Can't format hard drive (format C: /s etc etc)

[Matt Milton]

(wasn't sure where to post this - have also posted it in Windows thread)

Have reached a complete impasse trying to format my hard disk.

I've run fdisk with no problems. It's the format C: /S that's the problem. I get a Bad Command response. So I checked the DIR of my startup disk (made from Win98) and there's no format.com on it. So I tried extract ebd.cab format.com. It tried to extract it but gave me a General Failure Writing Drive A (or similar - I'm paraphrasing from memory here). It's a new floppy drive and it reads the DIR of the disc so I reckon the floppy drive is working OK. My startup disk has extract.com and ebd.cab but no format.com.

I downloaded a couple of different startup disks from bootdisk.com and tried them with exactly the same results. I copied the format.com command from my next door neighbour's Windows ME onto a Win98 startup disk and tried that with the same results (DIR doesn't recognise it as being on the disk). I tried using a fresh Win ME startup disk, both with and without the extra format.com command (same results; again DIR didn't recognise it as being on the disk).

Have tried to boot from CD but I don't fully understand the process. If I'm booting from CD I still need to get to an prompt and format the drive, right? I can't sidestep this, can I? (when I've selected the Boot with CD Support option and tried formatting C: I've just had exactly the same error messages).

By the way, the BIOS recognizes the hard drive, the CD drive and floppy drive correctly.

Here's my system:

MSI 845PE MAX2/FISR P4 533FSB (with Serial ATA; firewire; RAID; Giga LAN; 6 ch. audio; USB2 ATA133) motherboard.

Intel P4 2.66GHz (533 MHz) Northwood 512K cache processor

120 GB IBM/Hitachi 180GXP 7200 8Mb cache IDE ATA 100 hard drive

Have only put one 512MB stick of DDR333 PC2700 RAM in - will put more in later when/if I ever get this beast going.

Any suggestions?

Thanks.

Matt

[CuratoR]

Firstly you've not given the s parameter to the format command properly. The proper way,
A:\>format c:\s
note the slash you've used the other way round(/), just use the backward slash(\).

dir command doesn't show the format.com, it maybe becuz it has hidden attribute, use the command
A:\>dir /ah
its shows all the files with hidden attributes.

Post back.


CuratoR.

[Matt Milton]

I tried every possible permutation of format c: (different spaces, back and forward slash, and also tried not bothering with the s at all). I'll try the A:\>dir /ah thing when I get home from work - thanks. But I still don't see how that'll convince DOS to actually use the command though...

[CuratoR]

that dir /ah command I mentioned was meant just for checking if format.com exists with a hidden attribute or not, nothing such as convincing DOS to use the command!!!

Ok, when you boot from a standard microsoft win98 boot floppy, it creates a virtual drive, this virtual drive has the letter next to your last partition. I mean if you've got three partition in your HDD, eg C, D, E, this virtual drive will be F.
The boot floppy does not contain the format.com in its root, its inside that ebd.cab, the format.com is extracted to the virtual drive along with some other command. So if you dir on the floppy after you boot, I mean A:/>dir, it won't show you the format.com becuz its not there. change to the virtual drive and then dir, eg F:\>dir, you'll see the format.com there.
The path is automatically set, so any command within the virtual drive can be run from anywhere, but just to on the safe side,
try runnin the format command from within the virtual drive change to virtual drive and then use the command eg F:\>format C:

As you've said even after successfully copying another format.com to the floppy, the dir command won't list it. I find this pretty weird.

and BTW,
are you using that same floppy everytime? I mean to create those different boot systems. Maybe you need to try with another new floppy.

CuratoR

[Paul Komski]

... and can you scandisk the floppy?

[Sylvander]

If all else fails you could use an "Emergency Boot CD".
It includes a copy of "format.com" [plus a HUGE list of others].

Instructions for making one are here http://tinyurl.com/an5b

You'd need to [temporarily] change your boot sequence to put the CD first.
I don't think it has to be made on the PC it's intended to be used on, but I could be wrong there.

[Matt Milton]

Thanks for all the help.

I'm all sorted out now and have a beautifully glitch free PC. I never managed to boot from floppy, or from my Windows 98 CD. There was something wrong with my floppy drive I think - have now installed a new one. In the end I borrowed a friend's WinXP CD and it booted no problems. I'm a convert. I'd have to say, having now finished putting together a PC from scratch, I'd reccommend to anyone doing the same to go straight for XP, just for ease of the partitioning and formatting. But thanks for the suggestions.

[Paleo Pete]

Just for the record, format c:/s is correct...forward slash. Forward slash (/) is used to denote a switch or qualifier in a DOS command, always preceeded by a space. (Can't remember the proper name)

Backslash (\) is used to denote a file or directory in a path.

C:\Dos or C:\Windows\System for example.

[CuratoR]

CuratoR.

[Budfred]

Well, CuratoR, thanks for sharing....

[rond36]

:)