Formatting Hard Drive

[tp500]

Way too lazy to look for the topic, don't have time. My girlfriend's parents need to reformat their computer because it's completely FUBAR, but they dont have the XP cd to reformat it that way, or at least they can't find it. Is there any way you guys know of that they can do it?

[Dead Fish]

If they are going to format the whole HDD (all partitions, including the one Windows resides on), then they will have to reinstall the Operating System too. So, I wouldn't format without having the Windows disk.

This, of course, doesn't matter as long as they leave Windows unchanged (in which case I would doubt the performance gain) or it is used for storage only, meaning there is no OS.

Just saying...

[Skeetles]

Just open up the hd case and scratch the most inner ring of the disc in there.

[one of them]

Yeah. You can't format it without re-installing Windows. So I suggest you get another XP cd. I think they will mail you one as long as you verify you purchased it.

[tp500]

The thing is, they've fucked it up past trying to get rid of all the viruses and shit. There is no way I'm going to find all the viruses, so I'm just trying to wipe it. I don't want to change windows, I just want to wipe the hard drive, thus eliminating those pesky viruses.

[tp500]

Yeah. You can't format it without re-installing Windows. So I suggest you get another XP cd. I think they will mail you one as long as you verify you purchased it.
I think I might have one at my house, but I will try your advice if all else fails.

Just open up the hd case and scratch the most inner ring of the disc in there.
Damn, why didn't I think of that before?!?!?!!

[one of them]

The thing is, they've fucked it up past trying to get rid of all the viruses and shit. There is no way I'm going to find all the viruses, so I'm just trying to wipe it. I don't want to change windows, I just want to wipe the hard drive, thus eliminating those pesky viruses.

If its Virus' they may be planted in Windows System Files. So wiping it may not work. Most viruses now a'days work in fragments. And sometimes getting rid of the source doesn't fix everything. If you wipe the HDD, then you need to whipe EVERYTHING. Including the OS.

[tp500]

Yeah I might do that, and just reinstall XP totally. It is probably the least troublesome.

[one of them]

Yeah I might do that, and just reinstall XP totally. It is probably the least troublesome.
I just recently did it and it took about one, maybe two hours.