teach me reformat

[assembly]

Can anyone teach me how to reformat, and could you tell me whats the difference in reformatting from an old os to a new one and vice versa? Thank you in advance!

[shanmuga]

Many resources are available on the web on "how to"format/reformat (http://www.google.com/search?q=%22how+to%22reformat&sourceid=firefox&sta rt=0&start=0&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8), but I don't understand what do you mean by 'reformatting from an old os to a new one and vice versa'.

[rond36]

Microsoft's instructions on how to use Fdisk and Format (http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;EN-US;q255867)

[Sylvander]

What do you want to re-format?

A floppy disk?

A CD-RW disk?

A Hard Disk Drive?

Any answer given can only be as good as the question asked.

Ask a rubbish question; get a rubbish answer. :)

[assembly]

"but I don't understand what do you mean by 'reformatting from an old os to a new one and vice versa'."

What I mean is for example, my operating system was once windows 98, I changed it to windows xp, that's reformatting from an old os to a new one, and vice versa.

"What do you want to re-format?"

I want to reformat my hard disk drive since that's where the OS is saved. Surely this ain't rubbish.

Thank you!

[John0904]

During setup, Windows XP has the option to reformat as well as changing the file system.

[ziba-june]

If you want to go from win98 to winXP you have an option of either upgrading (keeping all your old data and programs) or install new which will automatically reformat your hard drive and you have an option of choosing either FAT or NTFS file format.
If you have a second drive and you want to reformat it then you do a "format d:" command (start-> run ->command -> format d:) or in Winxp use the Disk Management.

Good luck.

[Sylvander]

"my operating system was once windows 98, I changed it to windows xp, that's reformatting from an old os to a new one, and vice versa."
Not really. :confused:
You don't reformat an Operating System, you reformat a DRIVE and then [perhaps] INSTALL an OS on it.

When you reformat the HDD, you eliminate all reference to where everything is located on the HDD.
It's like erasing the contents of the central card index in a library that tells where all the various books are located.
The books [in the PC case, it's files] are still there but they are not listed as there, so its "as if" they no longer exist, and they cannot be accessed.

That's quite a different process to the one of installing an Operating System.

You could re-install an Operating System without first formatting the HDD, but the setup program would detect the presence of the existing OS and behave quite differently to when it finds nothing.
Assuming the drive had been reformatted:
When the Operating System is is once again installed [it might be the same OS or a different one], it's like the shelves have been re-stocked with books, and the card index re-written.

So reformatting is like erasing;
and re-installing is like re-stocking the shelves.

"I want to reformat my hard disk drive since that's where the OS is saved. Surely this ain't rubbish"
No, certainly not, but you didn't actually say that's what you wanted to do. It wasn't very clear.
You could, for example, re-format a floppy disk and make a Win98 Startup disk, which has the DOS operating system on it.

You could re-format a CD-RW disk for use with packet writing software, so it can be used like a giant floppy disk.

Get the idea? :)

We know now though.

I've been struggling for years, trying to understand concepts and learn the vocabulary. It isn't easy for anyone I guess.

You may know this already http://www.pcguide.com/ref/hdd/geom/format.htm
or it may be instructive.

[assembly]

Thanks so much, I've learned a lot from you guys.
Is it true that floppies can only survive for about six months(give or take), and that frequent reformatting of the disk(floppy) can quickly shortened its usefullness(not sure about my grammar though)?
Can anyone teach me how to put links on this screen?
Again, thank you in advance!

[rond36]

Can anyone teach me how to put links on this screen?
Try this link it explains VB tags and how to use them (http://www.pcguide.com/vb/misc.php?s=&action=bbcode)