How do I format a hard drive?

how to format a hd
i have a start up disk and windos 98se cd now what do i do

How to Use the Format Command

(Note: The FORMAT program is very powerful. Unless you are familiar with this program, DO NOT run FORMAT from within Windows via the DOS Prompt!)


1. Insert the Startup disk in the floppy disk drive, restart your computer, and then use one of the following methods, depending on your operating system.



For a Windows 98, Windows 98 Second Edition, or Windows ME Startup disk:

a. When the Microsoft Windows 98 Startup menu is displayed, select the Start computer without CD-ROM support menu option, and then press ENTER.

b. At a command prompt, type in without quotes, "format c:" and then press ENTER.

NOTE: If you receive a "Bad command or file name" message, you may need to extract the Format.com utility to your Startup disk. To do this, type the following command at a command prompt, and then press ENTER:

extract ebd.cab format.com

After the Format.com utility is extracted to your Startup disk and a command prompt is displayed, type format c:.


c. When you successfully run the Format.com utility, you receive the following prompt:

WARNING, ALL DATA ON NON-REMOVABLE DISK DRIVE C: WILL BE LOST!

Proceed with Format (Y/N)?

Press Y, and then press ENTER to format drive C.



d. After the format procedure is finished, you receive the following prompt:

Volume label (11 characters, ENTER for none)?

This is an optional feature that you can use to type a name for the hard disk. Type an 11-character name for the drive, or leave it blank, and then press ENTER.


e. Repeat steps a through d for any additional drive letters that you created.

i tryed to install windows 98 plus and it did all kinds of *plum* for me so i did not need to format

Years ago, faced with my first PC, I thought it would be a good idea to try each DOS command alphabetically.

APPEND
ATTRIB
BREAK
...
FDISK

Opps!