Wiping hard drive

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Daniel T

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Alright, I wasn't completely sure where to post this, but I thought this looked like the most suitable place.

I'm trying to turn an old computer (early 90's) into a webserver (for private use) and I need to wipe the original hard drive. My questions are...

What software should I use to wipe the HDD and where can I find a boot disk for it?
How would I get my old computer to boot from the 3.5" floppy? (it currently only checks the 5" for boot disks)

Thanks in advance,
Daniel
 
Thanks for those links.

I'm not very experienced with old technology, but I feel I should let you know that this server will be running a Linux distro. Should I still use DOS if I'm installing Linux?
 
you can just delete the partition using FDISK, and then format it using the Linux install disk.
just make sure you don't have anything important on there first.

to run Fdisk, first make the bootable disk, and put Fdisk on it.
then reboot with the floppy still in the drive. it should run DOS if the floppy is the first boot drive.
then, when you see the "A:\>" prompt, type FDISK.EXE and press enter.
then it will come up with a list of options. delete the primary partition, then just reboot, take out the floppy, stick in the Linux CD and when you install, it should ask you to format. I'm not really farmiliar with what Linux file systems there are, but I know FAT16 and FAT32 can be used by Linux. I think there's another one that can also be read by Windows.
 
Thanks a bunch guys. I've just got one more problem...

My computer doesn't check the 3.5" floppy upon boot, only the 5" floppy drive. How would I go about getting it to check the 3.5" drive?
 
go into the BIOS and change the boot sequence so it checks the floppy on boot. to get into the BIOS it should be F1, F2 or del or something to that effect. when in doubt, run your hand across the keyboard ;)
 
Go into your BIOS, and you can change your boot order from there. I don't know your particular BIOS, but it's in there.
 
it'll say something along the lines of "press [some key] to enter setup. press that key.
then find the boot order, and change the 3 1/2" floppy as the first boot device
 
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