Comments for I can't format my hard drive - it keep telling me "volume is in use by another process" -- why?

Comment from seneca on 2008-11-30

2008-12-01T04:29:31Z

"I can't format my hard drive
- it keep telling me "volume is in use by another process" -- why?"

how can i format and re-install with windows cd after getting this to work?

Did you read the article you just commented on? It's pretty clear: you must boot from something else. Typically you want to boot from a Windows installation CD.

- Leo
01-Dec-2008

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Comment from Bruno Araujo on 2008-11-09

2008-11-09T11:55:56Z

and it worked! just do as i told in the previews post, go to your virtual memory settings and set the configuration to manual (you dont need to restart after taht) just apply and OK, format the drive and voilla!

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Comment from Bruno Araujo on 2008-11-09

2008-11-09T11:53:59Z

"i see where you answered a question that applied to my problem,but only partially so,you see the drive im trying to format is my slave drive,which used to be the master with the operating system,now i have another drive from which i run the 'c'drive with the os..im trying to format another drive('d')and it keeps telling me partition in use. how do i proceed from here.
thanx in advance..."

The problem is that your hard drive used to have a paging file associated with either the OS drive or the secondary partition, i was able to format my secondary partition once i removed the paging file (my computer->properties->advance systemsettings->performance-advanced)

removing that paging file from my secondary volume was the only way i had it formated, now the problem is that, the whole HD is now a secondary HD and i'm still trying to figure out how to change that, i'll try to direct the virtual memory to another HD and see waht happens

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Comment from Linda Hartigan on 2008-09-24

2008-09-24T21:26:51Z

pxe-m04: hooking bootstrap interrupt 18h is the error message
I was told to disable the LAN NETWORK in the bootup sequence but on this EMachine computer it doesn't allow you to make a change other than to change the place in the sequence..which I put as last.

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Comment from david on 2008-08-13

2008-08-13T19:37:06Z

ineed your help, my hp lapop keeps rebooting so i decided to reformat it....it gave a message that setup cannot find harddrive i decided to try the harddrive on another laptop... and its working fine ... i need ur help on what to do

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Comment from Shubham singla on 2008-08-08

2008-08-09T06:40:48Z

Hello Leo i want to tell one of my problem of my PC.
Leo i cannot format my 'Local disk E'.It always tells me to quit the disk utilities or other programs that are using this drive

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Comment from ANdrew on 2008-06-10

2008-06-11T02:33:49Z

HI. my hard drive not formatting past 6% can u help me with this prob please. If u can tell me a way how to recover my files that would be ever cooler..

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Comment from Rav on 2008-03-16

2008-03-17T03:41:27Z

Leo,
"I can't format my hard drive - it keep telling me "volume is in use by another process" -- why?":
The answer is windows is using it but is there a way to dismount the volume or format my hard drive...

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Comment from Abad on 2008-02-12

2008-02-12T22:40:33Z

Hi Leo, I'm a bit stucked with something, a couple of weeks ago a friend of mine asked me to format his windows xp home, for an xp profesional, so I agreed to it, as I did that many times to my computers, but half way troughout the process it kept telling me that it couldn't find certain files when installing, so i thought it was the disk being damaged or something, so we acquired a different disk, so it was going fine but half way trough the installation done it again, and I don't seem to be able to fix the computer now, and obviously all files from previous system had been lost so the computer is on standby till further notice lol!, can you please help me?, kind regards.

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Comment from jawad on 2008-01-16

2008-01-16T13:42:04Z

my operating system is in C:drive , the problem is with my drive :D , whenever i am trying to opening the drive D: is not letting me to open and its giving the message as "disk in drive D: is not formatted , do you want format now ", please help me out coz i had very important data and photos in drive D: and again i am telling you my operating system is on drive C: . please help me out as soon as possible, thanks

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Comment from tony on 2007-12-05

2007-12-05T20:27:16Z

i see where you answered a question that applied to my problem,but only partially so,you see the drive im trying to format is my slave drive,which used to be the master with the operating system,now i have another drive from which i run the 'c'drive with the os..im trying to format another drive('d')and it keeps telling me partition in use. how do i proceed from here.
thanx in advance...

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Comment from phomthong on 2007-10-31

2007-11-01T05:08:22Z

Today, I try to format my drive for kill virus after my backup data. I can't format my hard drive - it keep telling me "volume is in use by another process" -- why?": Firstly, I dont' know , After I see at regedit use " msconfig " to see some process - autorun virus or another program. Only don't check and ok. I can normally format my computer's drive. I glad to see your good website. Visit my security computer blog at http://securitycom.blogspot.com

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Comment from MartinWood on 2007-07-30

2007-07-31T00:09:02Z

Hi Leo
im trying to reformat my compiter from the disc i loaded it with from windows 98 in the first place,computer says the version on computer is newer than on cd but i loaded off same cd to start with.xp just starts as normal it wont go into format mode i wonder if you could help please. Many thanks Moxley 108 .

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Comment from mohamed sherbeny on 2007-07-17

2007-07-17T10:51:17Z

how do i format my hard disk drive I am using O.P system windows xp sp2

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Comment from Derek on 2007-05-31

2007-06-01T04:27:57Z

When formating with an XP cd my pc will either tell me my hard drive does not exist when it does, or I get the option to press any key to boot from cd then the screen display inspecting system and hangs. What would be the issue? I replaced the hard drive and cd rom and problem still exist.

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Comment from isaac kals on 2007-05-15

2007-05-15T09:22:20Z

Boot from xp set up disc
Enter the partition section
first delete the patition
create it again
press f3 to quit installation.
Byee

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Comment from Maru on 2007-05-01

2007-05-01T16:19:01Z

windows xp refuses to start because somehow my drive E, where xp was installed has somehow changed to drive D and vise-versa. Is there a way that I can rename them?

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Comment from davon on 2007-03-01

2007-03-01T15:12:23Z

what does drive volume mean? im sorry im new to computer and i just have to know

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Comment from iskandar on 2007-01-20

2007-01-20T17:24:37Z

but i do not have a floppy to format the drive???? i do not understand use a floppy to format???? i'm really depresrate to solve this probs.... LEO can u help me out.....

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Comment from Stuart on 2006-10-10

2006-10-10T23:18:21Z

Hi:

Similar problem when trying to format my drive (can't format C when C is in use)so I decided to use the restore CD which has a format option. I set the boot sequence to CD-ROM, disabled the hard drive and then rebooted. System goes to the CD-ROM drive (which contains the boot CD)and then goes to the hard drive where it launches Windows 2000. Double checked the setup and boot sequence and everything is correct. It shouldn't even be looking to the hard drive ?! Any input? Thanks.

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Comment from sebastian on 2006-08-22

2006-08-23T04:49:23Z

hi my name is sebastian and i just formatted my computer i made media center editon now i got xp professional and i cant get to my volume its like my speakers r dead any suggestions and the other thing is that when i go on my internet it like waves or laggs i scroll down its like a big wave any help with these problems type 555 and tell me solution ty a lot guys i will come back in a few to see@@@

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Comment from Donna on 2006-08-19

2006-08-20T04:07:37Z

I want to format my drive also. I knnow I can do this if I make a boot disk, and use dos, but can't figure out how to make a bootable system CD...since my newer, like most nowadays, computer does not have a floppy drive. :-(

What happened to the good ol days when the system asked you once or twice if you were sure, and you just formatted away. Geez, is it even possible anymore. HP put this stupid recovery partition (using MY disk space instead of sending recovery disks like everyone else...too cheap I guess)and I want to get rid of it. I have my backup, and bootable Norton disk, and I am ready to go, if I could just get my stupid hard drive formatted..

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Comment from Leo on 2006-06-23

2006-06-24T06:05:50Z

See the article you just commented on.

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Comment from giancarlo on 2006-06-23

2006-06-24T05:59:06Z

i try to format my computer but it keeps tellin me that the volume is in use by another process... is there another way to format my comp without gettin into windows?

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Comment from Jake on 2006-06-18

2006-06-19T02:10:12Z

when i try to format my laptop, its gets to about 80% and quits...anybody else have this problem, and if so, any possible solutions?

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Comment from nionio on 2006-04-26

2006-04-27T02:07:22Z

Im having this problem too. I need to remove xp of my pc and put Win 95 on it.
I just thought to boot up xp from startup. Do the format there, stop the installation then put my win95 in there.

Otherwise to fromat guys put ur xp cd in ur pc. Restart it and follow the prompts. That should work :D

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Comment from danny on 2006-03-08

2006-03-08T22:01:12Z

iv just reinstalled windows xp and my c drive is now i drive and my dvd drives are j and h how do i put them in the right places i cant down load anythink

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Comment from steffo on 2006-03-07

2006-03-07T16:53:37Z

i want to format my computer but i get this message:

format cannot run because the volume is in use by another program.....

what can i do i really want to format the computer.

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Comment from jammy on 2006-02-28

2006-02-28T23:00:36Z

tried but it says bad command. i just need to get my hands on XP disk so i can use recovery console to change to FAT32 and to format it? if it will work! nothing seems to with me. been gr8 help thanks.
cheers, jammy.

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Comment from Leo on 2006-02-28

2006-02-28T22:54:45Z

Well, it's quite possible that the floppy disk you're booting from has the format command on it. Type "FORMAT C:" and see what happens. Remember, this will ERASE EVERYTHING ON C: :-)

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Comment from jammy on 2006-02-28

2006-02-28T22:08:17Z

yes i saw a message in DOS somewhere about it being NTFS.
could you help me with how i go abour reformating with FAT32? or a website that will help. i dont really know much about that.
cheers, jammy

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Comment from Leo on 2006-02-28

2006-02-28T22:00:52Z

I would guess that C: is formatted NTFS which DOS can't read (unless you get additional drivers). If you plan to erase it, then you could just reformat it with FAT32 and you'd see it again.

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Comment from jammy on 2006-02-28

2006-02-28T20:47:38Z

maybe off topic but.. i try booting with floppy and get the A: prompt. i try selecting C: but it isnt having any of it?? says something like drive is not accessible or invalid drive. but then without the floppy in it boots normally!

The computer is weird it has winXP on D: and win2000 on C: i want to use the hard drive 1 for somthing else (another computer) but the windows 2000 on C: is corrupt and deleted but is still left on there if you know wat i mean.
cheers, jammy

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Comment from Leo on 2006-02-25

2006-02-26T00:08:21Z

I don't see any reason to convert back to FAT 16. If you're attempting to upgrade to WinXP, just do that.

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Comment from Chris Waw on 2006-02-25

2006-02-25T19:02:31Z

I have windows 98, I converted to Fat 62, and want to switch bact to 16 to uninstall win.98.

when I go to format it say's it cannot because files are being used by windows, and wont let me format back to 16.

The computer was given to me by a lady, and she does not have the discs that go with the computer.

A friend gave me his win. xp to install and I cannot uninstall the existing.

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Comment from manix on 2006-02-10

2006-02-11T03:32:12Z

I cannot format my hard drive it tells me that the volume is in use by another process. Can you tell me step by step procedures on how to format? Thank you very much! MORE POWER!

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Comment from Leo on 2006-02-07

2006-02-08T04:37:30Z

If you boot from the operating system disk and setup the OS, one of the options along the way will be to reformat the hard disk.

Alternately, you can find or make a bootable CD-ROM. KNoppix, BartPE - depending on your level of expertise - or http://bootdisk.com

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Comment from Carla on 2006-02-07

2006-02-08T03:43:55Z

My computer keeps telling the same thing. How can I reboot my system from a floppy, if my laptop doesn't have a floppy disc... And when I insert the Operating system cd, it doesn't give me the option to format. My laptop is HP pavilion zv5000...
Thank you Leo

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Comment from Norm on 2006-01-21

2006-01-22T04:09:47Z

If you are formating then you must have the system windows disc. I just did a XP home and here are the directions.
Your computer must be set to boot from a CD. Access SET UP BY PRESSING Esc. Or Del (depending on your computer) just when boot up starts. When you are in set up re-arrange the boot sequence to make the CD drive first (on the top of the list).
Put the Windows XP disc in the CD drive. Turn on the computer. When you see a message to press any key to boot from the CD, press Enter. Windows setup will start. Let it load its files.
When it finishes, you’ll get three choices. Press Enter to set up Windows, Accept the agreement by pressing F8. Then, press Esc to continue installation without repairing XP.
On the next window, select the partition you want to format. Press D to delete it. Windows will ask you if you really, really want to delete the partition. Press Enter and then again if needed. You’ll be given a choice. Press L to delete the partition.
Once the formatting is completed, Windows will reinstall files, then reboot. When it does so, DO NOT choose to boot from the CD, but do leave the CD in. From then on, it’s pretty automatic.
When Windows XP is reinstalled (it will use the CD) then you can start restoring all your old saved files from removable storage.

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Comment from Aubrey on 2006-01-16

2006-01-16T23:54:42Z

I Cant format my hard drive... I have windows xp I go to disk managment and the drive does not get seen? I cant format whats not there. the drive is wired up correctly all cables are fine. just no hard disk. it used to be fat32 i tryied changing it to ntfs something went wrong! help

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Comment from Will on 2006-01-14

2006-01-15T02:37:20Z

Ive been getting this really annoying cyclic redundancy check error. I tried going into safe mode to delete the file but had no luck. So, I figured I would reformat my hard drive since Ive been able to do it before without having my windows xp cd in the computer. Now when I try to reformat it tells me the volume is in use by another process. Why? any ideas??

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Comment from jazzmundo on 2006-01-09

2006-01-09T15:43:35Z

hi, i am having a problem when trying to format my hard drive, it says it cant do because its in use by another process. you mentioned turning off page file but how do i do that? please help!!
thanks. jazzmundo

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Comment from Leo on 2005-12-30

2005-12-31T04:40:33Z

For a format that typically means your disk has a bad sector. See this article: http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_fix_a_bad_sector_on_my_hard_drive.html

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Comment from armin on 2005-12-29

2005-12-29T14:33:05Z

hi all!
i have same problem then XxXx.
when i format my computer (quick format).
it stay on 20% and dont get moved...
annybody know what to do
Leo you are master you should now something please tell us.
thanks!

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Comment from XxXx on 2005-12-28

2005-12-28T14:31:27Z

i cant format my disc /c
i format it normaly before but now it stay on 20%
and dont go next
Ennybody know what to do ????

THANKS

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Comment from Leo on 2005-12-15

2005-12-16T04:26:55Z

Mike S: hard to say. Make sure it's plugged in correctly. It's likely that you'll need to change a jumper on the drive as well, but exactly what will depend on the drive. Check the documentation for that specific drive.

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Comment from Michael on 2005-12-13

2005-12-13T17:37:52Z

I am trying to format a new hard drive for Win Xp installation. It got to 51% complete and seemed to hang. i let it run over night and is now at 57% complete. Any ideas on why the formatting process is so slow? I have done this at least a hundred times and have never had this problem before. I am guessing the problem lies with the hard drive.

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Comment from Mike S on 2005-12-02

2005-12-03T05:43:23Z

i recently bought a new pc. i want to use the hard drive out of my old pc as a secondary. i have plugged it in, but its not showing up anywhere, did i miss something?

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A comment on: I can't format my hard drive - it keep telling me "volume is in use by another process" -- why?

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Comment from Leo on 2005-11-14

2005-11-14T16:58:33Z

I'd need to know what happens when you try.

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Comment from Michael on 2005-11-14

2005-11-14T13:33:46Z

my hard disk drive was loaded Linux operating system. Now I want it to format the disk with windows. I can't do it - even with start-up disk (win 98 disk). Please help me with this task, I know you can solve my problem with just a few comments.

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Comment from Jim on 2005-11-08

2005-11-09T01:35:49Z

The reason you cant format it is because windows detects a pagefile for that drive. If you turn off page file and go into computer management you will be able to format the drive. Hope this helps

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Comment from lee on 2005-10-25

2005-10-25T12:38:38Z

Hi Leo

I have just got a maxtor 200gb hard drive that was on a RAID server at work i took it home put it in my pc which has a 40gb hard drive with windows xp on i tried to format the 200gb it runs the format but at the end it says windows was unable to format it...please can you help

Kind Regards

Lee

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Comment from ash on 2005-10-15

2005-10-15T11:00:30Z

hi there ,iam on working on pc 5233/x i tried to format it but it wont aload me its does boot from start up disk but when i go to format its not ready to format then format terminated
can any one help please thanks

ash

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Comment from Leo on 2005-06-06

2005-06-06T17:33:11Z

Krishna: this article http://ask-leo.com/how_do_i_fix_a_bad_sector_on_my_hard_drive.html

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Comment from Mikkel on 2005-06-06

2005-06-06T12:37:39Z

Hi guys,

I recently solved the problem by making sure that virtual memory was disabled on the drive i tried to format. To do this:

1. Set virtual memory to zero on the drive in question (right click on 'my computer'-> properties -> advanced -> virtual memory

2. Make sure that the 'view hidden files' function is turned on and delete whatever files stored on the drive.

3. restart.

4. format.

Hope this helped...

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Comment from SaharaDrac on 2005-05-08

2005-05-08T07:00:03Z

Hello, I am trying to reformat my CD drive with Windows XP. When i boot my computer form the Windows CD, I do not receive any partitioning options. When I attempt to proceed with the reformat, it tell sme that it could not detect any hard drives on my computer. I tried putting my motherboard's drivers on a floppy and pressing F6 when Windows Setup is scanning my system, and I did sucessfully tell it to load those dirvers, but nothing changed. It continiues to tell me that I have no hard drives.

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Comment from kingfish on 2005-04-18

2005-04-18T21:30:42Z

Find out what brand your hard drive is. (eg: Western Digital, Fujistu, etc)

Go to their website, and get a drive utility.
(westen digital has a utility called Data Lifeguard) Not sure if this link works, but here it is.

http://support.wdc.com/download/dlg/DlgDiagv504c.zip

Try running some tests. If everything is okay, what you want to do is WRITE ZEROS TO DRIVE.

This is suppose/and should make the drive as if you just took it out the box(all 0's on drive).

If that doesn't work, just do a google on something similar.

Here's a site that has a list of all the diagnostic utilities of most drive manufactures.(if the link works)

http://tacktech.com/display.cfm?ttid=287

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Comment from Leo on 2005-03-17

2005-03-18T03:19:50Z

Depends on the error message you're getting.

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Comment from butch on 2005-03-17

2005-03-18T02:41:27Z

i just recently got a 80 gb hard drive it won't like me format it any suggestions?

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Comment from Wayne on 2005-02-26

2005-02-26T14:10:32Z

Hi Leo. A younger friend (a smart, but very helpful one with a double E & Master's in BA) came over last night and worked for over an hour trying to format that thing. I didn't feel so bad then about my failure. He ended up taking it home, putting it in as a second drive in another computer, downloading a setup from Seagate and it formatted with no problem. I guess we should have done that here. Anyway, the problem is solved and I thank you for your input. Learning something every day. Wayne

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Comment from Leo on 2005-02-25

2005-02-26T04:30:43Z

Then we may not be talking about the same thing. Booting from CD, Windows setup asks early on where to install. It's at that point that you should have the opportunity to remove any (and all) existing partitions.

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Comment from Wayne on 2005-02-25

2005-02-25T23:26:01Z

Hi Leo. I tried that before and after your reply. The problem at that point is that I get a message: "Setup is unable to perform the requested operation on the selected partition. This partition contains temporary setup files that are required to complete the installation". It's obvious there is something undesirable going on with the drive. It is a 15GB hard drive and shows only 52% of free space and yet, the only program in the "Add Remove Programs" list is Norton System Works. If you look under programs in the file system, it lists a bunch of them. Still banging my head against the wall, but I do appreciate your help, and I'm listening. Wayne

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Comment from Leo on 2005-02-24

2005-02-24T19:29:56Z

Since you have a Windows XP Setup CD, you can boot from that. When it asks you what partition to set up on, you have the option of removing the existing partition - do so. Then create a new partition using all available space, (I recommend NTFS format) and the setup program will format the disk for you prior to copying over Windows XP. Just did exactly this a couple of days ago myself :-).

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Comment from Wayne on 2005-02-24

2005-02-24T17:48:47Z

It isn't condescending Leo, but something I have learned in my 76 years is that "Anything is simple if you know how." I'm not quoting someone else. That's my personal observation. I'm at the same point as the person at the top who is getting the message the Volume is in use when trying to format. I have formatted before, stumbling into it by accident I guess, but now working on an eMachine a few years old. I can't force a format, and I came to the conclusion that, Sure, it's in use by the operating system. The subject of a boot disk in your response is my problem. I created a DOS boot disk both in that computer and the one I'm using to write this. Neither got me anywhere. I set the BIOS to Boot on a removable disk, I've tried the XP install disk, the ME install disk. an Installation Disc for MS-DOS operating system, a Western Digital floppy. After three days I'm still struggling. I did get XP on to the hard drive, but there is other stuff on there I would like to get rid of. Just format and start over. I'm at a loss boss. Just got into computers about three years ago and although I built four, I'm just a beginner. Thanks for any advice. You're a good man to be answering question for people. Wayne

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Comment from Leo on 2005-02-05

2005-02-06T06:35:24Z

Did you read the article?

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Comment from Mark on 2005-02-05

2005-02-06T02:03:16Z

i am attempting to format my hard drive in computer management and the command format is inactive when i hover over the c: drive. c: is my system drive. are there any other methods of formatting in XP that you could suggest?

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Comment from Rich on 2004-11-13

2004-11-14T03:16:19Z

Running ME on a laptop and XP Pro on main computer. How do I reboot using floppy and how do I format the drives after this reboot? I do want to wipe the drives clean and start with clean reinstalls. Thank you

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Comment from ross walker on 2004-11-09

2004-11-09T11:20:28Z

Hi,
I have just got windows xp pro for my computer , i got told to put the disk in and it will write over my ME edition , but every time you start your computer you have to pick if u want ME or XP is there a way I can delete the whole of the ME .
Thanks
RW

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Comment from Leo on 2004-11-02

2004-11-02T21:29:21Z

In a nutshell (and assuming Windows XP), you probably need to go into drive manager (right click on My Computer, Select Manage, Select disk management), and make sure that the drive is properly configured and active therein. You can also format from within that interface. I'd need to know more specifics if that's not the problem.

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Comment from Bob on 2004-11-01

2004-11-02T01:39:02Z

I am trying to format two 200G hard drives that are shown as "F" drive ( one large drive 382 G). When i try formating with Microsoft I get a error message that says Windows can not format the drive.
What is the problem and how do I format drive F
Thanks
Bob

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Comment from PETAR on 2004-10-26

2004-10-27T00:56:09Z

I want to reformat my disk,but when I put therestore cd and restart the program nothing happens,I even order a new restore cd and still it wont work why?

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Comment from Leo on 2004-10-26

2004-10-26T16:08:57Z

Are you specifying the correct drive? It thinks you're attempting to format a drive on another machine or across the network. If you really want to reformat your laptop, chances are you want to reformat "C:". Remember: all data will be lost.

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