How do I reformat my hard drive
The Zoogie People
22-12-2007, 07:07
Hi folks,
I'm looking to possibly reformat my hard drive and starting anew, but I've never done this before so I thought I'd solicit some of your wise advice :)
First, how do I do it? Also, I'm triple-booting with XP, Vista, and Ubuntu (installed in that order). Are there any special considerations? Reformatting if you have only have one OS and one partition seems like it would be straightforward, but I'm hesitant to just jump in given my current setup.
Thanks ;)
OceanDrive2
22-12-2007, 07:11
How do I reformat my hard drivehttp://mysite.verizon.net/res8de21/blogpics/harddrive1.jpg
:D
Thumbless Pete Crabbe
22-12-2007, 07:12
In Windows, just right click on the drive (in My Computer) and click "format." Unless it's the drive with windows and all its system files on it - then I have no idea. :p
Potarius
22-12-2007, 07:19
...
Hey, guys? Try reading the post before mocking him. He has a special set-up which makes things far more difficult.
The Loyal Opposition
22-12-2007, 07:31
He has a special set-up which makes things far more difficult.
I would think that the best course of action is to ask whoever it was that set up the special set-up.
The Zoogie People
22-12-2007, 07:40
I did >_>
But I wasn't really thinking about removing partitions or reformatting at the time. Thanks though :)
The Loyal Opposition
22-12-2007, 07:47
But I wasn't really thinking about removing partitions or reformatting at the time.
Is this person no longer available?
SamuraiZ
22-12-2007, 07:49
Do you want to reformat the entire drive, meaning get rid of all 3 partitions and have nothing on it?
Or just format a certain partition?
http://mysite.verizon.net/res8de21/blogpics/harddrive1.jpg
:D
That does not work.
Srsly, sledge hammer, fire, 12 gauge, none of them could do more than dent my old hard drive. Next time I'm gonna try using a .223 and see if that does anything.
Srsly, these thing could make for some great body armor.
The Zoogie People
22-12-2007, 08:09
Is this person no longer available?
Sorry for not being clear. I set up the three OS's. It wasn't that hard, but I'm not that familiar with the concept of reformatting, so I don't know if I've got to get rid of the partitions first, uninstall OS's, and the like.
I want to format the entire disk. Is this possible just from within a partition manager?
Srsly, sledge hammer, fire, 12 gauge, none of them could do more than dent my old hard drive. Next time I'm gonna try using a .223 and see if that does anything.
Srsly, these thing could make for some great body armor.
Ha, could you still use the hard drive afterwords?
Sylvonia
22-12-2007, 08:13
Sorry for not being clear. I set up the three OS's. It wasn't that hard, but I'm not that familiar with the concept of reformatting, so I don't know if I've got to get rid of the partitions first, uninstall OS's, and the like.
I want to format the entire disk. Is this possible just from within a partition manager?
You can either reformat each partition individually or reformat the entire disc and then repartition it.
Ha, could you still use the hard drive afterwords?
With some hard drives, you could.
Ha, could you still use the hard drive afterwords?
Didn't try...was slightly dented, so I don't think so...but who knows.
OceanDrive2
22-12-2007, 08:22
Ha, could you still use the hard drive afterwords?Nope.
That does not work.
Yeas it does, a full hit erases all you MP3s, porn, Torrents , Al-Qaeda files, Ex-Girfriend Pics ... everything.
The FBI can't do shit about it.
:D
http://faroutshirts.com/images/NukeSite-Preview.png
Sylvonia
22-12-2007, 08:23
I suppose I should be more specific than with my last post. Boot up to any of the OSs and use whatever tool you have to reformat the other two partitions. I recommend using windows cause it's easy enough to select one partition from My Computer and format it. From there, reinstall the operating systems to those partitions and then boot up from one of them. Now format that last partition and reinstall that OS. Remember to back up everything you don't want to vanish to another partition or an external drive and then move it back after reinstalling the OS or it'll be gone forever!
The Alma Mater
22-12-2007, 08:34
If you wish to clear the whole drive - simply repartition it.
Formatting first and then repartioning like some suggested is silly - since you would then need to format it again ;)
Best way to do all this is from a live or boot cd with the partition tool on board. Many linuxdistros are quite suitable.
Ruby City
22-12-2007, 10:25
If you want to have the same size on the partitions as now then install the OSes again. Choose fresh install and NOT repair. Choose the partition the OS is on now and XP and Ubuntu will delete everything on that partition to start over fresh while Vista will move all old files to a folder named Windows.old, once you have deleted that folder it's entirely fresh too.
If you want to have different sizes on the partitions this time then you can delete all partitions with the first OS-installer when it asks you to choose a partition and then choose how much of the free space each installer should use to create new partitions.