Fdisk (with pictures) - although delpart might be simpler Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience

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I wish it were simpler. I'm lost but I'm not giving up. I'm reading all the material I can get my hands on. I got stuck back at the volume ? could not figure out where the volume figure was. I'll prabaly blow up the computer before I figure it out. LOL Thanks all for your help. It must be terrible fustrating for you as well as me. Diane

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In fdisk, if there is no volume label, just hit enter. If that doesn't work, possibly the drive has errors. I've only used delpart a couple of times, but as I recall, it streamlines the process somewhat. Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience

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Jboy, I have never used DelPart but have used PTEDIT.exe">PTEdit in DOS from a floppy disk. With PTEdit a window appears with all of the partition information and you simply replace all of the values with zeros. You can choose to change no values and nothing is changed. You can then exit without any effects. Does DelPart do it the same way or is it one of things that once you open the executable it is too late? I would like to check it out but fear losing things I dont want to. For excample I can open fdisk from the Windows, Start, Run box to Display my partition information and then exit without creating any havoc. Do you know what I am asking? Can I run the program in DOS (or elsewhere) without actually using it's functions? Thanks, Bryan

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Delpart is very easy to use. It can be put on a floppy. It runs in dos or in a dos box. It displays a list of drives and partitions, just select one and hit the delete key.

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Sure - delpart is graphical, and shows the partition info. If you choose to remove a partition, dire warnings are displayed - which is as it should be - and you can gracefully exit without making changes at all. Very rarely do much partitioning - although more recently. PQMagic is a fun little tool, but I will check out PTEdit, thanks Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience

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"just select one and hit the delete key." But otherwise I can exit without making any changes? Correct? Thanks Ham30 Bryan

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I now have the hard drive and partitions gone, the disk max size and I exited out of fdisk. Now I'm suppose to boot from A drive with cd support to format c: but I can't get it to boot back to A: Any ideas for me. Sorry I'm just not good at this. Diane

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Did you create a new partition before quitting fdisk? To boot from the floppy, you may need to go to the CMOS settings and have the floppy drive listed as the first boot device. Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience

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Yes I did create a dos partition. I have to boot with cd support in order to format c: Don't I?

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No - you don't have to have CD support - format should run from the bootdisk, but you will require access to the CD after formatting, in order to perform the installation. Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience

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I'm glad sami is not giving up. FWIW, If anyone runs into the 'volume label' thing trying to delete partitions, the easiaet way is: label c: [enter] [enter] label d: [enter] [enter] And so forth. If the drives have high bit gibberish because of corruption of Asian language labels, this may be the ONLY way. M2

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Ok, You created your one primary DOS partition and at the same time selected to make it the Active partition. You hit the Escape key to exit fdisk and saw the message that says that you must restart. You hit Ctrl+Alt+delete to restart. At this point you still only need the floppy disk to be in the floppy drive. At this point it doesn't matter if you select with or without CD ROM support but don't insert the CD. It is possible that, at this point, your start sequence may be CD, A, C:. SO, with no CD in the tray it should seek the floppy and restart to the A: prompt where you can then enter the format C: command. Let's say that you don't know how you got to the A: prompt before and still can not get to it now... Power up the machine and on the first (POST) screen you should see at the bottom of the screen usually where it says how to enter "Setup". Mine says to hit the Delete key, many say to hit F2 or Ctrl+S or F12 but it should say what you want. Oncec on the setup screen you want to select (usually) the first option of CMOS configuation. Once there you should be able to use your arrow keys to move the selector down to the starting sequences and you can then hit the Page Down or Page Up keys until you get the order to A, CD, C. On the bottom right of the screen it will show you which keys do what and usually F10 will allow you to Save changes and Exit. You will then be prompted about saving the changes; select Yes to save the changes. Now, with your Startup disk in the Floppy drive it should startup to the A: prompt where you can then format C: After it formats it returns to the A:> prompt at which you will then want to take out the floppy and insert your Windows installation CD and hit Ctrl+Alt+Delete to restart it. I hope you have your Product Key on hand at this point. HTH Bryan

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wow!!!! you people are so nice. I'm stuck at the point of getting the hard drive to format but I will be back to trying again today. I really appreciate all your help. I have been using the win 98 boot disk ,(the 95 didn't work), Could this be why I couldn't format? Do I need to get a 95? Yes I have my product key right in front of me. I just hope I get to the point where I can use it. Thanks again Diane

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BIOS Ide adapter 0 master (c: 8455 mb) " " 0 slave (none) " " 1 master (cd-rom) " " 1 slave (none) memory 640 KB ext. mem 15 mb Under boot 1. diskette drive 2. cd 3. Hard drive. setup defaults have been loaded. When I boot to A: format c: It says format not supported. format terminated. On Fdisk I have this information Partition 1 status A type non-dos MB 8048 usage 100% I'm at a loss as to what to do next. Does it have something to do with the boot disk being 98 when I'm trying to put 95 in? Thank you all I'm really a chalenge aren't I. LOL I won't give up if you don't. LOL Diane

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Hi Diane, No, the 98 boot disk is not a problem. I'm not sure how you still have a non-DOS partition. But, anyway. While booted on the 98 floppy: fdisk /status [enter] Post what it says. M2

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Good mornning . I did post the status on fdisk on the previous post. Or are you looking for something else? Diane

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Diane, Do this: fdisk /status [enter] So we know EXACTLY where we are. We're getting close. M2

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FDisk information says: Partition 1 status A Type non-dos MB 8048 usage 100% This is what it says Diane

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Hi Diane, You nedd to delte the non-DOS partition. Then create a primary DOS partition. M2

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I can't thank you all enough you made my day!!!!!!!!!! Computer is now loading windows and I'm so excited!!!!! If it had not been for all of you the computer would have ended up on a junk pile. Thank you Thank you Now all I have to do is sit back and wait for you all to submit your bills. LOL Diane

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Er, we don't charge here. Glad you got things sorted out. "It's a good day when you learn something". ;>)

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We don't? Drat! j/k - glad things finally went well Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience

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You never get to old to learn I'm 63 and boy did I learn alot from all of you. I have a Question. When you put in a new hard drive does that mean you can not install with your restore disk? All programs on the cd are lost? Diane

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Restore CDs vary considerably, and are a poor substitute for an actual Windows disc. The CD can't be changed, so you can't 'lose' anything on it - the restore CD "should" work fine if used on the same machine, I would think - maybe someone else knows more. Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience

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Some restore CD systems may not work with a "new" hard-drive (i.e. a completely different drive to the one installed and shipped out to end-user) - depending on how the system was initally shipped out. Currently many restore CD/systems make use of a small hidden partition that contains info required during the restore CD functions (it's "consulted" during the restore sequence automatically). Thus if you have a drive that originally was set up that way, then a new (blank) drive will not have partition, thus it's likely the restore CD will not work... As already advised full version CDs are the better option whenever possible/practical.

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"Restore CDs vary considerably, and are a poor substitute for an actual Windows disc." Yeah, they just "restore" the "Manufacturers Specific factory O/S" (Operating System) to the state it was in when it left the factory. ie; it's how ~they~ want ~their~ version of windows to work on their machines. "....the restore CD "should" work fine if used on the same machine...." Yep, as long as the machine is capable of recognizing the drive, once it's set up correctly (partitioned and formatted) it will install just fine. (We're still not charging for this, right?) ;>)

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HEY I'm still learnning, you all are good teachers. I'd help you all out someday but you know thats really far fetched. LOL My husbund will be so proud of me tonight,send the bill to him) LOL(Thanks again) Diane

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Diane, I too am glad you got it sorted. Wasn't that fun too! Me, I'm still loooking for the answer for: Quote Response Number 13 Name: Bryco Date: November 29, 2004 at 17:33:32 Pacific Subject: reinstalling win 95 Reply: "just select one and hit the delete key." But otherwise I can exit without making any changes? Correct? Thanks Ham30 Bryan End Quote

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Hello everyone, Very nice job by all! Bryan, In response to your Response Number 13: Yes, you will be prompted a couple of times, prior to actually deleting any partitions. Best Regards, Mesich

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#12 maybe? (in response to your #10) Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience

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Diane, I turn 61 this week and I do this to prevent Alzheimers. M2

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Happy birthday M2! Don't fight alzheimers, revel in it!

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The Alzheimers advantage: new friends every day! M2

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Forty replies is not enough. Co-incidently this reply corresponds with my age! Tell us M2 which day is your birthday? Thanks for making me feel like a youngster once again.

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Rimfire, Mine is the 4th. My buddy, Bobby arrives that dau and his and Jim Morrison's are on the 8th. And the King of Thailand's is the 5th. M2 Mechanix2@Golden-Triangle.com

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Thanks for the follow ups. Bryan

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