formatting dual os harddrive??

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mal_e

Right off the assembly line
the history :
i have Red Hat Linux running on one partition and win xp pro on another in the same harddrive (btw i upgraded from win me to xp about 10 boot ups back).

the problem :
though i can boot into red hat, xp hits a dead end (it reboots after scandisk ). so can anyone please tell me how to wipe the whole harddisk clean (to the last byte)??? i don't have a start up disk either.
 
P

pimpom

Cyborg Agent
Don't you have access to a friend's computer where you can make the boot disk in a couple of minutes ? Anyway, you can download the boot disk contents from www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm.

You could also remove your hard disk and connect it as slave to another computer that has the appropriate OS installed - Win XP for NTFS and 9x for FAT32.
 
sreevirus

sreevirus

Certified Nutz
u said u cant boot into winxp, so u will need a atleast a win98 startup floppy for the task...get that made from some friend who has win 98 installed on his PC. boot using the startup disk and when u get the prompt, type fdisk and in there, delete the partitions. fat32 partitions will be shown as fat32 while ntfs and ext3 partitions will be shown as non-dos partitions...so delete as required. after that, the fdisk partition can also be used to create partitions if u want. after this, use the format command to format the harddisk/partition.
 
hafees

hafees

In the zone
Do u want to keep ur Redhat Linux??

if not use fdisk (u need a 98/me boot disk) and recreate all partitions.

u may also use Partition magic also. Do u want the exact procedure ???
 
T

Tech&ME

Banned
hi pimpom

pimpom wrote :
There is. It just looks different.
Click to expand...

No I again tell u that there is no scandisk in XP but yes we do have a tool called chkdsk which look similar but is not, they work differently. U try this, Switch off Windows XP directly from the CPU Button or Press the Restart Button on the CPU directly ( do not shutdown from the start menu ). Windows XP will start but will not start any SCANDISK automatically like it does in Windows 98. And on the other hand Chkdsk will also not start automatically in Windows XP at the booting time, Chkdsk only start at the booting time if u shedule it to do so. The guy mal_e say in his post,
though i can boot into red hat, xp hits a dead end (it reboots after scandisk )
Click to expand...
How could he see Scandisk or Chkdsk start automatically in Windows XP ??? This is not possible, unless u shedule the item in Windows XP.
To shedule this in Windows XP u will have to do the following :
In My Computer --> right click the C: drive (where windows is installed) go to properties --> Tools tab --> click Check Now button, Say yes to shedule it in the dialog box that appear, now restart windows XP.

mal_e Wrote :


so can anyone please tell me how to wipe the whole harddisk clean (to the last byte)??? i don't have a start up disk either.
Click to expand...

Solution:

You do not need any startup disk for this, if u have the installation CD of Windows XP, Pop it in the CD Rom drive and restart your computer (set your computer to boot from the CD in the BIOS/CMOS) once the setup starts, except the EULA and perform a new installation of Windows XP , setup will ask u the partition where Windows XP will install, select the existing partitions and delete them and then finally select a new partition to install XP, setup will format the partition as desired by you and continue installing XP after a reboot.
 
P

pimpom

Cyborg Agent
A rose by any other name........ Scandisk or Chkdsk, whatever. Chkdsk has always been available even for earlier versions of Windows. It's the little brother of Scandisk.

Maybe you don't have them enabled on your computer. But I've installed Win XP (mostly Pro) lots and lots of times, both for myself and for others. The default setting starts it automatically after an improper shutdown. It looks different from the DOS scandisk of Win9x - no progress bar with large text above as in Win98. Rather it presents a text-only progress report in 800x600 on a light blue screen. It scans for file structure, crosslinks, etc. It also looks different in Win ME since scandisk starts after Windows has loaded partially.
 
T

Tech&ME

Banned
hi pimpom again,

Well I am not an expert, could you please tell me how to enable scandisk in Windows XP Home Edition. I am running Windows XP Home Edition with SP2 installed on my Computer. This will help me understand Windows XP better and it will also be beneficial for other if u could tell me how to enable this "Scandisk" in Window XP. thanks,
 
T

Tech&ME

Banned
Pimpom

Below is an Extract from the Microsoft Website :

Check for Disk Errors in Windows XP
Published: July 22, 2002

Tip from the Microsoft Knowledge Base.

The ScanDisk utility is not available in Windows XP. However, you can use the Error-Checking tool in Windows XP to check the integrity of your hard disk. To check for file system errors and bad sectors on your hard disk, follow these steps:

1.
Double-click My Computer, and then right-click the local disk that you want to check.

2.
Click Properties, and then click Tools.

3.
Under Error-checking, click Check Now.

4.
Under Check disk options, select the Scan for and attempt recovery of bad sectors check box.

5.
Click Start.


Top of page
Click to expand...

For More details Please Visit the following link (Click it !! )

*www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/helpandsupport/learnmore/tips/kbtip.mspx

You must be dreaming about Scandisk in Windows XP, how many computers you have installed Windows XP with Scandisk in it ??? Please don't mislead others through your lies. !!! ( Read Forum rules )
 
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pimpom

Cyborg Agent
@Tech&ME, to reply to your 2 posts together -

1. I don't call myself an expert either. If by 'expert', you mean someone who knows all there is to know, I don't think anyone here is an expert, including the Admins and moderators.

2. I have not kept a record of the number of times I've installed Win XP, but the number of computers must be at least 5 dozen. And if you count the re-installations after first-time owners had messed up their installations so badly that a fresh installation was necessary, well, the number of installations must be well over a hundred times.

3. Where in any of my previous posts did I say that it's called Scandisk ? I was simply talking about the function.

4. "Lies" is a pretty harsh word. Maybe you're the one who should take some time to learn about posting etiquette in ANY forum. We're all here to discuss, exchange information and experiences. It's not about ego.
 
tuxfan

tuxfan

Technomancer
You need a software that can do a low level format of your hard disk. I have such a software. PM me with your email address if you want it. Just boot and execute the file. It will delete all the partitions of all the OS and your hard disk will be as good as new (except the data that lies in there and that it is not accessible normally).
 
T

Tech&ME

Banned
Dear pimpom, well! Anger is an dirty word, don't get angry!!! Look I know that people here could be an expert or they could not be, and that's not the question here. The question is ---> "Can u start any utility of Microsoft in Windows XP that scans your harddisk for bad sectors after an improper shutdown." Be it Scandisk or Chkdsk or any other utililty of Microsoft. This is documented in the Microsoft Knowledge Base that Microsoft has not encluded any such utility in Windows XP that will automatically scan your harddisk during boot-up after an improper shutdown. And u said that Windows XP starts such a scan automatically after an improper shutdown. So, I was not looking at any ego problem with u, I don't have any ego with anyone in the forum and also not in this world. Hence, its the matter of things to understand dear. And I only wanted to know is there is such an utility in Windows XP which scans the harddisk for bad sectors after an improper shutdown then I only wanted to know how to use it, since my computer does not start any scan after an improper shutdown of Windows XP, moreover, I checked this on my other PC and in the PC 's of my friends it does not work in their PC's as well. Thanks.
 
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pimpom

Cyborg Agent
Hi Tech&ME, I saw your post awhile ago, but I've been quite busy tonight and didn't have time to reply earlier.

ATM, I don't know why Chkdsk is not autorun at startup on your computer, and I don't have time right now to investigate , but you can try these for the time being.

Open your Win XP folder /system32/ and see if you have the autochk.exe file in there.

Also run regedit and look up HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE/System/ControlSet001/Session Manager and check if you have BootExecute with the value set for "autochk autochk *" (without the quotation marks).

If you don't have this value, create it. Right-click the folder Session Manager, point to New and select Multi-String Value. A new value will be created.
Rename this as BootExecute.
Then edit the data by right-clicking the name and selecting Modify.
In the Value data window, type autochk autochk *

If you follow these steps, you will have a new entry line -

BootExecute REG_MULTI_SZ autochk autochk *

Chkdsk will run automatically now. I can't be 100% sure because I've always had Chkdsk run automatically, but I'm 99% sure :)

There may be an easier way to do this from some Windows settings option without directly editing System Registry, but right now I have no time to investigate further.

Be careful while delving into System Registry. Don't change anything unless you know what you're doing.
 
OP
M

mal_e

Right off the assembly line
hi,
i 've finally done it!!! .......and its all thanks to you guys that a newbie has done it.
Thank You for all the help.
: mal_e
 
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