[Harvey]

Just to practice on before buying her new computer, my friend borrowed an XP Pro disk and downloaded it onto an old computer. When she tried to wipe it clean, she couldn't. I found she had changed Fat32 to NTFS. I used a Win98 boot disk and tried reformating it for her, but it wouldn't work.
The Hard Drive is only 2.5 GB with no partitions. Is there any way to bring this drive back to a "virginal" state and start all over?

[fredg]

Hi,
Yes, you can re-format the hard drive, using the either FAT or FAT32 formatting.
You will need a Boot Floppy Disk, and then follow these steps:

Turn off the computer.
Insert the Boot Floppy Disk into the Floppy Drive (A Drive), then turn on the computer.

Wait until it comes up to the A:> prompt.
We must do do an "FDISK", which will delete and re-create a DOS partition for the Full Version.

At the A:\ prompt Type: FDISK and press ENTER.
Press ENTER to select Large Disk Support.
Select Option 3, Delete partition or Logical DOS drive. (whatever option # this is)
Select Extended Partion, then
Delete Extended partition.
Select delete Primary DOS Partition.
Press ESC.
Select Create Primary DOS Partition.
Choose Yes to use maximum size.(100%)
Press ENTER when prompted for a Volume Label.
When Back at the FDISK Menu, select Set Active Partition.
Press ESC on the keyboard.

Now, if you wish to format the hard drive, then:
Re-boot and,
At the A:> prompt, type in FORMAT C: /S
It will look like A:>FORMAT C: /S
(The /S will copy system files to the harddrive).

Also, to make a Boot Floppy, using your Win98 install CD; please follow these steps:

Insert the Win98/98SE CD in the CD-ROM drive.
Go to Start/Programs/Windows Explorer
Double click on D:/ , if that is your CD-ROM drive letter.
Find and open the folder; Tools/Mtsutil/Fat32ebd (stands for Emergency Boot Disk)
Double click on the file Fat32ebd.exe and follow the instructions to create the Boot Disk.
Then remove the CD from the CD-ROM.

Now, we must test the Boot Disk to see if it works.
Shut down the computer; then turn it back on with the Boot Disk still in the computer.
When a screen comes up, use the up and down arrows on the keyboard to select "Boot with CD-ROM support". Then press Enter.
It will show some things about the computer, and then come up to the A:> prompt.
Now, insert a CD (any will do) into the CD-ROM.
Wait until it "spins" and the light goes off.
Now, at the A:> prompt, type in DIR D:
It will now look like A:>DIR D:
It should show all the files on the CD.
If so, the Boot Disk is good. If NOT, repeat all the above.
If it's good, then remove the CD, manually turn off the computer, and remove the Boot Disk. Turn on the computer and it's ready to go.

Best wishes,
fredg

[urmod4u]

Use FDISK from the WIN98 boot disk to delete non-dos partitions and to create new partitons.
Fred, win98 knows nothing about NFS. So the partitions are not recognized as DOS partitions, one should delete the NON-DOS partitions.
Also, there is no need to create a WIN98 boot diskette from the CD, because he already has one.