Re: reformatting my disk

FWIW, wanting to wipe a hard drive clean so as to do a fresh & clean full install of Windows OS is without a doubt one of the oldest, most tried and trusted methods for clearning up PC problems, regardless of the true source of the problems (be it the Windows OS itself, virus/hack/worm, or otherwise). You sound like maybe you've been this route before, so you may already know this, but for the benefit of novices, this puts you on the hair edge of the Windows-pc-computing experience......... how about some oohs and aws or spooky theme music?

I am hesitant to provide the info that may be mistaken as the one-and-only step-by-step instructions for how to reformat a hard drive and install an OS from scratch. The biggest reason why is, while this general procedure is fairly well known (it should be, many, many people have travelled this particular road), it is not necessarily an exact science; translation - there are variables, and depending on how the variables line up from one pc & person to the next, the person and or the pc may end up falling off the hairy edge, quite possible never to return again.

There are a few basic tools that, if one has them, will greatly improve the chances of successfully navigating these format & reinstall waters. Do you have a boot diskette for the version of OS that you want to reload from scracth? Does your system have a floppy drive with which to use such a boot diskette? Do you have the original Windows OS install CD (IE> Install CD, NOT Upgrade CD). Do you know how to program the basic instructions & drivers for telling your computer how to recognize that it has a CD Rom Drive installed? Does the system in question have a BIOS that supports an option that allows the PC to boot from a CD Rom Drive? If the answer to any of these is no, the hairy edge beckons even more for you.

One last note of advice, if you have a system that is infested with viruses, it's conceivable that even a re-format of the hard drive and re-install of the OS will NOT remove the problem. It depends, there are many possible variables involved, just thought I'd mention this as another CYA. For the same and similar reasons, it may be a self-defeating action to back up any of the data on such an infested pc prior to re-formating and re-installing the OS.

With all of the above having been said, the way to "wipe my computer down to all 000000's" as you say is with the command

format C: /s

The above information is plenty enough to make anyone dangerous, so to speak, with a computer. Be very careful with this information. Good luck and may the force be with you.



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