Re-Formating Old Hard Drive

[Whiskery Ron]

Hi all.Having installed a new Hard Drive ,I want to clear & Re-Format my old Hard Drive,so that I can use it for storing up to date files.When opening it in my computer & clicking on Re-Format I keep getting a message saying,Windows cannot format this drive.Can someone please help to overcome this problem.WR.

[ACtheTROLL]

which drive letter are you trying to format?

if you've just added a new drive to your existing system ... and your old drive is still c: (with the new being d, e .... fg....)
windows will tell you you can't format the system drive
(what exactly is the message?)

if this is the case ... easiest is to move your data files (not program files) to the new drive to clear some space
or go the whole hog and shift my documents
http://support.microsoft.com/kb/310147

any new proggys or files ... install or save to the new drive ...
defrag c: ... run disc cleanup and it should be ok

alternatively
to reformat the drive you need to re-install the drives so that the new drive is at the end of the ribbon cable (master - active) and the old is in the middle (slave)
(if you are using sata --- you'll need to config the bios)

then reinstall windows to the new drive .....

[Whiskery Ron]

ACtheTROLL. Thanks for your prompt reply.My old HDD is wired in the middle of the ribbon cable(& installed asSLAVE), the new HDD is at the end of ribbon( installed as MASTER). In My Computer ,the Master HDD is shown as:- Local Disc (C:), & the Slave HDD as C: Drive(F:). Hope this makes sense to you. Ron.

[Buenchico]

The easiest way to format drive F is to boot your computer without loading Windows. Exactly how you do that will depend upon your BIOS settings. Basically, you need to start your PC with a boot disk in the relevant drive. (On my PC, I use a boot floppy. On many systems, however, starting the PC with the original Windows disk in the CD-drive does the trick).

When you're asked how you want to start the PC, select 'minimal boot'. When you see a flashing cursor, type 'format f:' and hit return.

Chris

[Whiskery Ron]

Thanks AC & Chris,however since last contact, I e-mailed my Grandson, who sent me a link which has solved my problem. Thanks again for your support.Ron. http://support.microsoft.com/kb/309000/