Formatting a disk from Win CD
 

Neighbor just called,hard disk crash,windows really messed up,intention to format and reload windows xp,is there any way of formatting the hard disk from the windows installation CD?

From my XP experience, I decided to build my own machine about a year ago to eliminate the enforced use of (then) Vista and all the other cr*p that the manufacturers insist on loading new machines with. Bits bought, put together and the XP rescue disc from my old machine (now dismantled, cannibalised and out of use) inserted. It booted and informed me that it was formatting my (brand new) hard drive. It then proceeded to install XP which was validated with the aid of the serial number on the label on the old computer case. (Tip - from this forum - always use the telephone option to revaildate XP)
I have used this disc to rescue several computers using XP when a repair is not feasable it always reformats the sectors which contain the operating system before commencing a fresh installation.

P.P.

Yes, pop the disc in, use the BIOS to get the machine to boot from the cd & follow the instructions (carefully). From memory, xp installation will prompt you quite deliberately to hit different keys if you opt to format the hard drive, presumably to make you think twice before wiping the drive.

Yes. Exactly how depends which version of Windows it is, but he will end up removing the existing partitions, creating a new one or ones and formatting them with NTFS.

Darik's Boot And Nuke | Hard Drive Disk Wipe and Data Clearing

(or, as others have said, if you don't want to be quite so rigorous, there have been options to do a basic format in the windows installer GUI for ages)

Naughty naughty :=:= ..... not the intended use of an OEM license.

OEM licenses live and die with the machine to which the sticker is affixed. They are NOT transferrable, no ifs, no buts. And there are rules on how much you can tamper with the guts of a machine before it is defined as a new machine.

Last time I did this with the same machine(dunno what the bloke does to it) I tried booting from the Windows CD I could find no option to format the damaged disk only to begin the install,I just stuck the buggah in my machine as a slave and formatted it using disk manager but when I stuck it back into his machine and booted from the same windows CD,it formatted the hard again again for some reason,I can of course do the same thing again,just thinking that int olden days all one needed to do was stick in a floppy with the the config sys command com and format command on it boot from that type format and bob was yer uncle,life was simpler then.
:(

I did a format and reinstall recently using the original CD. As someone above has said, do it carefully, being sure to press all the correct buttons in the right order. Be sure to have to boot order in the BIOS start with the CD.

I thought I had done it correctly only to discover that I had, in fact, simply done a re-install over the top. Second attempt much more care and attention applied and I got the proper format and subsequent clean install afterwards.

One tip when booting from a WinXP CD with the intention to install from it, is to ensure you have all disk partitions deleted and THEN select the unallocated disk as the place upon which to install WindowsXP. It will then format it and start the install.

Any attempt at creating partitions prior to this usually leaves the uninitiated with a PC that has a bizarre bunch of disks and partitions.

A second tip is to thoroughly set the Regional & Language Settings to ensure you remove the US English and set it to UK English in all 4 places this is required on the 3-tabbed dialog box.

HTH.
Mike.

Ah ok thanks chaps,will just do it the way I did it last time.
I have also tried reloading windows over a damaged operating system but you tend to finish up with the same problem,over the years I have found that a format and reinstall is the best option,as long as you have all the driver disks for your kit that is.
:)

I've always liked XP, it's a decent operating system, but reading this thread has had me ruminating about how spoiled we are nowadays with windows builds that drop in drivers (mostly) installed & ready to run as soon as the machine fires up into life.

Many a long hour spent on XP builds making small yellow exclamation marks in device manager go away one by one.:)

I spend quite a lot of time sorting various PCs for people and the driver problems I now solve using a program which I downloaded and tried for free (it limits your ability to download more than a few drivers at a time if I recall) but was so impressed I subscribed. It is £23 for a year's use.

It works well and also has a facility to identify unknown hardware (usually works) and you can also back up ALL your drivers automatically.

I have no connection with the company. Search for 'Drivermax'

If your computer is a Dell you can get all the drivers by going to their web site, put in your Service Tag details and it will come up with all the drivers you need to restore to its ex factory condition. That said, Dell usually provide a separate CD with the drivers on it anyway.

Mixture: Point taken. Of course Microshaft write their own rules to maximise their profits. On the other hand, I have paid a license fee to use XP for ever on one machine. Microshaft can (probably) enforce that. If they really insist that the license is to expire when the machine for whch it is issued is taken out of use, then they will have to enforce that too. They have been trying for years to force me to purchase a new copy of Microsoft Office. My copy of Office XP still works but by introducing the new ".docx" format they tried to stop me and millions of other Office users from using their older software. I assume that it was pressure from many users that forced them to bring out the mod. which enables older versions of Word to read .docx files.
All is fair in love and war - provided you obey Bill Gates' rules - but which rules?

P.P.

I suspect you'll find that they had that they had the Compatability Pack available to everyone from day one. Reason being they have large customers where immediate overnight roll-outs from one version to another is not possible. But it was definitely available for everyone to download free from their site from day one.

On your other points about enforcement and profits, it's been a long week and I'm too tired to argue. But software development is an industry with large overheads, over and on top of normal day-to-day business overheads. I think it is only right that any software development company (Microsoft or otherwise) should be entitled to charge what they like. If people don't like it, there are pleanty of open-source alternatives out there these days.

The Microsoft OEM license is sold at a cheaper price because of its restricted licenses.