Major help needed

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2003-11-01 11:01pm

I have recently aquired an old computer. I need to wipe all data and do a fresh install of windoze (temporary, till i get linux). I have no boot or driver floppy (i may have one somewhere if i find one i'll tell you) how should i proceed in doing this?

Rye · Post by **Rye** » 2003-11-02 12:02am

winxp has fdisk on the cd iirc.

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2003-11-02 12:04am

But i'm trying to install windoze 95...

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2003-11-02 12:05am

www.bootdisk.com

Download a bootdisk generator, and format the drive. Then install your OS of choice.

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2003-11-02 12:37am

So i just put that on a floppy, wipe the drive and slap it in when i'm ready to nuke the drive?

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2003-11-02 12:40am

darthdavid wrote:So i just put that on a floppy, wipe the drive and slap it in when i'm ready to nuke the drive?

Basically, you download the program and use that to generate a bootable floppy. Boot off of the floppy and format the drive. That'll wipe the drive clean and then you'll be free to install any OS you choose.

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2003-11-02 12:47am

It won't matter if i generate the boot disk on a different computer than the one i'm formatting will it?

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2003-11-02 12:59am

darthdavid wrote:It won't matter if i generate the boot disk on a different computer than the one i'm formatting will it?

Doesn't matter at all. A bootdisk is a bootdisk is a bootdisk. They're all standard files.

Hell, I could create a linux-mandrake bootdisk on a computer 10,000 miles away, and still be able to use it when I got home (assuming it wasn't scanned by airport security).

darthdavid · Post by **darthdavid** » 2003-11-02 01:04am

Thanks for the help. I don't wanna nuke the hd to find that i can't use my bootdisk. Well, i now go to the land of sleep so that in the morn i'll be able kill the data bogging down that machine of machines running a pentium s 133 mhz and goof around with it running windows 'till the prize of prizes linux arrives and my journy into a new operating system can begin. At which point i'll probably be running back screaming at the top of my lungs because i can't figure out wtf i'm doing.

~ Darthdavid

Vertigo1 · Post by **Vertigo1** » 2003-11-02 01:27am

Dude, it won't nuke your bootdisk. Its just data on a floppy disk. Data that, if necessary, can be regenerated.

I'm gonna lay it out really simple for you.

1. Insert floppy disk into floppy drive.
2. Run bootdisk generator program to copy necessary files onto the disk.
3. After the files are copied, take the disk out and put it into the other computer.
4. Boot off of this floppy.
5. Format hard drive.
6. Install the desired operating system.

Thats it.

Pu-239 · Post by **Pu-239** » 2003-11-02 01:46am

Vertigo1 wrote:
darthdavid wrote:It won't matter if i generate the boot disk on a different computer than the one i'm formatting will it?
Doesn't matter at all. A bootdisk is a bootdisk is a bootdisk. They're all standard files.

Hell, I could create a linux-mandrake bootdisk on a computer 10,000 miles away, and still be able to use it when I got home (assuming it wasn't scanned by airport security).

Um, I thought the X-Ray doesn't harm computer stuff. The metal detector...