How do I reformat a computer?

Question

I start up my computer and if gives me the options of safe mode and all that and when I do, it boots up and takes me to some blue screen with writing that says I installed something improperly...I dont know where to go from there. I just wanna access my computer so I can actually take that software off but it won't let me.

The Blue Screen says:

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

The Blue Screen says:

A problem has been detected and windows has been shut down to prevent damage to your computer.

UNMOUNTABLE_BOOT_VOLUME

If this is the first time youve seen this stop error screen restart your computer. If this screen appears again, follow these steps:

Check to make sure any new hardware or software is properly installed. If this is a new installation, ask your hardware or software manufacturer for any windows updates you might need.

If problems continue, disable or remove and newly installed hardware or software.

But it won't let me get onto t he computer to do so.

When I hit safe mode, it still takes me to that blue screen.

Answer 1

If you dont have the built in reformatting on a separate drive (Maybe D drive), you will need to use the Restoration CDs that came with the computer. Insert the first CD while computer is on. Then shut off computer, restart it and follow the online screen instructions.
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Answer 2

If you want to save software or some files that are on the computer, then formatting isn't the answer. First, place your XP CD in the drive and restart the computer. When it says press any key to start from cd, press a key. It will go through the normal start up process and finally come to the screen where it asks if you want to repair an existing installation or to install new. Chose to install new. It will come to another screen that tells you that there is already a version of Windows XP on the computer. It will ask if you want to repair it and you chose yes to repair. It will then take off and look like you are installing Windows XP on the computer, but what it is doing is repairing what is already there. You don't lose your files or your software and, hopefully, you get your computer back acting normally.

Hope this helps you out.

Answer 3

Hi and welcome:
Below is a link for a bootup disk page:
http://www.bootdisk.com/bootdisk.htm

Place your boot floppy into the drive and reboot your computer.
( choose: Start Computer with CD-ROM support if prompted )

You should wind up at the A:\> MS-DOS prompt.

At the A:\> prompt, type FDISK and press ENTER.
You will see a very long message, telling you that "Your computer has a disk larger than 512 MB", and asking if you wish to enable large disk support. ( "Large disk support" means "FAT32" ) Answer Y to enable large disk support.

You will see the main FDISK Options menu, and the Enter choice: prompt.
It will tell you Current fixed disk drive: 1 in other words, unless you tell it otherwise, it's going to operate on disk 1, the first disk it's found on the system. Since there's only one hard drive on your system ( Make sure this is true ), this is what you want to do.

You want to start out by deleting the existing partition from the disk.
To do that, type in 3 the Delete partition or Logical DOS drive option and press ENTER.
A menu will appear, asking you what sort of partition to delete. Enter 1 Delete Primary DOS partition and press ENTER.
A list of partitions will appear; there will probably only be one partition there. It will ask you what primary partition to delete; choose 1 the only one listed, and press ENTER.
To make absolutely sure that you know what you're doing, it may prompt you to type in the volume label for the partition, which will be listed in the partition list. If the Volume Label column is blank, then the volume label is blank too, so just press ENTER.
It will tell you Partition deleted, or words to that effect, and send you back to the main menu.

Now you want to create a new partition.
To do that, choose option 1 Create DOS partition or logical DOS drive and press ENTER.
It will prompt you for what sort of partition to create; choose option 1 Create Primary DOS partition and press ENTER.
It will prompt you Do you wish to use the maximum available size for a Primary DOS partition and make the partition active (Y/N)?
No, you don't;
that would put you right back where you started with one partition the size of the whole hard drive. So choose N and press ENTER.
It will show you the total space on the drive, and prompt you Enter size in MBytes or percent of drive space (%): You want this first partition to take up one quarter of the drive space, so type in 25% ( make sure to include the percent sign ), and press ENTER.
( If you would like a different partition size, just adjust the % number )
It should tell you Partition created; drive letters changed or added, or words to that effect. If it sends you back to the main FDISK Options menu, great; if it doesn't, just press the Esc key until you're back there.


Before we go any farther, let's make this partition the active partition. That is the one that the system will try to boot from.
Choose option 2, Set active partition, and press ENTER.
It will show you a list of partitions which should only include one partition, the one you just created and ask you what partition to set as the active one. Choose 1 ( the number of the partition you just created ), and press ENTER. It will tell you that it's made that partition active, and prompt you to press Escape to go back to the main menu. Do that.
Reboot
Put the startup disk into the floppy drive and reboot (reset) your computer.

When it boots up you`ll get different options to choose from, pick the option that lets you boot from the floppy, with CD-ROM support.

When it`s booted you`ll be able to type at the prompt that appears. Just type
Format C:
and press the Return (or Enter) key on your keyboard. From then on it`s just a case of reading what the computer says ("really format?", etcetera).

This assumes you have ONE hard drive. If you don`t then please replace the C: part with the letter of the one you want to format although C: is the standard for most pc`s, if you have two hard drives then D: is usually the second Hard disk drive :-)

If this helps please click Best Answer.
Thanks
Andy

Answer 4

looks like u have dell PC. do u have a raid on it? if not than ur motherboard is not seeing ur HD. just put the windows CD in CD drive and reboot the computer and press F12 and select boot from CD and it will reload windows on it.

Answer 5

Click on safe mode to start computer then UN install what you last installed software or driver.

Answer 6

u should have boot discs that came with ur computer.. put them in and restart...its pretty simple from there....

uhh, u can also go to start, > all programs > accessories > system tools > system restore...

idk if u have system restore on ur comp, i do...i have microsoft windows media center XP SP2

good luck

reformatting your comp is a good idea..always is...i do it every 4-6 months...

Answer 7

One thing you can do is get a Windows XP cd and just reformat the whole thing, its not really hard but cd is a lilttle expensive.

Answer 8

Can you please specify what the blue screen says? Otherwise try something like a Linux livecd or i think its called the Ultimate Boot CD.