please help format

[helen06]

i want to format a hard drive that has windows xp installed
can i format drive even if you dont have windows xp cd
this is an old computer i picked up and needs a good clean out
thanks helen06

 

[edijs]

Formatting a hard drive or one of its partitions will completely erase everything on it. So, if you don't have a CD from which to reinstall Windows, don't do it.

 

[donkey42]

can i format drive even if you dont have windows xp cd

yes, goto Bootdisk.Com and download a Win98 bootdisk creator boot off the floppy you created and type

format C:

(assuming C: is the partition you wish to format)[ot] you only need the XP CD if you want to reload or clean install XP[/ot]