Expert: Chris Schuh - 9/19/2005

Question
Chris,

I have an IBM Thin Pad Laptop, that my kids were using and installed all kind of junk software.

I was trying to format/erase the entire hard disk and install WXP.  I have a copy of MS DOS and try
to format the hard disk as I have done in the past (late 90').  In the past I typed "format c:\"
from DOS to reformat or erase the hard disk.  I have tried the same command but U get "Bad command or file name".

Could you tell me how to erase/format my hard disk?

Thanks

Answer
Hi Daniel,

You'll need to create a boot diskette on a working machine and then use that to boot the laptop off of. From there, the format command should work from the "A:\>" prompt.

You can create them by going to START > Settings > Control Panel > Add/Remove Programs > Startup Diskette.

Cheers,

Chris