FORMAT ????

[dahjah]

I was trying to format mi maddaz laptop.
BUT
I keep getting this message "Windows was unable to complete this format"

OR

"Windows cannot format this drive. Quit any disk utilities or other programs that are using this drive, and make sure that no window is displaying the contents of the drive, Then try formatting again."

Now de ting is mi nuh ha no window open a display a ting.

I have the "My Computer" window open , I click on Local Disk (C and then click on format, this is where I get these messages.

Reason:
Her pc nah act right and has only 50mb of space left on it. It is very slow now. So I wanna wipe it clean and install everyting all ova again but it won't lowe mi.

The computer came with "widows me" and I don't want to go there again.
It has xp now and that is what is going back on it.

So wah nex???

J-kid mi did call yuh but yuh mussee si mi numbah an nuh ansah fe fone [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img]

[halfwaytree]

Re: FORMAT ????

Any programs running the "background"?

Start/Run/type in msconfig/click startup tab and uncheck items/click OK.

I'm not sure if you have done this already or if it will help but it may be worth a shot.

Try restarting her computer and then try the foramt thingy.

[championgal262]

Re: FORMAT ????

get a startup boot disk 3.5 floppy a and put it in the a drive and then reboot system when at a: type format c: an everything will be wiped out

[dahjah]

Re: FORMAT ????

uuno is nice ppl. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]
mi gi up fe now till mi ha access tuh har laptop again, maybe dis coming weekend.

[j-kid]

Re: FORMAT ????

Originally posted by King dahjah:
[qb]

J-kid mi did call yuh but yuh mussee si mi numbah an nuh ansah fe fone [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] [/qb]

Noh sah mi hoh hav noh voice mail or si yuh numba com up pan mi personal phone! Ah which numba yuh call mi at, home or wuk (mi off til Thursday)?

Mi noh like some ah dem people whe deh pan yah whe noh return calls, or fraid fi pick up dem phone wen it ring! Di ongle time mi noh pick up is if mi ah sleep, inna church or inna tilet! [img]/forums/images/graemlins/tongue.gif[/img] [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img]


Ctrl + Alt + Del wi show yuh 99% ah whe ah run inna di back ground. Den yuh caa terminate all ah dem an try format again.

Also yuh caa kina duh whe Champ sey, except type Format C: /s, just in case yuh waa fi duh everything from the hard disk. If yuh noh hav noh boot floppy, just re-start the computer an press F8 to go into the boot menu. Select, "Boot to command prompt only" , then type Format C:

[Diplomat]

Re: FORMAT ????

Sounds like you also need to do a memory upgrade and perhaps install a bigger hard drive. If she now has only 50 MB of free space, with XP that thing is going to crawl.

[dahjah]

Re: FORMAT ????

Originally posted by CEW:
[qb] Sounds like you also need to do a memory upgrade and perhaps install a bigger hard drive. If she now has only 50 MB of free space, with XP that thing is going to crawl. [/qb]

well it use fe be my laptop so nuff a de programs weh mi use fe use still deh pan deh, suh mi sure seh shi nuh need 80% a dem.
She defanetly not gonna need macromedia stuff, or Logic pro audio dwl.

[Diplomat]

Re: FORMAT ????

Originally posted by King dahjah:well it use fe be my laptop so nuff a de programs weh mi use fe use still deh pan deh, suh mi sure seh shi nuh need 80% a dem.

She defanetly not gonna need macromedia stuff, or Logic pro audio dwl.

Well, she just might learn how to use them [img]/forums/images/graemlins/704555_dwl.gif[/img] Of course, the unit is slow now because 50MB is not enough for virtual memory/file swapping. Formatting and reinstalling what she needs is a good idea!

[SwiTek]

Re: FORMAT ????

Yep, the C drive, you need to format from the command prompt, because this is your system disk on which windows resides.

[dahjah]

Re: FORMAT ????

should i jus format the C drive alone, an nuh badda wid D?

[j-kid]

Re: FORMAT ????

Well if yuh hav data pan "D" dat yuh need I would hold off on dat one until you can back up di data. You will still be able to access the info on "D" after you re-build the OS on the "C" drive.

If yuh noh need all the "D" drive space, den adjust di size ah di partition wid ah program like Partition Magic (non-destructive) or F-disk (destructive).

[dahjah]

Re: FORMAT ????

I went to the Command Prompt, I did the F8 ting and type een "Format C:" and it ahx mi if mi sure "Y/N" so I type "Y" and den it tell mi seh it cyaan dweet cah supm else a run. [img]/forums/images/graemlins/mad.gif[/img]

So I pull up task manager and start ending the tasks but it won't let me do them all. It will shut down cah de one mi jus try fe end is critical.

Aye sah, a wah mek ppl waan fe guh duh IT wukk an ting?

[dahjah]

Re: FORMAT ????

Jus waan fe seh tanx tuh de whool a unno; e dunn

[Rebycman]

Re: FORMAT ????

Sounds like you got it solved. Next time remember that the XP CD has a directory with the boot disk in it. The only problem is it takes 5-6 floppies lol.

To create setup disks

Insert a blank, formatted, 3.5-inch, 1.44-MB disk into the floppy disk drive.
Insert the Windows XP CD-ROM into the CD-ROM drive.
Click Start, and then click Run.
In the Open box, type d:bootdiskmakeboot a: (where d: is the drive letter assigned to your CD-ROM drive), and then click OK.
Follow the screen prompts.

Important:

You will need 5-6 blank, formatted, 3.5-inch, 1.44-MB floppy disks. Label them Setup Disk One, Setup Disk Two, Setup Disk Three, and Setup Disk Four, etc.

Note:

You can create the setup disks from a computer running any version of Windows or MS-DOS

All you need to do after that is insert disk one and restart the PC and follow the onscreen directions.

[j-kid]

Re: FORMAT ????

Any old DOS or Win_98, single, boot disk will also do the job. Just insert it, re-boot the PC then at the A: prompt type "Format C: /s". The /s is not that crucial, but if you want to boot to the faster hard drive afterward, instead of the floppy, and work from there the switch will accomplish that.

Pop in the Win_XP CD and re-boot the PC, then follow the instructions.