jrrankin
asked on
clearing system disk
Used Compaq LTE 5300 laptop.Pre-loaded with Windows 95.I have a full version of Windows 98 Rev."B" which I tried to install, but system informed me that I already had a version installed and would not proceed.I swithed to "DOS" and tried to Format "C" ."Format got to 4% and terminated.HOW Can I Clear System Disk, so that I can Install My Windows 98?
When you said "switched to DOS", did you actually "Restart in MS-DOS mode" or did you just run a fullscreen DOS prompt? Make sure it was the former, then try the format again.
Boot from a floppy that has fdisk and other helpful files on it. Best is to go to a Win98 machine and make a Win98 boot floppy with all the rescue stuff included, including CDROM support. You do that in Win98 by going to Start, Settings, Control Panel, Add/Remove Programs, and click on the Startup Disk tab.
Then fdisk the hard drive. If I remember right, Compaq puts a partition on the drive with troubleshooting stuff in it. Maybe a partitioning program will show you that and you can wipe it out, too.
Then fdisk the hard drive. If I remember right, Compaq puts a partition on the drive with troubleshooting stuff in it. Maybe a partitioning program will show you that and you can wipe it out, too.
ASKER
micro66 : tried the disk,when attempting format , it got to 4% complete then i got message: not ready, format terminated.
micro66 : I did start in MS DOS,would not permit the format
micro66 : I did start in MS DOS,would not permit the format
Not "format": "fdisk"
Boot from a floppy that has fdisk (preferably from win98) on it, from the A: prompt, type fdisk /STATUS and it'll tell you something about the drive's partitions. [Maybe it's fdisk c: /STATUS]
Starting in MS-DOS can be done from command.com on the hard drive or command.com on the floppy. I was suggesting the floppy boot so you're not opening any files on the hard drive at all. Since you don't care about any files on that drive, the most drastic approach is to re-partition the hard drive. You'll automatically lose any data there, so nothing should be around to restrict anything you want to do. Then you can re-format the new partition(s) anyway you want. Then load Win98.
Boot from a floppy that has fdisk (preferably from win98) on it, from the A: prompt, type fdisk /STATUS and it'll tell you something about the drive's partitions. [Maybe it's fdisk c: /STATUS]
Starting in MS-DOS can be done from command.com on the hard drive or command.com on the floppy. I was suggesting the floppy boot so you're not opening any files on the hard drive at all. Since you don't care about any files on that drive, the most drastic approach is to re-partition the hard drive. You'll automatically lose any data there, so nothing should be around to restrict anything you want to do. Then you can re-format the new partition(s) anyway you want. Then load Win98.
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ASKER
still unable to do a format,i'll have to take it back to Compaq
ASKER
i have checked out some "disk" programs, they all indicate that needed files are protected. I want to start with a clean disk..I would offer more points if I had any more..any help will be greatly appreciated...thank you