I just want to format!!!

Robert526 · October 20th, 2004, 04:47 PM

My computer has been running unbelievably slow lately. It has been affected by several viruses and is not running a fraction of the speed it did a few years back. I like to repair old PCs, and one of the first things I do when I put them together is format the old hard drive and reinstall the operating system. Then it runs perfectly! But the computer I want to format now did not come with a restore disk, like all the other computers I've played with, and I'm not sure what to do. All I want to do is completely format the hard drive, and install the operating system (Windows XP home, and I want to format the hard drive, not just reinstall the OS) but I've got no disk! What do I do? I believe there is an image of the OS on a partition on the hard drive, but I don't know what to do with it or how to get to it. Is there some way of making a restore disk so I can reinstall the OS after I've formatted it?

HeadBand · October 20th, 2004, 04:49 PM

what kind of computer is it....thats one of the things about restore disks, each one is different

Robert526 · October 20th, 2004, 04:50 PM

HP pavillion something or another...hope the exact one doesn't matter...

elroy · October 20th, 2004, 04:55 PM

I made a hidden partition on my pc [Win2k] using Partition Magic and it can be seen by goint to Control Panel> Administrative Tools> Computer Management> Storage> Disk Management
Try looking there and see if one shows up.
If your system is still running you should be able to pull your numbers out of the registry and then you could re-install using someone elses WinXP cd. Not a restore cd but a real Windows XP installation cd.

Robert526 · October 20th, 2004, 05:00 PM

Ok, here's everything I got from that (I wasn't sure exactly what you need to know):

Drive: C
Layout: Partition
Type: Basic
File System: NTFC
Status: Healthy (System)

Then near the bottom is says 39 MB unallocated

Does any of that help? I didn't see any actual partition that I could play around with. Then again, I haven't really used Disk Management, so maybe I'm reading it wrong

Robert526 · October 20th, 2004, 05:05 PM

Oh, I didn't see aht you had said about the Windows CD. Well, I have another computer running XP, but it also didn't come with an OS CD. Only a restore disk. ANd it's not HP, so it probably wouldn't work if I tried it out. (Though I've never tired it before) Now that I think of it, I don't recall any of the computers I have ever gotten in the past coming with an OS CD, only a restore disk/CD. (Which is what I use to format all the computers I play around with) What's up with that?

James T · October 20th, 2004, 05:15 PM

Built-in obsolescence.

A Computer an OS disk fails, buy a new pc without the OS install the OS.

A Computer with a restore CD, buy a new pc buy a new OS too

.

HeadBand · October 20th, 2004, 05:17 PM

they do it to try and prevent people from putting xp on another machine with the same lisence, small manufactuers are alot better because they give you a real disk, are more stable, more upgradable, and cheaper

i think there is an application somewhere that will create cds but i wouldn't know exactly where but search the start menu

Robert526 · October 20th, 2004, 05:24 PM

So there is no way to create a disk just by using XP? That doesn't makes sense, they give you the option to make them on the other windows operating systems...
I do have a restore disk for windows XP, but it's for an eMachine, not HP. Do you think it would work? When I formatted the older computers, it was easy as putting in the disk and restarting the computer, then I just had to select "Reinstall Windows; Will format HDD"
What happened to the good old days?

Gilthanaz · October 20th, 2004, 06:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Robert526

So there is no way to create a disk just by using XP? That doesn't makes sense, they give you the option to make them on the other windows operating systems...
I do have a restore disk for windows XP, but it's for an eMachine, not HP. Do you think it would work? When I formatted the older computers, it was easy as putting in the disk and restarting the computer, then I just had to select "Reinstall Windows; Will format HDD"
What happened to the good old days?

Hm, I have an older HP pavillion 4440. I just wiped the drive and installed my OEM win98se. It previously had the win98 os installed by HP and supported by the restore disk. I had no restore disk though, it was a hand me down,same as you. Works fine now. Some drivers were a pain though, and I had to track them down on the internet.