Help with re-formatting and re-installing XP on a laptop

[cattlegrid_79]

Thanks Warez. However, as I said above, when I try that it says "Format not supported on drive C: Format terminated"

The drive is already in NTFS format.

It's running XP sp2. Is this going to make a difference? I know there are loads of problems with SP2.

 

[Osiris]

are you doing this within windows? how are you still running xp? tell me the exact steps you did so far

 

[xcspr]

If you are booting the laptop correctly from the cd, there should be no difference between xp and xp_sp2.

Have you also tried a different XP disk? Try one from your friend or something, just use YOUR serial number.

 

[cattlegrid_79]

Originally I tried booting it from the XP CD, however I get a message saying that the CD is not bootable. But I know it is because I try it in my desktop and it works.

So then i followed the advice above and downloaded a windows 98 boot disk (floppy) which works and I then run fdisk fromit and delete the partition and then create a new one and it appears then to have one disk section that is NTFS file system.

Then if I restart and boot from the floppy again to get a command prompt and try using the "format c:" command, it says that "format not supported on drive C:" and "Format terminated" and takes me back to the command prompt.

I can't format from within windows because obviously windows is then running and it says the drive is in use so won't let me do that.

As mentioned before, I also have the recovery disks from the manufacturer that should restore the computer to its factory state. However, this will not boot automatically from the CD drive and when I try to run anything from the disc through windows, i get an error regarding "16-bit MS DOS Subsystem" and it tells me that a certain file (appears to be different every time) is unavailable and therefore it can't run.

Man, i never knew it was so hard to delete all your info from the hard drive! All these people telling you to be careful because you might lose everything. That's what i'm trying to do!

 

[xcspr]

Why don't you try a different WinXP CD? I have had, for example programs that installed in some desktops PC's and not in some notebooks cause the disc had a small scratch, etc...

Try a different disc or another booting method. There is a program that once burned to a disc, lets you edit/delete/create partitions and even lets you start the instalation of Operating Systems, like XP/98/Me/etc...