can't format my hard drive issues...

billsintexas · November 10th, 2006, 06:26 PM

I " mirrored " my hard drive today from C: to F: because I ran out of space on the C-Drive..everything transfered over just fine BUT the problem i'm having now is I can't format drive C: the error tells me "cannot run because the volume is in use by another process, format may run if this volume is dismounted first " ..when i try to dismount the volume it reads " cannot lock the drive the volume is still in use "...have any idea what i'm doing wrong here ?? I'm sure this is an easy fix I just don't know what it is !

Vyx · November 10th, 2006, 06:35 PM

Are you in windows command prompt trying to do "format C:" ? If so, thats the reason why you can't format it. You booted up off of the C: drive. Hence, the message saying its still in use. Even though you copied everything over, it will still boot off of the C: drive.

If however, you are using a windows/boot CD trying to format...well, I have never heard of anything like that.

billsintexas · November 10th, 2006, 06:59 PM

No, I'm not booting from a CD or a floppy... any suggestions how i can format my drive then ??

#43 fan · November 11th, 2006, 10:41 AM

You could buy a $50 program and repartition.
Or, you could use your drive manufacturer's programs to format C:.
I would, however, back up my data on a DVD when formating, even when it is not the entire drive being formatted.

Patrick · November 11th, 2006, 11:11 AM

You are booting from your "C" drive. Assuming your using WindowsXP, if your files on the "F" drive were executable I would expect XP to ask which you wanted to boot, C or F.

I haven't "ghosted" anything in years but when I did it saved my files as data and not as executable files until it was installed from the ghosted files. That doesn't sound clear so, when I used a ghost program it saved everything as XXXX.gst or something. I had to reverse the process to install the ghosted files. I don't know if the program you used will allow you to install from the same drive you've stored but it might.

I believe you will also need to go into the BIOS and tell it to boot off the "F" drive.

Last comment, if you format the hard drive and do not in fact have an executable system on the "F" drive, you're screwed.