Format Without CD

Heyya,

I have a Compaq Evo N610c laptop running Windows XP. I want to sell it in order to upgrade, but I have no idea where my Windows CD is.

Is there any way for me to format it without the CD? (It also doesn't have a floppy drive, so I can't format through a floppy, nor through a CD since it doesn't have a CD burner).

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

I'm not sure about the formatting business.....but I just went on limewire and downloaded it....I dont know if this will work for you.....but I thought it might be a tiny bit helpful.

 

No way. Don't sell it with an illegal OS on it.

 

I would use the system bios to perform a low-level format of the drive, since it the easiest way to erase the drive. The bios is normally accessed during the beginning stages of the boot process by way of a function key, on Compaqs' it is usually F1 or F10. Once you format the drive though, you will need to find a buyer who is willing to reload the operating system after purchasing the laptap.

 

Yeah, I'm gonna stay away from the p2p.

Does a bios format completely erase all info on the drive?

I don't think that selling it without an OS would be a problem, Windows is extremely easy to come by.

 

Open the DOS prompt and type "format c:". Or whatever drive it is you want to format.

 

It can't be that easy, can it?

 

It can, try it. Some basic knowledge of MS-Dos always comes in handy in this Windows age.

 

I know Dos like the palm of my hand. We had a Dos based computer for ages...

I just can't believe that this is that easily done. I googled for formating solutions, and none of them even mentioned Dos.

 

Try it. It really is that easy.

 

If you're running Windows XP you won't be able to do a proper reformat using the terminal (DOS Box).

I recomend making a boot disc with fdisk on it - load it onto a USB key and set your BIOS to boot from the USB port.

 

You see, that's what I was thinking... Windows XP just can't be hip enough for a proper DOS format.

I do have a USB key, so that's a great idea. I'll try that out when I format, and tell ya how it went, cheers

 

If yuo have a CD burner , burn yourself a copy of Gparted
it's a live CD which will allow you to do whatever you want with the disk ,including formating it.
another good option is any linux live cd like knoppix or ubuntu , you can boot from them and they include gparted with which you can format the disc
linux live CDs are always good to have because:
1. if you have a system that refuses to boot (cause of viruses, likely tohappen if you use Windows) you can boot from the Live CD and rescue all your data
2. you can install Linux with it

 

Yes, I agree with the last post. You can also reformat it and really erase it good with a program I found mentioned here in hips. Its called DBAN. Just google it and get a friend to download and burn the cd for you. It is short for Darien's Boot And Nuke. Then install Ubuntu Linux on it and it should sell even better. Ubuntu will send you a CD for free and the install is easy. While you are at the site request a few extra CD's then you got one and you can give the new buyer one and the rest to friends. The website is www.ubuntu.com . Follow the link on the left side of the page that says Get Ubuntu. It will take you to a page to request the CD's. Do not please install or run a Windows disk that isn't a bonafide Windows CD. Windows has a nasty little program on there that will activate when it is copied. It will infect your computer and kill it after the install. Not right away but within a fairly short time. A friend sent me a windows CD he burnt on his computer. I like a dummy installed it. My very first computer and that I built myself. It killed it. I mean my geek hacker buddy could not resurrect it. I had installed it on a laptop too that I got gave but wiped the drive clean and installed Linux before it did too much damage. The laptop ran for quite a while and whether its demise was due to just being old or the pirate Windows CD or some other reason who knows.... I did not get it checked out by friend as I had moved away by then. I installed Windows because I thought Linux was too hard to install and use. Well, after that I have been using Linux ever since. Ubuntu is very user friendly and I think it would increase the resell value of your laptop. Especially with some of the programs free for the download available. And linux is more stable and rarely gets a virus or other nasty bug. So, that definitely is a feature I would talk up to whomever you try to sell to. That is if you install Linux. Anyways, good luck.

Peace, Cricket

 

Aye formatting is easy cheesy, question is what about after?

 

I prefer to use a program called Killdisk. A deep deleter. Runs off a floppy disk.

It erases EVERYTHING, including partitions, and overwrites them with zeroes.

Now you're ready to reinstall from scratch.

http://www.killdisk.com/


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