Format without cd

Jellyrolls · 10-14-2007, 10:07 PM

I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 and I want to reformat. How do I go about doing this if I don't have the Windows XP boot cd?

meanman · 10-14-2007, 11:48 PM

if you just want to wipe the hdd (format) then you need to take it out of the pc and put it into another pc as slave or an external encloser then go to my computer right click it and select format.

imsati · 10-15-2007, 12:59 AM

Or you could just down and burn Gparted or some form of boot disk that has a format option. Windows ME boot disks are good for that, if not taking a while.

Laptop HDDs are different than Desktop's with their connectors. You'll need a special adapter in order to install it in a Desktop.

LukeAge · 10-15-2007, 01:37 AM

Just right click the drive in My Computer and click "Format" and it should format, you're going to have a lot of trouble without having the windows boot CD.

imsati · 10-15-2007, 05:56 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LukeAge

Just right click the drive in My Computer and click "Format" and it should format, you're going to have a lot of trouble without having the windows boot CD.

If you attempt to Format on a partition the OS is running off of, you'll receive an error message. Not everyone has separate partitions for OS/software/personal files.

highrev15k · 10-15-2007, 12:51 PM

With Dells you press ctrl &F11 (i think its f11) When the blue bar appears upon bootup. This will start up system restore by symatic. Doing this will return your PC to the way it was when you first bought it.

Pretty nifty feature.

10-14-2007, 10:07 PM	#1 (permalink)
Jellyrolls New Member Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 1	Format without cd I have a Dell Inspiron 6000 and I want to reformat. How do I go about doing this if I don't have the Windows XP boot cd?

10-15-2007, 12:51 PM	#6 (permalink)
highrev15k Silver Member Join Date: Nov 2006 Posts: 134	With Dells you press ctrl &F11 (i think its f11) When the blue bar appears upon bootup. This will start up system restore by symatic. Doing this will return your PC to the way it was when you first bought it. Pretty nifty feature. __________________ Antec 900 Case Gigabyte GA-965P-DS3 mobo Intel e6400 OC'ed to 3.01 GHZ Thermalright Ultra 90 CPU Cooler 1.25 TB hard drive space 2X 1gb DDR2 800MHZ RAM 550 watt Xcilo Greatpower EVGA 8800GTS X-FI Sound card with front panel

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10-14-2007, 11:48 PM	#2 (permalink)
meanman Diamond Member Join Date: Nov 2005 Location: england Posts: 1,789	if you just want to wipe the hdd (format) then you need to take it out of the pc and put it into another pc as slave or an external encloser then go to my computer right click it and select format.

10-15-2007, 12:59 AM	#3 (permalink)
imsati Diamond Member Join Date: Sep 2007 Location: EHT, NJ Posts: 2,644	Or you could just down and burn Gparted or some form of boot disk that has a format option. Windows ME boot disks are good for that, if not taking a while. Laptop HDDs are different than Desktop's with their connectors. You'll need a special adapter in order to install it in a Desktop.

10-15-2007, 01:37 AM	#4 (permalink)
LukeAge Bronze Member Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 51	Just right click the drive in My Computer and click "Format" and it should format, you're going to have a lot of trouble without having the windows boot CD.