how do you completely clear a hd

i have a hard drive that i suspect that still has data on it because i wanted to use it as my new master drive with windows xp on it but whenever i run the windows xp installer it keeps telling me that the installer was unable to copy some files what do i do to make it stop and how do i clear the darn thing completely (i don't have any blank cd for software utilities so don't suggest anything like that i don't have money to go and buy some)

 

Maybe it's your hard drive but I doubt it. Check with your HDD maker's site for free HDD tools like WD's Datalifeguard to test it. XP or any other OS will format the hard drive if you want it to before installing so that's not your issue. Is your CD really clean and CD drive works properly? Check your memory while you're at it with memtest86+.

 

The types of errors you're referring to are commonly caused by bad memory, or a faulty install CD. If your XP disc is a factory Microsoft disc, make sure it isn't scratched badly and that it's clean from fingerprints, pizza sauce, peanut butter, and oatmeal. If the disc is a 'homemade' copy of XP, it could be that it did not burn correctly. If the CD is known to be OK, run a bootable memory diagnostic (I like this one) and run the extended tests for at least 3 or 4 full passes (it will take some time so be patient). The errors you're referring to are VERY RARELY caused by the hard drive unless it is physically or mechanically unsound. Run a full diagnostic using the free download from the manufacturer's web site. They should also have a free download to perform a low-level format or 'zeroing' of the drive if all else fails.... good luck!
:-D

[dlb]

-o augie and I must've been typing at the same time LOL )

 

heres the twist to it all, this hard drive was salvaged from a cable box am i doing something impossible because i have salvaged hard drives before but all those other times that i did i made them slave local drives and they worked perfectly

 

The source of the drive shouldn't matter. If you're doing a clean fresh install of XP and you can successfully format the drive, then you should be able to install XP to it unless one of the problems exists that were mentioned above by both augie and myself....

 

nm OT speak.

 

i just tried to format it with windows xp (home edition) installer and it says it was unable to format and the disk might be damaged when i do a quick format but when i tried format it at a regular pace the progress bar didn't move anywhere

also after the machine started up windows installer i went into repair and tried to format it the way you would do with dos and it still didn't move

what are your other suggestions i'll try anything at this point (except for getting support from the hd manufacturer

 

I don't understand that at all. The tools are free.:confused

 

yeah i know its free but i don't like getting support from the manvfactures mostly because whenever i send them messages they never answer them and so far i haven't gotten a reply from anyone yet (after waiting for a couple months i decided to just forget about it)

 

This is a nifty utility

http://www.dban.org/

Ive never used it but its made for what you want to do.

 

You said you have another computer in the house. Can you temporarily hook up the drive as slave on that machine and format it there?