Re: Hard Drive Format
- From: docgeobz <docgeobz.1vz8dx@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
- Date: Mon, 26 Sep 2005 01:52:53 +0100
Hear! Hear!
I agree! A really competent PC doctor is hard to find though.
Ken Blake Wrote:
> In news:EE3784A4-8493-4E31-8938-840B82CFF76D@xxxxxxxxxxxxx,
> RDU RDU@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx typed:
> -
> I want to reformat a hard drive with XP Home installed. When I
> boot
> into Safe Mode with Command Prompt, enter format c: & the drive
> label, I get the following error message:
>
> "Format cannot run because the volume is in use by another
> process."
>
> It then gives me an option to dismount the volume. When I enter
> "Y",
> I get the following message and am taken back to the command
> prompt:
>
> "Cannot lock the drive. The volume is still in use."
>
> Does anyone know of a workaround? Thanks.-
>
>
> You can't format the Windows drive from within Windows, since
> that would leave Windows without a leg to stand on.
>
> Just boot from the Windows XP CD (change the BIOS boot order if
> necessary to accomplish this) and follow the prompts for a clean
> installation (delete the existing partition by pressing "D" when
> prompted, then create a new one).
>
> You can find detailed instructions he
> http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html
>
> or here http://windowsxp.mvps.org/XPClean.htm
>
> or here http://www.webtree.ca/windowsxp/clean_install.htm
>
> However why do you want to reformat and reinstall? In my view,
> it's usually a mistake. With a modicum of care, it should never
> be necessary to reinstall Windows (XP or any other version). I've
> run Windows 3.0, 3.1, WFWG 3.11, Windows 95, Windows 98, Windows
> 2000, and Windows XP, each for the period of time before the next
> version came out, and each on two machines here. I never
> reinstalled any of them, and I have never had anything more than
> an occasional minor problem.
>
> It's my belief that this mistaken notion stems from the technical
> support people at many of the larger OEMs. Their solution to
> almost any problem they don't quickly know the answer to is
> "reformat and reinstall." That's the perfect solution for them.
> It gets you off the phone quickly, it almost always works, and it
> doesn't require them to do any real troubleshooting (a skill that
> most of them obviously don't possess in any great degree).
>
> But it leaves you with all the work and all the problems. You
> have to restore all your data backups, you have to reinstall all
> your programs, you have to reinstall all the Windows and
> application updates,you have to locate and install all the needed
> drivers for your system, you have to recustomize Windows and all
> your apps to work the way you're comfortable with.
>
> Besides all those things being time-consuming and troublesome,
> you may have trouble with some of them: can you find all your
> application CDs? Can you find all the needed installation codes?
> Do you have data backups to restore? Do you even remember all the
> customizations and tweaks you may have installed to make
> everything work the way you like?
>
> Occasionally there are problems that are so difficult to solve
> that Windows should be reinstalled cleanly. But they are few and
> far between; reinstallation should not be a substitute for
> troubleshooting; it should be a last resort, to be done only
> after all other attempts at troubleshooting by a qualified person
> have failed.
>
> If you have problems, post them here; it's likely that someone
> can help you and a reinstallation won't be required.
>
>
> --
> Ken Blake - Microsoft MVP Windows: Shell/User
> Please reply to the newsgroup
--
docgeobz
.
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