type format c: /s, and then press ENTER. This command transfers the system files and should only be used when you format drive C (or your "active" drive). For all other partitions, type format drive: (where drive is the letter of the partition that you want to format).

3.) When you successfully run the Format.com tool, you receive the following message:
WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST!
Proceed with Format?

4.) Press Y, and then press ENTER to format drive C.

5.) After the format procedure is finished, you receive the following message:
Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none)?

**NOTE:**
This is an optional feature that you can use to type a name for the drive. You can either type an 11-character name for the drive, or you can leave it blank by pressing ENTER.

6.) Reboot.

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[auling]

I had formated my harddisk c: drive but I can't find the other partition f: drive after the format. What am I going to do? How can I retrieve f: drive.