Not long ago I installed the Vista RC1 beta to see what it was like (rubbish imo.) I installed it on a separate drive so as not to kill my original XP install, As I've got 3 HD drives I just unplugged the one with the XP so I could still access my files. Then when I plug it in again it'll boot into XP as needed. I've since realized how very crap vista is and want to get rid of it. However it won't let me.
It's listed in my computer but if I try and right click it and format it says its in use, and it really isn't, the same goes for ANY file/folder on the drive (which is partitioned) but I can use the other partition on it without any problems. How on earth do I get it to format?
Why Can't I Format
Perhaps you should try "FORMAT driveletter: /x" from the command prompt. The /x switch should dismount the drive first, in case there are any processes holding onto it for whatever reason.
-
Neil Jones
- Posts: 661
- Joined: Thu 11 Sep, 2003 20.03
- Location: West Midlands
System Restore in XP's probably tying it up, as this feature of XP insists on latching itself onto every single drive it can find.Bail wrote:It's listed in my computer but if I try and right click it and format it says its in use, and it really isn't, the same goes for ANY file/folder on the drive (which is partitioned) but I can use the other partition on it without any problems. How on earth do I get it to format?
Turn it off for the drive in question from My Computer -> Right-click -> Properties, reboot and then see if it'll let you format it.
If not, you should be able to go into Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Computer Management -> Disk Management and rip out all the partitions and format from there.
Failing that, you need a third party utility to get it wiped, such as Partition Magic for example.