HI. can anyone let me know any program do a low level format for my toshiba notebook. also, i tried to do an regular format for the HD and it says can format can't process because of an volume is still in use. thanks you in advance

You can't format from the DOS prompt/C:> prompt. You have to use the XPCD. You will boot from the CD and then run setup. You will be given the option to format during setup. To obtain a low level format utility. You will need to visit the HDD manufacturer's website and download their lowlevel format utility. Hope this helps.

From your last post, I recommend that you use an online virus checker, Like avg or Trend micro. Go to www.google.com and search for "free virus scan" without the quotes. Use the Trend Micro or avg, and try to get rid of the virus that way. And consider buying an antivirus program for future use. Formating may not get rid of the virus. And formatting your drive will erase everything you have. If you must format and start over, you should backup everything that you want to keep and Use your windows XP cd or xp recovery disk. If all of this is going over your head, you should really consider calling Toshiba for help if your still under warrenty or going to a repair shop. Because if you don't know what your doing, you can cause more harm than good.

Forget about low level format. Unless you know exactly what you are doing you could render your disk useless. Hard Disks are low level formatted by the manufacture. It should never be necessary for a user to do a low level format except in dire circumstances when the only other option is to throw the disk in the bin. It is so unusual to do a low level format that not all manufactures even provide a low level formating utility. Stuart

You can format via DOS if you boot up on a boot diskette. Don't confuse this with the XP command prompt that looks like dos but is not. This is what you were trying to do when you got the volume in use message. You can download from the web the drive manufactures utilies that will allow you to write 0's to the drive which will blank it out. You will have to partition and then format. Or as previously suggested use the xP install to wipe and repartition/format the drive. Make sure you have all the w2k drivers for this model before you do so because you can be royally messed up if you don't

What I've read here and on your last post brings this to mind.

A low level format is part of the recertifying process. It is only used if you get certin error messages from the drive. Once you start it you have to finish it and that can take hours. And it is truthfully very hard on the drive. Now the reason you're getting the volume in use message is simple. XP is not suicidal. If you're trying to format the operating system drive from within the operating system, then it won't let you. One way to get around that is to format from the xp cd giving you either ntfs or fat32. Another is to get a 98se boot floppy and run the fdisk/format from there giving you fat32 only. Since xp was written to run on ntfs I suggest you format the drive in ntfs. At any rate make sure you back up your files and what nots before you start. And remember> Don't cut the blue wire...