hard drives

[prsawyer]

i have two hard drives one with windows 98 the other with windows xp i need to know how to remove windows 98 from my c drive i tried to format but the system will not let me an error pops up saying can not be formated applications must run on system.

[FatalException0E]

Let's just get this straight: You weren't running win98 when you tried to format the win98 drive, were you?

[confus-ed]

Originally posted by FatalException0E
Let's just get this straight: You weren't running win98 when you tried to format the win98 drive, were you?

Now....

If he had 98 then got xp, even if he installed xp on D then there's files on C: so it won't let him...

This tells you what files you need & explains a bit...

First he needs to be booting from the D drive not c:, but that probably isn't bootable yet .....

Once you can boot from just D, then you ought to be able to format C to whatever o/s you want.

There are a variety of ways to do this, depending on bios and cables or even FDisk, but make sure your xp install is bootable first on its own before you format or you ain't gonna be able to undo any of this...

[Idontknow]

I am curious. Can he boot up from a start up floppy disk and then format the C drive?

[Chris_MacMahon]

yup..but that's alot of work and if the os order was drive c was xp on ntfs, and booted into dos to format, then he might of recived the message that there were no drives..fat32/ntfs.
if he had a win98 boot disk and did this and booted in he could of formated the fat32 disk...but win98 can't read ntfs...

[silencio]

backup your documents, wipe both drives and reinstall xp.


This is the simplest most correct answer.

[Idontknow]

More curiosity.

Which OS is he booted into?

Isn't that Windows XP allow for dual boot? Also, can XP convert the FAT32 drive to ntfs and then format?

[NooNoo]

Originally posted by Idontknow
More curiosity.

Which OS is he booted into?

Isn't that Windows XP allow for dual boot? Also, can XP convert the FAT32 drive to ntfs and then format?

Unknown at this point Idontknow about the os

But xp does allow for dual boot but the boot files - ntloadr etc are on the c: drive, therefore he cannot format the c: drive because XP knows it will wipe itself out.

[Idontknow]

I see. Thanks!

[ToX_Boy]

I agree with silencio format both drives and start off fresh and clean

[confus-ed]

Originally posted by ToX_Boy
I agree with silencio format both drives and start off fresh and clean

I thought he wanted to 'save' the xp install & just kill the 9x one, I'm sure he could have managed to format both drives very easily, the point is he needs to move system files from c: to d:, get d: bootable then erase c:.......

As has been said a lot of times before I'm just confus-ed, but I suspect someone here is more confus-ed than I!

[silencio]

Originally posted by confus-ed


I thought he wanted to 'save' the xp install & just kill the 9x one, I'm sure he could have managed to format both drives very easily, the point is he needs to move system files from c: to d:, get d: bootable then erase c:.......

As has been said a lot of times before I'm just confus-ed, but I suspect someone here is more confus-ed than I!

If he really wants to do it he can:

1) copy ntldr, ntdetect.com, and boot.ini to a xp formatted floppy in case of trouble.

2) boot to the xp cdrom and goto the recovery console.

3) format the system drive and reboot

4) boot to the xd cdrom/recovery console, run fixboot, bootcfg /repair, reboot and hope that fixes the problem.

In reality, he probabaly has applications installed in xp to the c:\ drive that will require reinstalling. If he has a scsi card or ide raid he'll have to download the driver, drop it into c:\, rename it ntbootdd.sys, change the boot.ini from multi to scsi and adjust the arc path. If bootcfg doesn't fix the boot.ini he'll have to create one (or copy it from the floppy) (bootcfg didn't detect the install on my box (scsi drive 2 id 1) even though I was logged into it at the recovery console. If you set the bios to boot from the secondary master there's a chance that it will become c: meaning all references to d: in xp will be blown apart.

In the end you're trying to help a gentleman with a difficult process via a message board. In this situation, where a hundred things can go wrong, the simples answer is to backup your data and reinstall. IMHO.

[confus-ed]

Du'h so the simplest answer is the best? Even when its the right answer to the wrong q.

I know where all the nt files should be -my earlier post gives it away somewhat- I know how to do it without "reboot and hope that fixes the problem".

It doesn't change what he asked, if that was your boss at work you wouldn't be telling him he was a numpty for doing it that way you'd be quietly & meekly fixin' it. Neither of these words seems to apply to either of us....

[silencio]

Originally posted by confus-ed
Du'h so the simplest answer is the best? Even when its the right answer to the wrong q.

I know where all the nt files should be -my earlier post gives it away somewhat- I know how to do it without "reboot and hope that fixes the problem".

It doesn't change what he asked, if that was your boss at work you wouldn't be telling him he was a numpty for doing it that way you'd be quietly & meekly fixin' it. Neither of these words seems to apply to either of us....

I'm not trying to argue with you. Can you please explain your process of to solve his problem?

[confus-ed]

Originally posted by silencio
I'm not trying to argue with you. Can you please explain your process of to solve his problem?

You did it already, assuming he has NTFS on the d:, the point was that formating & starting again wasn't what was asked....

If he has fat on the second drive he's gonna have to use fdisk/mbr to re-write the bootstrap & edit boot.ini to remove the reference to the other drive. Yes if the installs aren't in the right place all hell will break loose....

I agree - 'tis tricky & fdisk & restart is the simplest, however he didn't ask that.

I was getting at this

I agree with silencio format both drives and start off fresh and clean

This IS prolly best, but not what was asked, not to say your subsequent answer was wrong .....he might do better though if he copies ntloader etc to his new boot drive as well as a floppy, & before I did any formatting I'd be trying the 'new' boot disk on its own, by physically unplugging the 9x disk, he prolly wants his xp install as c: & his 9x as a different blank d:....

But we don't know what he actually wants we shouldn't assume facts to make them fit our answers....

No argument here just as usual confusion......