10 replies to this topic

[krit86lr]

My bf just called me at work. He started working on a Win2k machine, and decided to do a clean install of windows for whatever reason. The CD was being funky so he started using an XP Pro CD to format the HD. He's stuck at the product key point. He's telling me that it isn't accepting the Product Key which doesn't make sense to me, but whatever. The point is...is there something that he can use to just reformat the HD at this point? Because the XP CD just want to keep installing windows and he wants to format.

Any suggestions from that screwed up information? Maybe the situation will be clearer when I get hom.

But he's asking for something to just format.

thanks!

[krit86lr]

I'm trying to avoid bootdisk.com btw.

[TwistedMetal]

So it has 2K, but he wants to install XP?

[krit86lr]

TwistedMetal, on Feb 14 2007, 03:56 PM, said:

So it has 2K, but he wants to install XP?

It's installing XP right now, but he wants 2K. Therefore, he just wants to wipe the hard drive clean. Honestly, it seems weird to me. Maybe it's best to wait and see what I find. LOL

He's saying that the XP Key isn't working, but that isn't possible! I can't figure out why he's having so much trouble. And I don't think he knows how to use the Recovery Console.

[Humpty]

Doesn't the XP cd ask to format before entering the key?

I usually hook a drive up as a slave on another machine to format.

Um,he has set bios to boot from CD as first device?

[rridgely]

I'm very confused here...
He has a computer with windows 2000. He wants to just reformat the computer, but he used an xp disc to do it.
Now he has installed xp instead of reformatting the drive and his xp key isn't working? Did he use someone elses key?

Anyway Send him this link:
http://www.cyberwalker.net/faqs/reinstall-...at-NTFS-NT.html
(tell him to print this before he starts. )

[fireryone]

Try Slate
http://members.tripo....htm#cleanslate

[pwillener]

I am not sure if Windows 2000 will run on an XP formatted disk. Remember that 2000 is using NTFS 3.0, and XP uses NTFS 3.1

What I would do in that situation is to use the 4 Windows 2000 boot floppies to format. I know it takes a long time to load them, but eventually it does the job.

[fireryone]

just knock out the partitions using slate (mentioned above) fits on a single floppy.

Quote

Q. What does Clean Slate do?

A. Clean Slate clears("cleans") all of the partitions on a selected
hard drive. The result is an un-partitioned drive, in it's simplest
form. Of course, all the data in the previously existing partitions
can not be accessed(although it is still there), unless the partitions
are restored.

- Q. Who needs Clean Slate?

A. Granted, Clean Slate is not a program that everyone needs. In fact,
it's better that some don't have it. :-)
Clean Slate is a valuable program for those who have to clear
hard drives on a regular basis, people who like to experiment
with their systems, people who operate with hard drives doing
various operations with them, those who change operating systems
frequently, and there are other uses for it as well.

- Q. How safe is Clean Slate?

A. Clean Slate is a powerful program, not to be used without caution.
Within seconds, you could lose an entire hard drive worth of data,
if you use the program incorrectly, and don't save backups(see the
usage info below to see how to save backups).
This being said, it's safe to say that the operations of Clean Slate
can almost always be undone if you save backups.
Clean Slate only does what you tell it, so be careful what you say. :-)

- Q. Does Clean Slate return any errorlevels to DOS when it exits? I want
to use it in a batch file.

A. Yes. Clean Slate returns the following errorlevels:

Errorlevel 0 = Set when Clean Slate exits successfully
Errorlevel 1 = Set whenever an error occurs

Of course, if Clean Slate reboots when it's done,
no errorlevel is set. :-)

- Q. Can I cheerfully blame you if I lose data on a disk?

A. No. I leave the responsibility on you to use my program
carefully. If you do run Clean Slate on the wrong drive by accident,
restoring the backups you saved will recover all the data. Always save
backups, and you be much better off.

However, if your computer blows up, please send me pictures.

- Q. Will Clean Slate work under Microsoft Windows?

A. No. While it will run, this is not a safe thing to do at all,
especially since Clean Slate reboots your computer after it's done its
operations. Rebooting in a Windows DOS prompt can damage files.
It is not recommended to run Clean Slate under any multitasking
environments.

- Q. You still haven't answered my question.

A. Send me e-mail or snail mail if you have any other questions.
See below for info on contacting me.

*** How to use Clean Slate ***

Simply type:

SLATE <drive> <options>

Where <drive> is the number of the hard drive to 'clean'. For example,
typing "SLATE 1" instructs Clean Slate to clear all the partitions on the
first hard drive. Replacing the 1 with a 2 will clear all the partitions
on the second hard drive, and so on.

And <options> can be any of the following(you may use more than one of
the options at a time):

/S<drive> = Saves a backup of the MBR, partitions, and as an added
precaution, the first boot sector of the selected drive
to the floppy drive selected. <drive> is the letter of the
floppy drive selected to save to. See below for examples.

/R<drive> = Restores the previously saved system data(MBR, partition,
etc.) to the drive selected. Use this if you cleaned a
drive by accident. Again, <drive> is the letter of the
floppy drive that the saved data is on. See below for
examples.

/X = Tells Clean Slate not to reboot when it's done. This can
be useful if you want to do more to the drive before
rebooting.

/B = Specifies batch mode. For use in batch files, this does
not ask for any user input. It does the job and reboots or
exits. Note that in batch mode, any errors reading the
disk, etc., will cause Clean Slate to automatically exit
to DOS with errorlevel 1.

Examples of use:

SLATE 1 /SA

That would clear the first hard drive, and save backups of the
system data to the A: drive.

SLATE 2 /SB /X

That would clear the second hard drive, save backups to the B:
drive, and then exit to DOS instead of reboot.

SLATE 1 /RA /B

That would restore the first hard drive, using saved data from
the A: drive, and running in batch mode.

SLATE 2 /SA /X /B

That would clear the second hard drive, save backups to the A:
drive, run in batch mode, and not reboot at the end.

Free for personal use

[krit86lr]

Awesome feedback guys, thanks. As for the product key, he was using my XP CD and my key. My guess is that he typed something in wrong (even though he said it was right).

I realised that the 2000 CD wasn't being recognized because he didn't make the CD correctly. I made a new 2k CD that was recognized no problem by the machine.

Now what is strange is that when the computer boots it asks to load Win2k or WinXP! I don't know how this is possible because I formatted the hard drive and only installed 2k. I put the installation CD in again, and it only shows the Win2k partition...not an XP partition.

Should I use slate or RR's link to wipe it all clean? This is so darn weird. Thanks again guys.

[krit86lr]

In case anyone needs the solution to this, here it is.



Sometimes when you format, it still keeps the old boot.ini

start-->run-->"notepad c:\boot.ini"
There will be lines and under operating systems will be the line that lists WinXP (or whatever you want gone) and just take that line out

You can do that on any W2k or xp computer to adjust the boot-loader

There is a GUI for it too, Right-click my computer-->properties-->advanced-->start-up and recovery settings


Thanks for the help everyone!