How to format c: ?!

by decem • 12 Feb 2009, 03:27 • Journals
was doing the usual format with TinyXP but when I reached to partitions, it displayed only unknown partitions and after a key press it crashed. the computer is working and the current windows install is stable. would manually formatting trough commandline solve this?

the cd atleast should be fine, used it last time a week ago.


edit:

"Do u have any other PC where u could format this HD?"

Did this and it worked fine, will see if it allows me to partition it now on the other computer.
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38
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Spirea 12 Feb 2009, 03:28
can u boot with the CD?
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decem 12 Feb 2009, 03:29
thats what I did, worked all the way till the partitions section.
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Spirea 12 Feb 2009, 03:30
and u couldn't even "delete" the old partitions? or u don't want to :p ?
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decem 12 Feb 2009, 03:31
cant. I want to delete all and create fresh partitions.
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Spirea 12 Feb 2009, 03:32
do u have many HDs or just 1?
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decem 12 Feb 2009, 03:32
only 1 atm.
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Spirea 12 Feb 2009, 03:34
To me it sounds like that might be broken. At least I got some similar problems 2 months ago when my HD went broke. First it started showing problems on windows though, like booting got slower and soon it started giving strange errors.
Do u have any other PC where u could format this HD?
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decem 12 Feb 2009, 03:37
yup, just really couldnt be arsed to start moving the hdd around.. my pc is part of speaker / amplifier / external hdd / fiber hemp growing / -tower so I would need to move all the stuff.. bah.
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Baz 12 Feb 2009, 03:40
Hmm, whats the "the usual format with TinyXP" is it different from a normal format ?

Have you tried "right click on my computer then Manage then Disk Management ? Not realy sure what you mean by "the usual format with TinyXP" ?
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decem 12 Feb 2009, 03:42
boot from cd -> create partition -> install

just wrote to mention that im using tinyxp.
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Baz 12 Feb 2009, 03:43
Woops sorry, I was editing before I read your reply.
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decem 12 Feb 2009, 03:45
just tried, the harddrive is smoking hot. not like uber hot but so hot that u dont necessarily want to hold it with ur hand for longer than few seconds.
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Baz 12 Feb 2009, 03:49
They do get very hot, its NOT normal that we do actually touch them (not in a gay way) but on the occasion that you will touch a hdd it is most times to hot to handle.
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Spirea 12 Feb 2009, 03:49
My guess is that it's broken, hope u got still guarantee.

Normal HD gets warm (not hot, so u can easily hold it in hand without any probs) and the other problems refer to it as well
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decem 12 Feb 2009, 03:51
well I mightve exaggerated with smoking hot. and no, its our older pc that im setting up so no guarantee left.
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Baz 12 Feb 2009, 03:56
http://michaelstevenstech.com/cleanxpinstall.html may help you :)

Its hard to type here *how to* coms is so much easier but not always possible :)

Edit: I take it you are using XP ?
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decem 12 Feb 2009, 04:00
yes, will try moving the hdd to this computer. was able to open the side without too much of a hassle.

brb.
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Baz 12 Feb 2009, 04:15
Have you got as far as 'create unallocated space'?
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Baz 12 Feb 2009, 03:54
Hmm dont totally agree there, my hard drives get to hot to handle and they run fine, just my opinion + they are well ventilated.
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Spirea 12 Feb 2009, 04:07
ofc it depends on the load they are running. If they are constantly working hard (like defragmenting) they get hotter. But I can easily hold my hand for longer time on them anyway
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decem 12 Feb 2009, 04:10
ooks irkis
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Baz 12 Feb 2009, 04:17
huh?
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decem 12 Feb 2009, 10:28
"Do u have any other PC where u could format this HD?"

Did this and it worked fine, will see if it allows me to partition it now on the other computer.


and was just askin if hes on irc.
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Spirea 12 Feb 2009, 04:37
en, pitäs nukkuu viel, mut katon jotai sarjaa :p

täytyy herää ennen seiskaa kuitenki niin tuskin meen ees nukkuu... haluutko että tuun irc?
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Baz 12 Feb 2009, 04:13
Have to agree to disagree on that one, I can honestly say my hdd's are hot and cannot touch them for longer than a maybe 10/15 seconds but this isnt the issue here :)
From what I have read and understood, decem can format but then gets confused as how to delete/remove partions?
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Spirea 12 Feb 2009, 04:38
Well, he can't either format or handle the partitions. When he enters the step where u see the partitions it crashes (and formatting would come only after this stage so he can't get there)
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decem 12 Feb 2009, 10:28
"Do u have any other PC where u could format this HD?"

Did this and it worked fine, will see if it allows me to partition it now on the other computer.
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Spirea 12 Feb 2009, 12:29
When I had HD problems, it appeared to work better on my other PC as well (I managed to save all the important files etc).
So, it might work just well, but it might also be damaged. Let's hope for the first one :)
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decem 12 Feb 2009, 17:40
it did work. I was able to see the partitions and use windows normally, it just didnt let me mess with the partitions.
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quad 12 Feb 2009, 04:40
Download ubuntu, boot up the live cd, delete all partitions (Partition Manager / gparted ), and now xp's setup should work.
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Nub 12 Feb 2009, 06:41
+1, what i did , had same problem.
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Gabt 12 Feb 2009, 08:52
He doesnt need to download a whole os to be able to use gparted...plus norton partition magic has a livecd that uses caldera, alot smaller, and quicker to load than ubuntu.
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OfficerCohen 12 Feb 2009, 14:04
great scott
stop raging :D
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h8m3 12 Feb 2009, 10:14
it might never install until you integrate(or copy them on floppy and press f6 when it asks at the beginning of installation) RAID-module drivers in your CD image...
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Zweet 12 Feb 2009, 13:05
format c:
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Limbonic 12 Feb 2009, 13:08
a friend of mine had a quite similar problem too when he tried to format his A300 notebook. in order to be able to get past that partition selection screen he had to change some HDD controller options in bios. couldn't find the irc logs, so unfortunately i can't tell you what exactly had to be changed.
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