What happens when...

What happens when you format your drive/PC? (Like if you format your C: drive that has your important files and OS stuff.) Will it delete all files on your drive? Or will it leave only the OS but no programs or anything like that? I've been thinking about formatting my OLD pc (Win 98) because it's really slow, and then I'm going to restore it. Thanks in advance.

 

Yes, it will get rid of everything including windows, so make sure you have the windows disk.

 

When I try to format, it says, "Windows is unable to format this drive because it contains files Windows is using." or something like that. So how do you format a PC without the message appearing?

By the way, I'm formatting my C: drive, but it doesn't have a separate D: drive that doesn't contain any important system files or anything, though.

 

you can't format it while your using it, you need to have something else running the computer, if you are updating to xp/2000, just boot off the cd, and let it format the drive, if you are going to do 98/me, get a boot disk with fdisk on it and boot into dos, and format it that way, then boot to your windows cd, and install your o/s.

 

What's an fdisk and how to I boot it into DOS? (I'm on Windows 98 se)

 

Fdisk is a tool supplied on a Win98 boot disk. In your case, you shouldn't have to use it. You will need a formatted floppy disk. Go to Control Panel - Add/Remove programs, and there should be an option to create a startup disk. Click on this, and have your floppy ready. Follow the instructions on screen and when finished, you will have a Win98 boot disk. If you don't wish to make it yourself, go to bootdisk.com and download one. Either way, you will still need the formatted floppy.
After you have made or accquired your boot disk, leave it in your floppy drive, and restart your computer. If your boot order is set correctly in your bios, you should boot from this floppy disk. You should have an option to boot with or without cdrom support during this operation. Choose whichever option that you need. When the booting process is complete, you should see an A:/> prompt. Type " format C: " and hit enter, that will format your C drive for you.

 

OK, thanks. I'll try it and I'll keep ya updated.

By the way, (off topic) just got GTA San Andreas today. It rules!