Format hard drive?

Question

Ok, I asked a question about this a few minutes ago, I created a ms-dos boot disk and copied the format.com file to it, and now when I try to type in "format c:" it says "This program cannot be run in DOS mode." What am I supposed to do now to be able to use the "format c:" command and have it work? I have win. xp pro and a ntfs hard drive.

I did create the boot disk on xp, I want to have a working boot disk that I can format the hard drive with because I will need to use it on another computer to format the hard drive to install win xp pro. The current os is all messed up.

is there any way to do this through DOS prompt? I know there is because I have done it before I just dont get why its not working now.

Answer 1

NEW 2:
The Windows help file says that no utilities are copied to the boot disk when you create one. Only the files necessary to boot are copied onto the disk.

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I still don't understand. If you want to install XP, you use the XP CD because it can format the hard drive for you.......unless you don't have an XP CD?
If you copy your XP files on your hard drive to another computer, XP won't work. For copy protection, sometimes when you boot XP, it will check the hardware to see if XP had been copied to another computer. Unless your other computer hardware on the other computer is identical, then XP won't run. It definitely won't run if XP includes any serial numbers when it checks your hardware. They are always different.
Anyway, you'll have to Google search the internet for a DOS format.com program.
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The previous answerer is correct. You cannot run command-line programs designed for NTFS file systems on FAT16 or FAT32 (MSDOS).

Everyone thought that you made the boot disk with XP and the NTFS file system.

Perhaps you can get more help if you explain why you're trying to format drive c.

Answer 2

If You Have The XP CD Put That In Your Computer Then Reboot..You Will Be Able To Format From There...Boot Disks Won't Recognize NTSF File System......You Are Thinking About a Win '98 Boot Disk...Win XP Boot Disk Doesnt Have All Those Diagnostics Tools Such As Format/Fdisk ect......The Only Way You Will Be Able To Format This Disk Is To Get A Windows XP CD....By Your Obvious Lack Of Reasoning Skills Whould It Be Fair To Say You're The One That F'd Up The Drive...Maybe You Should Let Someone Else Handle This One Slick.....The Only Other Thing I Can Say Is That If You Have Another Computer That Works You Can Put The Drive You're Trying To Format In The Other Computer As The Slave Hard Drive And Then You Will Be Able To Format It......And Next Time Don't Format It NTSF....Windows XP Is The Only Program That Uses The NTSF Platform...Use The FAT32 You Cant Tell The Difference........

Answer 3

Just boot from your XP CD.. as the installation process begins, you wll have the option to delete any existing partitions on the disk- once that's done you're all set, you don't need to reformat manually- just choose the unpartitioned space as your destination for the new install. During install it will be formatted automatically.

Answer 4

easiest thing to do is boot to your xp cd and go through the menus although there is alot of ways to acomplish this this is the easiest for the novice

Answer 5

I am not able to solve your problem now. But I can give you a link that deals with hard drive problems. it will be useful to you. I found the info at http://fixit.in useful

Answer 6

you should just have to boot to your cd rom with your xp disc in it.

Answer 7

So...what's your point???