Dead Computer, how do i format?

[The Mic]

well my other faster comp has been murdered. turns out my idiot bro was using and this virus got inside it. I never use the other comp, he usaully uses that one. well i think the damage if beyond repair bc the virus deleted the control panel and renamed all the applications in my computer with " .lnk " i.e. my Mozilla shortcut is now Mozilla.lnk . Its as if all the execution programs have been deleted and im left with nothing but shortcuts on my desktop. To top it off i cant use the system restore bc that just a shortcut now, no .exe file to read from. so id like to format my C drive but it keeps giving me teh message

"Windows cannot format this drive. Quit any utilities or other programs that are using this drive, and make sure that no window is displaying the contents of this drive. Then try formatting again."

so can you guys help me format my harddrive?? thanks =]

[stray]

start the comp in safemode and have it boot from a windows CD. Itll ask you if youd like to reformat and reinstall windows, and there ya go.

[The Mic]

sry if i didnt mention b4 i dont have a windows cd. dont ask how i just dont have it. Any my friends dont have it either since they all got a burnt copy that was lost. Any other alternative??

[stray]

uh... not really. If you have a recovery Cd that came with your PC, that might work too.

[The Mic]

nope i got NUTHIN, NO CDS!. the comp was given to me by uncle who works at compusa. it was a display comp. I dont want to hav to buy an xp cd, that would suck.

[stray]

Im sorry, but thats your only choice unless youve got a buddy who can get you one cheep.

Ask your uncle. He'll get you a discount.

[cnickk]

s13guy you have options. email me and ill walk you through it...

[email protected]

[The Mic]

i have msn messenger, you think u can help me out there? im on it now...

[Touchdown038]

Ok, here's what you need to do. You gotta get a Windows CD too.

1. Go to bootdisk.com and download a boot disk file for Windows 98. 2. Create the bootdisk from the floppy.3. Reboot, and leave the floppy in. Boot from the floppy.4. Type "format c:"5. Let format, then remove floppy and reboot with Windows XP CD. Reinstall.

[GEO]

You got options as well ,

[The Mic]

does it have to be a windows xp cd boot disc?

cnickk helped me for a good while. was a good try but no solution =[

[s13EastTN]

Or just have one of your friends download an xp cd(still bad, but if your copy of xp was legal on teh computer you had, then just having a copy w/ a legal cd key shouldn't be......too aweful) and put the cd in, xp can format and install right after the other without having to worry about any boot disks(although they are very useful).

[The Mic]

where can i dL it? kazaa is teh suck =p

[Touchdown038]

Yes, the Windows XP setup can format the hard drive, but bad sectors can easily make it hang. I've seen this happen on about three of my friends computers, where formatting it from DOS works fine.

If your hard drive is still in good shape, however, then the Windows XP setup should be fine.

As far as where to download it, there's a program called DC++. Check it out. I dunno how legal it is here though.