I have a new HP Pavilion 1560n and want to format the hard drive. I usually do this to make sure that I have a clean machine - they always come with all of the "want you to buy" trial stuff and things that pop up. I am a software developer and have always done this.

When it comes to the part where I can select the partition that I want to install Windows on - I get a list of 4 UN-selectable drives. There is only a C: drive and a D: drive for restoring. In Windows Exploer - I show 4 removable disk drives that I can only assume have something to do with the card readers installed (4).

Do I need to disable these drives first? Or do I need FDISK? I am not sure about the FDISK, due to the fact the Windows installation can not see the C: or D: partitions.

This is confusing, normally this is really easy and I am done and all software re-installed in an evening.

Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated...

Doug

Correct, the removeable drives are your card readers. And yes, there is a Drive (usually D about 4G) that contains your restoration info. So you want to leave that alone.

You don't say, however, how you are trying to format the drive and what you intend to install after format.

I intend to install VISTA, but again it lists 4 unknown drives and states that there are no disks in the drive for each one. Drive C: and D: do not show up.

Where does it say this? Have you already reformatted? I haven't installed VISTA yet, but I'm assuming that like XP it has a clean install option. This means it will wipe off and format the partition you install to. So just boot to the VISTA CD and go from there.

You are absolutely right - except in this case. There are no selections available in the part of the setup (XP/VISTA INSTALL) that will allow me to select a partition to format other than the 4 "Unknown Drives", and they are un-selectable.

I have done this a hundred times on other machines. We got a good deal on this one and I always start them out clean so we know that the only software on there is what we put on there. I'm thinking that maybe I might have to pull the cover and disconnect the card readers, since the OS shows them a disk drives??

Doug

I'm sorry - I didn't answer your question directly.

No the formatting hasn't taken place - I can not select a drive/partition to format.

Doug

Hmmm, I have to ask where you got your Vista disk from.

BTW, I agree with your method. I did the same thing on my last PC which is a Compaq.

I'm assuming the machine can boot normally at this point. If not, then you may need to FDISK first.

I'm a member of the Microsoft Developer Network (MSDN) and I downloaded an ISO image and burned it on DVD. I have used the DVD to do this to another machine that was slightly older (NO CARD READERS) and a notebook - no problem.

I also tried XP PRO SP 2 and get the same results...

Doug

Again, I didn't totally respond.

Yes the machine can boot normally, I am usint it right now. Great machine, but it has stuff that pops up and games installed that I need to get rid of...

Thanks

Doug

Hmmm, This is strange. I would try calling 1 800 HP-Invent. See what they say. But I really find it odd that Vista is not recognizing the C partiton as a target for installation.

Yes, and it is not only VISTA, but XP PRO also. I thought that I would give it a shot and the same response...

Thanks for your help

Doug

I have a new HP Pavillion 1560n and want to format the hard drive. I usally do this to make sure that I have a clean machine - they always come with all of the "want you to buy" trial stuff and things that pop up. I am a software developer and have always done this.

When it comes to the part where I can select the partition that I want to install Windows on - I get a list of 4 UN-selectable drives. There is only a C: drive and a D: drive for restoring. In Windows Exploer - I show 4 removable disk drives that I can only assume have something to do with the card readers installed (4).

Do I need to disable these drives first? Or do I need FDISK? I am not sure about the FDISK, due to the fact the Windows installation can not see the C: or D: partitions.

This is confusing, normally this is really easy and I am done and all software re-installed in an evening.

Any help you can provide will be greatly appreciated...

Doug
No answer, sorry, but I do commiserate about all the marketing 30 day software they put on these days. Takes an afternoon to get rid of it.