HELP! Computer tech guys inside!!!

[witecap4u]

download the bootdisk from the link i posted

format the hard drive with it

then reload windows on the machine

it is the easiest, least confusing way

If its a windows xp disk, you dont need a boot disk, the cd is bootable...dont waste your time. Also, windows xp wont work off of a win98 boot disk. You need to make the 6 disk set, asuming th laptop has a floppy drive.....but why waste the time with floppys....JUST USE THE CD

Put your windows disk in the cd drive, reboot. It should say press any key to boot from cd.....press any key. follow the directions to format the hard drive then continue to install windows.

If it doesnt ask you to press any key to boot from cd, you'll need to enter the bios and change the cdrom to the first boot device, save and reboot with the cd installed.....

cs

[tony]

winxp will work off of a win98 boot disk. you can use a windows 3.1 boot disk to format the hd if need be. the operating system has nothing to do with the process (as long as the file system is the same), the boot disk is just a simple disk with the tools needed for simple operations. the win98 just happens to be the sleekest and easiest to work with.

his trouble originated in trying to format with the windows xp disk, why would he resort back to it? he simply missed where it asked him if he wanted for format and install over windows or install another copy. it is a common error.

if he followed the instructions i posted he would have had the drive formatted in 5 minutes and be loading windows minutes later. the only flaw with the way i posted is that he would be forced to format using FAT vs NTFS, but since he is selling the laptop i doubt he cares. (but, xp will ask him if he wants to format it again on install with FAT or NTFS)

there are literally thousands of ways to format a hard drive. the way i posted was the simplest way to suit his needs. he just needs to erase an existing OS, period.

regardless, im not going to argue any more. there are many ways to skin cats. cpreefguy, if you still need help and are on the north east side of town i would be glad to help you out, just drop me a line.

download the bootdisk from the link i posted

format the hard drive with it

then reload windows on the machine

it is the easiest, least confusing way

If its a windows xp disk, you dont need a boot disk, the cd is bootable...dont waste your time. Also, windows xp wont work off of a win98 boot disk. You need to make the 6 disk set, asuming th laptop has a floppy drive.....but why waste the time with floppys....JUST USE THE CD

Put your windows disk in the cd drive, reboot. It should say press any key to boot from cd.....press any key. follow the directions to format the hard drive then continue to install windows.

If it doesnt ask you to press any key to boot from cd, you'll need to enter the bios and change the cdrom to the first boot device, save and reboot with the cd installed.....

cs

[TexasState]

I live close by to your dorm. I format and install new OS all the time. I don't know about Alienware but if you follow the step correctly with a regular XP installation disk, you can partition, format, and install fresh Windows. If you didn't go through the correct menu, XP will install two copies of itself. You can remove the dual boot promp from the control panel. But it's best if you could try to install Windows again and pay attention to the menu choices.

[SaltyJim]

If you are sure you need nothing on the disk AND you have another computer you can...

1. Connect the drive to the second computer
2. Open disk management
3. Delete all of the 'partitions' on that drive

Unless your the FBI, you will not be able to view or recover the disk after this process.

Christopher

I'm not FBI, but I could recover the disk is done your way. If you just remove the partitions, all you are doing is resetting the partition table. Almost ANY freeware disk recovery will be able to rebuild the partition table to make the drive bootable. Clif is right, almost nothing is beyond retrieval. That is why there are companies that specialize in cleaning government computers.

[jaded]

HELP! Computer tech guys inside!!!

First thing to do is LET THEM OUT!!!!

[sunvsat]

Reformating or deleting the partitions WILL NOT stop someone from getting info off the disk, all either does is reset flags that the DOS uses to find out head position on disk. There are numerous programs on the NET to get your info back when a reformat or deletion of partitions is done by accident or on purpose.
There are also many programs to run on it to completely erase(actually overwrite) your disk and will write ones and zeros over and over again to make sure the disk is blank. One is killdisk.com they use the same as the government uses as well as many others. I would suggest using one of these methods to make sure what ever info you use cannot be used!!!!

[TexasState]

If you're that worry about your privacy, install a new HD.

[satx-94integraLS]

hey cpreef guy, im a tech. ill come fix your comp however you want it free. give me a PM if you need help, or if you want me to come by. felipe and sarah can vouch for my knowledge

[satx-94integraLS]

Reformating or deleting the partitions WILL NOT stop someone from getting info off the disk, all either does is reset flags that the DOS uses to find out head position on disk. There are numerous programs on the NET to get your info back when a reformat or deletion of partitions is done by accident or on purpose.
There are also many programs to run on it to completely erase(actually overwrite) your disk and will write ones and zeros over and over again to make sure the disk is blank. One is killdisk.com they use the same as the government uses as well as many others. I would suggest using one of these methods to make sure what ever info you use cannot be used!!!!

actually, it doesnt write 1's. its called (for SCSI anyways) a low-level format. the intel equiv. would be a 'zero-out' which is writing 0's to EVERY sector on the hard disk.

even still, this method must be repeated SEVERAL times to ensure total data loss. im talking 10+ times. on an 80gb SATA drive, that would take approx.12+ hours. on EIDE ATA133/166, youre talking a day or more at least. to some, security is everything (myself included).

[sunvsat]

Only putting all zero's will not work, to make the magnetic medium change for sure, it must change state so ones and zeros are used in random order or an algorythm is used. A zero for a null and a one for a pulse. The programs used, do this many times as many as 35 on some and as few as once on others. The government (defense department) uses three. Here is a much better explanation
http://www.cs.auckland.ac.nz/~pgut00...ecure_del.html
My "low level" format runs on a 160g drive in one and a half hours, the program for complete return to unused actually takes only 7 minutes longer. You can't actually change a magnetic image on the medium without an actual change in written matter. Many of the programs do run a complete zero pattern last and is sometimes called a zeroed out drive
or nul drive but that is actually not neccessary. Our company uses one of the programs that writes a five pattern algorythm and it is satisfied that the disk is good to go.