How to format?

[snowbound]

Hi everyone :)

Newbie question:


I would like to know how to format my hard drive if need be in the future.

I have taken it in to computer shop once in the past to have this done, but i would like to learn how to do it myself.

Could someone explain or direct me to a link to show me the easiest and best way to format and also how to reload my Win XP, drivers, programs,etc.

Thank You ;D




snowbound

[bigc73542]

I have found that it is so much easier if you use an app made just for formating and partitoning. I use partition magic 7.0 and 8.0. I had 7.0 and bought 8.0 but I like 7.0 about as well. These apps make it very easy to format a hdd. There are other programs out there maybe someone can tell you about them but I do like these. I hope this helped. :)

http://www.powerquest.com/partitionmagic/

You can format your hdd to ntfs,linux,fat,fat32 and so on very easily

[root]

For starters, what kind of computer do you have? Is it a Dell or Gateway, or another that came with a restore disk, drivers, etc?

Partition Magic is great and I highly suggest it, but I have always used it after I had the OS installed. I think there is a bootable version of PM that allows you to start from scratch, but I am not familiar with using it that way.

Before you do anything, and this should be the case anyway - make sure you backup all your documents, bookmarks, passwords, email and attachments, etc. etc.Check, then double check. They should be backed up on a CD if possible, but floppies may work if you make two of each as they are not so reliable. Once you format, what was on C:\ is history.

One possible alternative is if you have a large harddrive, you can use Partition magic to make another partition to store images on and use an imaging program to backup your C: drive. An alternate hard drive for storage is even better. If the install you are using now is good, then backing it up as an image is a lot less painfull than formating and reinstalling everything.

If you value what you have on your computer, then imaging is a must in my book. I just lost a hard drive and got a new Dell with XP Home. I hated it so I formatted and put Win2k SP4 on. Took me two days to get everything going again. With an image, I can now restore my entire C: drive in 5 minutes.

[bigc73542]

Pm has a two floppy set you make off the program that you can use to start with an empty hdd disc. I have not used it but it should work alright. But root is right. Back up, back up, back up. The secret to on ocasion keeping your sanity. ;D

[root]

Nice to know information bigc. I must admit I have not explored all the uses of PM and I really do like the 8.0 version. :D

[snowbound]

Hi guys ;D

I have to admit i know nothing of how to partition a hard drive. I have never done it. I use my comp just for recreation and trying to learn all these wonderful things u guys post about here at wilders.

From what i can make of it PM looks like something i should be investing in.

I never even backed up my hard drive before :-[

I have read posts here(especially from u root) that say this is essential in case of problems.
I'm not even sure how to do it.

The only thing i have done is copied some of my apps. to CD.

I like the idea of an image program to back up everything instead of formatting.

If u make a partition and create an image of your hard drive to it this will take the place of formatting in case of catastrophic problems? :-\

Oh root,

My comp is Dell, dimension 8200, 80g hard drive with restore disk, drivers and programs.

Any more information u can give me will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks a lot guys :)




snowbound

[LowWaterMark]

Hey snowbound,

I went quite a long time before I finally got a backup product for my system. I ended up with Acronis True Image based off the recommendations of FanJ and this thread (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=9111). Prior to that I just made sure I had copies of my personal data files off on ZIP disk or CD-R and figured I could start over if I had to.

As time went by and I had tweaked my system so much, and installed and configured some serious apps, the idea of starting over was a lot less appealing. :-\ TI was very easy to use and now I know that the worse that can happen if I lose my system is I roll back to the last disk image. Much better than starting over that's for sure.

[snowbound]

-{ Quote: " quoting: LowWaterMark link=board=9;threadid=17807;start=0#msg110030 date=1071344722]
Much better than starting over that's for sure.
" }-

Hi LWM :)

That's how i feel too. When i had my comp formatted it took me a long time to get everything back to how it was before i had problems.

From what i see on Jan's thread, TI looks like a top notch image programme that like u say, is easy to use.

Very reasonably priced too.

I really like the startup recovery manager option.

Looks like no matter what has happened i would always able to restore everthing back to how it was.

Have u had any problems with this programme LWM?

If i am not mistaken u have XP too right?

If everything is well, i think this is the app. i will use instead of formatting in the future.




snowbound

[LowWaterMark]

Yes, I am on XP. I did have one problem writing CDs once. It aborted after the 5th CD-R was written saying basically a media problem. It gave no retry options so all 5 of the used CD-Rs were wasted because an incomplete image is of no value. So, I ran it again (on new CD-Rs of course since they aren't rewritable) and it happened again after the 5th CD-R. :-\

That's when I started thinking bug. Well, turns out I was two minor version upgrades behind, so I upgraded and it has worked great ever since. I figure that was my own fault for not upgrading in a timely fashion. ::)

In fairness to possible problems though, do read through Acadia's thread (http://www.wilderssecurity.com/showthread.php?t=17657) on this topic if you haven't yet. Also, I haven't paid to upgrade to the new version 7.0 yet either.

[snowbound]

-{ Quote: " quoting: LowWaterMark link=board=9;threadid=17807;start=0#msg110049 date=1071349220]
It gave no retry options so all 5 of the used CD-Rs were wasted because an incomplete image is of no value. So, I ran it again (on new CD-Rs of course since they aren't rewritable) and it happened again after the 5th CD-R. :-\
" }-

Don't u just hate when that happens! ;)

Believe me i have wasted more CD's than i care to remember!(mostly from my own dumb mistakes :D)

I see Acadia is running Win98se so maybe the problem he is having is exclusive to that o/s. I hope he gets it straightened out.

I see also that some people(including yourself) are apprehensive about the upgrade fee. It does seem a little high.

I noticed a lot of app. upgrades now are getting a little pricey. ???

Seems like someday the "free upgrade for life" will be no more. :(

Thank u LWM, root and bigc.

I think i will try TI. I just love those quality apps. that are user friendly for people like me! ;)

Thanks again guys,
great advice as usual :)



snowbound

[root]

True Image is a place ot start. Backing up to CDs uses a lot of CDs if you do it often and thats why I like to use a seperate partition on my main drive. You have plenty of room on your drive to do that to, but it does not protect you in case of a hard drive failure. That is why I also copy my images to another drive now.
Depending on your financial situation, you have options at least. CDs are faily cheap.
To me probably the ideal situation would be a USB2 external hard drive to store images on in case of hard drive failure. I have a spare computer so I use that instead of an external drive.

To answer your original question, I believe Dells restore disk has the option to format and then reinstall the OS, but I haven't done that before, so I'm just going by something I read somewhere one time. Your driver CD would come in handy too if you needed to go that route.

Trust me, imaging saves a lot of heartache. Especially if it's recent. Forgot to mention. With version 7 of TI, you can schedule to do incremental backups each day or night, so you always have a recent image.

[snowbound]

-{ Quote: " quoting: snowbound link=board=9;threadid=17807;start=0#msg110056 date=1071350945]
I see Acadia is running Win98se so maybe the problem he is having is exclusive to that o/s.
" }-

I should not have said this. :-[ It sounds like i'm blaming a whole system for what probably is some conflict with another programme. :P

All i have ever done with my restore CD is a couple of repairs to XP in the past. The last time i did it my registry got corrupted so that is when i decided to format.I didn't want to chance it myself so i paid the 40 bucks to have it done. :(

That external hard drive sounds like a really good idea root, thanks.

That way u are covered no matter what happens.

I guess the price would vary widely depending on size and manufacturer.

Well, something else to spend my hard earned money on! ;)





snowbound

[root]

Indeed money can be a very precious commodity. Before you buy, shop around. New Egg (http://www.newegg.com/) has some good prices sometimes as well as Fat Wallet Forum (http://www.fatwallet.com/forums/categories.cfm?catid=18) and Anandtech Forum (http://forums.anandtech.com/categories.cfm?catid=40) can clue you in on good deals.
There are other places to shop of course such as froogle, Best Buy and Circuit City.

[DolfTraanberg]

When you just want to format and reinstall XP, you can boot the computer with the XP CD and then, after confirming you want a new install (instead of a repair), you have an option to format your HD.
Dolf

[snowbound]

Hi Dollefie

I didn't know u could format from the XP CD. I thought the CD was only for repair or clean install.

That's good to know in case i ever do decide to format the hdd.

Would u happen to know of a link to get instuctions on this procedure? Or is it self explanatory from the CD?

Thanks Dollefie



snowbound

[Pieter_Arntz]

Hi snowbound,

Start here:
http://www.microsoft.com/WindowsXP/expertzone/columns/honeycutt/02october07.asp

Which links to http://support.microsoft.com/?kbid=313348

Regards,

Pieter

[snowbound]

Thanks Pieter :)

It is a very good read.


Merry Christmas to u and your family. ;D





snowbound

[DolfTraanberg]

-{ Quote: " quoting: snowbound link=board=9;threadid=17807;start=0#msg110132 date=1071368196]
Would u happen to know of a link to get instuctions on this procedure? Or is it self explanatory from the CD?
" }-
If you choose for a clean install, you will get an option to have the HD formatted first.
Dolf
edit: I missed Pieter's links