help! format compaq hard drive

hello, i am trying to format a hard drive. windows xp sp2 on a compaq computer.
i have reset the boot sequence. ....cd-rom, h/d and floppy.
the computer boots from the cd and i get as far as deleting the partition. when i hit the D key the computer tells me it can not delete the partition because it has windows files on it. if i hit enter all it does is "delete" the existing windows. i do not get the option to format. i even went into the bios and disabled the h/d and the floppy options, and still no option to format. any help will be greatly appreciated!!

hi, I have the same problem. Can't delete (D) the existing partition with Windows 2000 on it. Don't have the option to format it. Try formatting via repaire console but it diden't work... Do you found a sollution yet? I hope so!

I have a COMPAQ computer, pentium III, windows 2000 Pro and want to format my HD to install windows 2000 again.

I tried to boot via the windows 2000 cd but first windows started on HD. Then I could start windows 2000 setup from cd and the pc restarted to get into the setup menu.

anyway... I can't format my HD and find no sullotion for it...

B.

You could try GParted (gparted.sourceforge.net). It is a LiveCD in which includes a partitioning formatting utility.

You put the CD in the CDRom drive of the computer and then boot up (to the CD first of course). It will run the OS included on the CD instead of the HD.

Once it comes up there is an icon on the desktop for gparted and in the program you'll be able to partition and reformat the disks.

thanks dragonbite,
but it's to late now, i've finally succeded in formatting my HD !

And than an other problem occurs... now I have formatted my HD, I want to install Windows 2000 on it, but I just can't do it...

"NTLDR is missing..."

Tried a bootdisk with fixntldr (tinyempire.com/notes/ntldrismissing.htm)... no result.

Finnaly I try to boot from the 4 Windows 2000 setup disks and it worked... From the Windows 2000 setup cd I manage to start the setup but than there seems to be a file missing... setup aborted...
I will try again and write down which file was missing.

Can you help me??

ok, problem solved !!!

bootdisks created from Windows 2000 Pro setup
but cd I used was Windows 2000 Pro SP4...

I used a Windows 2000 Pro cd without SP4 and it worked !!!

I could have made bootdisks form de Windows 2000 Pro SP4 also, but I was already installing 2000 without SP4 when I thought about that.

I didn't think it would make that much of a difference between a Win2k and SP4 bootdisks, so I learned something new. Thanks!