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Hi Slang
You might ask how long is a piece of string.
But for your purposes yes it is although it may not be completely free of information that a good disk file recovery software might find.
If you want to sell it on after formatting then use a good program like Killdisk
WolfeyOn a hot summers night would you offer your throat to the Wolf with the Red Roses?
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I have two hard drives. One had XP on it but has been reformatted. When I boot-up XP asks which drive I want to boot. Where is XP getting the impression that there is a second OS available?
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Formating does not affect the boot sectors. Formatting only affects the FATs (File Allocation Tables).
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OOOps, the last post applies to FAT drives. When you format NTFS drives, XP also partitions the drives, so the boot sector can be affected.
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When you format a drive, any drive, the boot sector is formatted and information is written to it depending on the OS it is formatted with, even a non-bootable disk.
When the OS is installed the boot sector is modified with boot information. It is the contents of the boot sector that determines if a disk is bootable.
When you format a disk with the /S option this boot information is written to the boot sector otherwise the boot sector just contains basic information on the disk format.
>> Where is XP getting the impression that there is a second OS available? <<
From the Boot.ini file which should be in the root folder of the boot disk. To get at boot.ini bring up the System Properties.
Windows Key + Pause.Select Advanced then then Startup and Recovery > Settings. Select Edit. You will then see the default setting and two other entries. Delete the one that is not required.
Stuart
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Only true to a point STUART.
The BOOT.INI file is written as the new XP install is taking place. The XP install looks for another OS. If none is found, then the BOOT.INI file is written for one OS only and does not give an option to boot on another OS.If another OS is sensed then the it will be written to the BOOT.INI file and you will get an option on what OS should be boot on start up.
In simple words: if the boot.ini file is giving you the option to boot on another OS...then YES, IN FACT THE LAST XP INSTALL DID PICK UP ON ANOTHER OS.
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As per says, if there were two installations and the user formatted the drive with one of them, the boot.ini will retain the information for the installation that was formatted.
Its a very common problem. These forums are full of questions from users wanting to get rid of the second boot option after deleting a no longer needed installation.
Stuart
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I have found if you want a squeaky clean drive ripe for a new install then using the low level format on the diag disk is the best way to go. Nothing is sacred. Everything is gone. Then you don't have to worry about any program being able to retrive anything or an old boot record giving you fits on a new install.
I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid...
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>> low level format on the diag disk <<
Low level format is a misnomer. Low level formating of an IDE hard disk is done by the manufacturer as the disk comes of the assembly line. A true low level format by the user is likely to render the disk usless. All the diag disk does is write zeros to each sector and check that each sector can be read.
http://www.ariolic.com/activesmart/low-level-format.html
Stuart
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http://www.disk-utility.com/hard-disk-low-level-format.html
This site has links to the makers of hard drives to get formating programs.
Stuart,
Yes you're right. The term gets used incorrectly by a lot of tech savy people. There is software available to do a true low level format that is perfectly safe to use. However as to the correct use of the term, it should have said high level format instead of low level format.
I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid...
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I was right all along. Even Microsoft refers to the software that the maker of the drive supplies to format the drive as low level formatting. High level formatting is refered to as fdisk and format commands. I was right all along...
I may be crazy, but I'm not stupid...
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>> Microsoft refers to the software that the maker of the drive supplies to format the drive as low level formatting. <<
In that case Microsoft are wrong as they so often are!
These utilities don't do anything the sector layout or the disk geometry as a true low level format does.
Stuart
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L:ow-level format caveats/warnings...
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/geom/formatLow-c.html
and all about formatting hi/low/mid-level... at:
http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/geom/format.htm
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