Formating a Hard Drive

[Tha Matrickz]

Ive just formatted my hard drive through dos and when i reset the computer, it says to insert a disk. I put in my cd-rom device driver but it says non-system disk, please replace... what do i do now?? ive already formated my hard drive before but i dont remember what to do. please help.

[BadAsh]

You are getting the "Insert Disk" error because you apparently don't have a drive that is "bootable" (i.e. has Operating System Files on it).

For a Hard Drive (or Floppy Disk) to be "bootable" (meaning you can start the computer with it) you must not only Format the drive but you must also transfer the System Files to the drive as well (Command.com among others). If you are planning on installing any "modern" version of Windows you do not need to worry about this... just run the Windows Setup program and it will take care of everything for you.

However, if you plan to run an old DOS or DOS/Win3.x then you must install the System Files.

To Format and copy System Files use this syntax:

format C: /s

You can replace "C:" with whatever drive letter you are dealing with.

If you are planning to install Win98 or WinME just boot your computer with your "Startup" Disk, select boot with CD-ROM and install Windows. If you plan to install WinNT, Win2k or WinXP, just insert the install CD in your CD-ROM Drive and reboot your PC. Those CDs are "bootable" and will take care of everything for you.

Good luck!

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: BadAsh on 2001-08-17 13:10:22 ]</font>

[Tha Matrickz]

Thanks BadAsh ill try it out...
But first i have to go make a bootdisk... thanks again