Author Topic: Formatting E500s  (Read 6425 times)

0 Members and 1 Guest are viewing this topic.

Offline Angela

  • Technician
  • Jr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 80
  • Gender: Female
Formatting E500s
« on: May 25, 2006, 09:44:36 AM »
Gerard I tried to remove c2k from a laptop last week for the first time and ran into problems when I do an fdisk make 1 partition (primary) whole drive then restart it still has 2 partitions.



C2k will do it but at a cost of about £50 I think



So can you give me some advice please :?  :?  :?

Offline Si

  • C2k Gimp
  • Moderator
  • Board Veteran
  • *****
  • Posts: 4347
  • Gender: Male
  • Speciality: thinking about working
Formatting E500s
« Reply #1 on: May 25, 2006, 10:02:48 AM »
Did you try deleting the current partitions first?

Offline Outlaw27

  • Board Veteran
  • *****
  • Posts: 1580
Formatting E500s
« Reply #2 on: May 25, 2006, 10:30:38 AM »
I have done about 30 E500 laptops here removing the C2k system and instaling a new operating system.  Started the laptop using a windows 98 start up disk and removed all the partitions using fdisk and then formatted the hard disk and install operating system and software as required.  This should work as long as Northgate haven't changed the boot up order when building the laptop for C2k system

Offline Angela

  • Technician
  • Jr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 80
  • Gender: Female
Formatting E500s
« Reply #3 on: May 25, 2006, 11:11:20 AM »
Yes Si I did like Outlaw used w98 start up disk removed partitions formated disk but still it is partitioned :?:  :?:  :?:

Offline Outlaw27

  • Board Veteran
  • *****
  • Posts: 1580
Formatting E500s
« Reply #4 on: May 25, 2006, 11:51:37 AM »
Angela



There are 4 partitions to delete using fdisk



1 NTFS, 2 PrimDOS, 3 EXTDOS and Logical partition.  Have you deleted them all using Fdisk? If so you should be able to format the hard drive of your E500 to one partition or what ever you choose.  If you can get Windows 2000 unto the laptop you could use the Compaq restore disks to leave the laptop as came orginally.

Offline Gerard

  • Moderator
  • Board Veteran
  • *****
  • Posts: 3006
  • Gender: Male
Formatting E500s
« Reply #5 on: May 25, 2006, 03:05:47 PM »
i have put xp on most of them just by partitioning the disk using the xp disk....



on the ones with win 2k i used partition magic 8 then ran the cd..never had anyproblems before

Offline Angela

  • Technician
  • Jr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 80
  • Gender: Female
Formatting E500s
« Reply #6 on: May 25, 2006, 04:22:56 PM »
Thanks 4 that guys I think I'll start again from scratch and make sure all partitions have been deleted and try to install w2000 will not get time to look at it until next week but i'll let yous know how i get on. :)  :)  :)

Offline Ray

  • Board Veteran
  • *****
  • Posts: 1019
Formatting E500s
« Reply #7 on: May 26, 2006, 09:09:49 AM »
You do know that after deleting all the partitions that you will have to create at least 1 (primary DOS) partition if you are going to install win98?
While there is still a need for teachers, there will still be a need for us!

9 out of 10 voices in my head say "DONT SHOOT !!!!!"

Offline Angela

  • Technician
  • Jr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 80
  • Gender: Female
Formatting E500s
« Reply #8 on: May 26, 2006, 11:24:04 AM »
Thanks Ray I think i created primary partition cant remember now I have another go  :)  :)

flashharry82

  • Guest
Formatting E500s
« Reply #9 on: May 30, 2006, 01:20:42 PM »
One of the best programs i've found for formatting problems is killdisk. Clears data, formatting, partitions. Problem is it really does it well and can be impossible to recover if you did require to recover it.

Offline Byterunner

  • Full Member
  • ***
  • Posts: 233
Formatting E500s
« Reply #10 on: May 30, 2006, 05:38:24 PM »
I use Darik's Boot and Nuke http://dban.sourceforge.net for wiping. No need to perform multiple passes if you just want to zap master boot record (partition table)



Read the FAQ about Host Protected Area - never had to go there yet, but I'm sure sometime I will.

Offline Gerard

  • Moderator
  • Board Veteran
  • *****
  • Posts: 3006
  • Gender: Male
Formatting E500s
« Reply #11 on: May 31, 2006, 10:08:38 AM »
i just stick to partition magic... format a machine in seconds  job done

Offline Angela

  • Technician
  • Jr. Member
  • *
  • Posts: 80
  • Gender: Female
Formatting E500s
« Reply #12 on: June 02, 2006, 12:47:53 PM »
:lol:  :lol:  :lol:



Well i got it at last dont know where i went wrong last time but its working now thanks all for your tips :)  :)  :)