[nathen555]

Hi , Im trying to Format my hard drive what i do is START , MY COMPUTER , RIGHT CLICK ON MY DRIVE Then FORMAT when i start it says this: Windows cannot Format this drive. Quit any Disk Utilities or other programmes that are using this drive , and make sure that no window is displaying the contents of the drive. Then try formatting again. What Do I Do ?

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Do you know that if you format your drive you loose everything.Including windows
The reason you can't format the drive is because you are already
accessing it. you have to format from another drive like A or cd

[peterm]

Do you know that if you format your drive you loose everything.Including windows
The reason you can't format the drive is because you are already
accessing it. you have to format from another drive like A or cd

[nathen555]

Ohhhhh ok but i dont have a CD all i have is SYSTEM RECOVERY i didnt get a CD or a FLOPPY DISC WITH the pc its a HP PAVILION A608. so i cant do it then

[peterm]

why do you want to reformat may I ask
there is always a way round things

Edited by peterm, 11 June 2005 - 01:53 AM.

[nathen555]

ohhh ok what is that then

[kool808]

When you format the drive, it erases everything. You need an installer disk to install a new OS on it.

To re-format read HERE. Read the articles on "How to..."

[mohsin]

article helping out many chaps .. thnx kool

[exoticracerx]

u prob can't format b\c ur prob trying to format the drive ur using at that moment, which u cant do, you'll have to get a boot cd to format the hd with windows on it

[ravens_creed]

Most of the responses so far are correct if you truly want to format everything and start from scratch.
Your best bet is to get yourself a copy of the OS of your choice, let's say Windows XP, for example. So long as your boot order is configured properly in your bios - the setup menu when you press "del" in the first few stages of a boot-up - when you reboot with the Windows XP disc in your disc drive, it should either give you the choice to choose to boot from the cd (which you should - you do not want to boot from your C:/ ), or will say something like "press any key to boot from cd...". And obviously press any key. Once it boots from that cd, you will get format options when it detects that you already have a version installed. I recommend doing the full format (not the "quick" format). Once that's done, it'll reboot again and you will have to install an OS (Windows XP) from scratch to do anything.

[peter99]

If you have the recovery disks read this link at HP site

Performing an HP System Recovery in Windows XP
This document explains how to reset the computer software to its original state. This document is divided into sections based on the different ways of performing a full system recovery. Use one of the sections that best fits your needs. Please read ALL of the statements before attempting a recovery!

http://h10025.www1.h...n...743&lang=en

drivers

http://h10025.www1.h...r...9262&dlc=en