Ask the Doctor: Oh Say Can You C:
Posted 04/15/09 at 06:19:09 PM by The Maximum PC Staff
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I’m having trouble formatting my C: drive. When I right-click my drive and try to format it, I get an error telling me that it can’t format when other applications are running. I’ve uninstalled everything that I could and it still won’t let me format. Is my hard drive shot or just corrupt? I don’t have my restore disc.
—K. Payne
Your hard drive is probably neither shot nor corrupt. Formatting overwrites all the data on a disc (or more accurately, erases its headers so it can be written over). If you format your C: drive, the one Windows is installed on, you’ll lose everything on it, including Windows. Windows cannot delete itself while Windows itself is running; you should format from a bootable disc—either a Linux LiveCD, like Knoppix or Ubuntu Live, or a Windows Preloaded Environment disc like BartPE (discussed above).
You shouldn’t format your primary drive, though, if you have no way of reinstalling Windows, or if you want to keep any of the data on it. Since you don’t have a restore disc, that probably isn’t your best option. If you do find your restore disc, or another copy of Windows, you can reformat during the reinstall process. If you’re just trying to improve your drive’s performance, defragment it with Window’s default defragmenter.
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SUBMIT YOUR QUESTION Are flames shooting out of the back of your rig? First, grab a fire extinguisher and douse the flames. Once the pyrotechnic display has fizzled, email the doctor at doctor@maximumpc.com for advice on how to solve your technological woes. |
Two words to avoid....Always and never
Submitted by pastorbob on Fri, 05/15/2009 - 3:38am
If I haven't learned anything else in life it is to avoid using the words "always" and "never". That applies even more so when dealing with all versions of Windows.
Case in point: As I write this I am using a computer with three hard drives. My boot drive is drive I: not drive C:. Even if I disconnect all drives except the one with the I: partition and boot up it still has the I: designation.
So much for Windows always assigning C: to the boot drive.
Finally, I have found that the only "stupid questions" are the ones that people don't ask. The only "stupid people" are the ones who are so arrogant that they believe subscribing to a magazine defines them as know it alls in the area of personal computers. Everyone has something to learn in this field no matter how much experience one may have.
You all need to try a serving of humble pie and get over yourselves.
Submitted by roninnder on Sun, 05/17/2009 - 1:40am
Well, in my experience, the only arrogant people are the ones who believe that they have any idea who or what god might be, or what his will is, pastor. Stupid people are everywhere asking stupid questions, thereby proving their stupidity. There's nothing wrong with being stupid or arrogant. The problem comes when you judge a person, and decide what kind of pie they might or might not need to eat.
Submitted by pastorbob on Wed, 05/27/2009 - 3:51am
I find it interesting that the discussion concerned a Windows XP issue and you have managed to turn it to religious beliefs and God. Speaking of arrogance - It is arrogant and judgmental to assume that because my user id is pastorbob you have license to attack what you think I believe about God. Nothing in my post was religion based yet you chose to bring God into the discussion.
There was a whole series of comments concerning how stupid the original question is. That my confused friend is arrogant. As far as judging, I did not judge any person, only the comments they left. I think callling somebody stupid just because they ask a question to which the answer seems obvious for some is the epitomy arrogance. Finally, there is a lot wrong with being arrogant. Arrogance is at the root most of the world's problems.
Dummest Question Ever
Submitted by quadcoregammer on Mon, 05/04/2009 - 12:19am
WOW THIS WAS SMART
(*_*)
($_$)
Thanks MPC...
Submitted by caseybiggsconnor on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 2:02am
thanks for answering such question... it helps! eventhough the question is hahahahahahaha... you know what i mean... hehehehehehehe... Thanks MPC for continueously educating people... what will happen with the world w/o u...
Reformatting off of separate partition?
Submitted by bandeezee on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 10:37pm
Sorry, I thought I might use this opportunity to ask a question I've had about my laptop for some time. It also did not come with restore disks, but it does have a separate partition that is blocked by PCAngel. My only assumption is that is where the restoration files are stored; however, I'm not sure how to reinstall windows using this partition since PCAngel never lets me access any documents on that partition. Any ideas?
You should...
Submitted by Devo85x on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 4:05am
You should have the option to boot to it when you start your computer...
Submitted by bandeezee on Tue, 05/05/2009 - 2:51pm
Yep, you were correct, thanks. After a little digging, I found I could make backups of the driver files and apps then reboot and hit a key when prompted. However, my old Gateway laptop still needs the restore discs in order to restore like new (had to order from Gateway). I was hoping I could burn my entire restore CD/DVD's on my own, but I think that's only on the newer ones. Time for a new laptop? Wish I had the money.
Submitted by gamesfrager on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 6:05pm
and you wish you had a "self-destruct" button on the keyboard !
The PC probably doesn't need
Submitted by subzero on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 5:08pm
The PC probably doesn't need restore disks. If it's a new PC it probably has a restore partion on the drive wich is accessable in the boot menu. There is no such thing as a stupid question, but there are sure alot of inquisitive idiots.
Submitted by bcweir on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 3:10pm
To accuse someone of being a moron without knowing all the facts, that would truly be stupid.
Let's not be an entrant in a race to the bottom, shall we?
You're trying to format what now?
Submitted by lunchbox73 on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 2:51pm
Let's see....the reason a person reads MaximumPC is because they are a computer enthusiast, right? Only a person who reads MaximumPC would know about the Ask The Doctor column. How could this person, who I can only assume is just a little bit of a computer geek by nature, be this stupid?
Am I being too harsh?
Submitted by anonuser on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 5:31pm
As someone said, maybe Windows is installed on the C: partition? You realize that's feasible? You also realize someone that would like to learn about computers could be reading MaximumPC?
Not everyone is as knowledgeable as you might be, and it's better to ask away to more knowledgeable people than do something stupid and irrepairable.
The person who wrote to Ask the doc isn't stupid, it's simply lacking knowledge in the matter.
Submitted by lunchbox73 on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 12:09pm
Yeah, I know I come off as an asshole but I still say most people would agree with me that it was a stupid question.
Maybe Windows is not
Submitted by brainwins on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 3:35pm
Maybe Windows is not installed in C:?
Submitted by Devo85x on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 4:10am
Windows always sets the drive letter of the partition it is booting from to C: (in other words, i have a vista,xp,linux, trippleboot, if I boot to vista, it sets the vista partition as C:, if I boot to XP, it sets the XP partition as C:) im sure you can probibly change the drive letter manualy but whats the point?
Submitted by majorsuave on Thu, 04/16/2009 - 5:57am
I am pretty sure that pre XP windows offered the opportunity to decide what was the drive letter of the main windows disk/partition.
But it`s been a looooong while since I installed something older than XP.... I do have a win 2000 installation on a very old pc but, thanks to MPC, I have a nlite created install disk so I don`t bother to look at the install process.
Submitted by DerfMcWoowoo on Wed, 04/15/2009 - 3:09pm
Nope! Harsh Away!!
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