how do i get my computer to a c: prompt without starting windows. I need to format hard drive and reinstall?

Answer 1

If you keep F8 key pressed before Windows starts, you will get a menu option where prompt is one of the options. Select that and your computer will start in c: prompt mode.

You need to be careful that you press F8 before Windows starts otherwise the option won't work.

Answer 2

XP does this differently than 98.

If your os is 98, you can make a startup disk from Windows - I forget the exact place, I think it's the control panel, add/remove section - and then put the floppy you make it on in the drive and restart the computer. When the screen says Press DEL to enter setup, you do that and when in the bios, you change the boot sequence to boot from floppy first. Then it boots to the floppy you make and you get an a: prompt and you type format c:

Or, you might just put the installation cd in the drive, change the boot sequence to cd first, then when it boots the cd, 98 might have the format option somewhere in there. Geesh, how soon we forget!

XP, you can put the cd in and have bios set to boot the cd first, and you can either format or just do a repair, which would be better.

You really don't need to format your setup away, since there is the repair feature. Malware can be gotten rid of with anti-malware programs, and corrupted files can be recovered by using system restore from a previous time, or you can do the repair operation from the cd.

Answer 3

If you have your windows CD, just boot the CD, you can format the drive in the process of installing. Otherwise, hit F8 at the spalsh screen and select it from the boot menu. You could also make a bootable floppy.

Answer 4

While booting keep pressing F8 and that will give you the option of booting up the PC with the command prompt only.

Answer 5

You need start up disk to do that, to get you to drive a:\you can't format c: from c: