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How do i start up in DOS?

post #1 of 40
5/20/06 at 7:27am
Thread Starter 
I want to format my computer and install windows XP again. but i cant seem to find out how to start up in dos so i can do the format c: command

before i pressed F8 during startup, and i can choose a "start in dos mode" or something, but that isnt there anymore

help please
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post #2 of 40
5/20/06 at 8:53am
Thread Starter 
allso want to add, i tried using the windows xp cd in windows starting the install..
it worked fine until i got in the setup (after the files were copied and the system had rebooted) i selected my partition and tried to delete it, but it said that i couldnt do it because it contained nessesary installation files (arent they on the cd????)

whats the big problem... i need to empty my HD, but i cant do that when i use it :S
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post #3 of 40
5/20/06 at 8:54am
You will need a boot disk. That can be a floppy disk or a CD. XP doesn't have DOS mode any more.
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post #4 of 40
5/20/06 at 8:56am
Sutozsolt is correct, Windows 2000/XP does not contain a DOS mode anymore.

The problem is that when you are selecting your installation, you are choosing to REPAIR an installation of Windows... when the install routine tries to detect previously installed versions of Windows, it brings up C:\Windows\. You are hitting ENTER. Read carefully... you want to hit ESCAPE, and choose NOT to repair a previous isntallation of Windows. AFter that, you can delete the partition just fine.
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post #5 of 40
5/20/06 at 8:58am
The whole XP installation runs from HDD (at least my experience says so). At the begging the setup copies everything he nneds onto the HDD and then satrts the installation and restarts the CD only at the end of the setup.
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post #6 of 40
5/20/06 at 9:01am
Kent has a point there. If the setups detects some leftovers from an other install it will try to dun the recovery mode.
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post #7 of 40
5/20/06 at 9:11am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by kent1146
Sutozsolt is correct, Windows 2000/XP does not contain a DOS mode anymore.

The problem is that when you are selecting your installation, you are choosing to REPAIR an installation of Windows... when the install routine tries to detect previously installed versions of Windows, it brings up C:\\Windows\\. You are hitting ENTER. Read carefully... you want to hit ESCAPE, and choose NOT to repair a previous isntallation of Windows. AFter that, you can delete the partition just fine.

wrong, im not choosing to repair
im choosing "install a fresh copy of windows xp"
i continue fwd.. and then i come to the hd list where i have around 80gb of c: and 8mb unpartitioned diskspace

then i choose to delete the 80gb, but it sais i cant becuase it contain installation files for xp

so i select the 80gb for installation instead, and it comes up: Its not reccomended to install another operation system on the same partition or something like that

so if i continue, i will install another windows so i have 2, and i will still have a full hd :S heeeelp
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post #8 of 40
5/20/06 at 9:14am
Try doing it anyway, it will likely overwrite.
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post #9 of 40
5/20/06 at 9:18am
Thread Starter 
but will it delete everything on my computer during the installation? because thats what i allso need
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post #10 of 40
5/20/06 at 9:22am
It might just overwrite the old Windows installation, meaning the files that are duplicate, but it won't delete the other stuff.

If you want to format the drive, you will need to boot into DOS and format from there if the Setup doesn't allow.

It usually does, however... it's very strange yours doesn't.
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post #11 of 40
5/20/06 at 9:25am
That's weird.. I've always deleted and recreated partitions when installing windows.. never heard of that you can't do because there's installation files (copying installation files occurs AFTER you choose to format/creat partitions)
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post #12 of 40
5/20/06 at 9:28am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by thelostpatrol
It might just overwrite the old Windows installation, meaning the files that are duplicate, but it won't delete the other stuff.

If you want to format the drive, you will need to boot into DOS and format from there if the Setup doesn't allow.

It usually does, however... it's very strange yours doesn't.
how do i boot into dos?
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post #13 of 40
5/20/06 at 9:41am
What you can actually do that might do the trick is something I used to do when I didn't know how to boot into DOS. When you are loading the Windows setup, just remove the CD. It should just revert to DOS and you can go from there.

Of course, this is by far not an official way of doing things, but it worked for me before.
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post #14 of 40
5/20/06 at 10:09am
If worst comes to worst you can always boot into Linux using a liveCD and use fdisk or similar to fiddle with your partitions.
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post #15 of 40
5/20/06 at 10:12am
Indeed!
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post #16 of 40
5/20/06 at 10:17am
Quote:
Originally Posted by Entropius
If worst comes to worst you can always boot into Linux using a liveCD and use fdisk or similar to fiddle with your partitions.

I have an old slackware install CD that I keep only because of that.
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post #17 of 40
5/20/06 at 10:26am
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by Entropius
If worst comes to worst you can always boot into Linux using a liveCD and use fdisk or similar to fiddle with your partitions.

so i have to download linux, install that, then install windows xp again in order to format my hd and have windows xp?
and i have no experience with linux.. livecd.. fdisk or whatever

maybe its easier to buy a new HD lol... why does windows allways choose the hard buggy way?

or maybe just put a powerfull magnet on the hd?

bill gates.. make a button: press here to delete everything and start over
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post #18 of 40
5/20/06 at 10:40am
Download this and burn it. It should work.
http://www.ultimatebootcd.com/download.html

Although I have to wonder why it is telling you that it contains vital information for setup. Is it an actual XP CD or a restore CD?
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post #19 of 40
5/20/06 at 10:56am
Quote:
Originally Posted by s1lVa
so i have to download linux, install that, then install windows xp again in order to format my hd and have windows xp? and i have no experience with linux.. livecd.. fdisk or whatever maybe its easier to buy a new HD lol... why does windows allways choose the hard buggy way? or maybe just put a powerfull magnet on the hd? bill gates.. make a button: press here to delete everything and start over
No, you do not. With the linux CD, you only need to boot it. Then, you will have a prompt on which you can run utilities like fdisk or cfdisk. You could install linux later on, but for the purpose of this topic, you don't need to. The point is that you can "borrow" linux utilities everytime you have problems with the windows ones... And it's weird that you can't choose to format the partition when installing Windows. Very weird. The original should have that option. This CD may be an weird OEM, because even recovery CDs will format everything.
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post #20 of 40
5/20/06 at 11:37am
Thread Starter 
ah i see. what linux version should i look for?
there are so many

edit: pref. comething to fit a cd since i dont have anymore dvds
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