format hdd problem

jdhogg · 07-13-2003, 06:01 PM

hello, i recently installed redhat 9.0 on an old hp i have. specs below

celeron 466
10gb hdd
64mb pc100 sdram
4x cdrw drive
floppy

redhat ran soooo incredibly slow, its unbearable, i want to know how to format my hdd back to fat32, but everytime i try to use fdisk to delete all the partitions, it freezes, this is the only option ive been able to find online, is to use fdisk, is there another way i can format the whole hdd back to fat32, and install windows 98 again?

Henry · 07-13-2003, 06:18 PM

put ur windows 98 cd in and follow the instructions

, theres a part where it asked if u want to format, just click the partition and format it, or use the linux boot cd, it might be more confusing, but it should also work, and heres a tip, u have 64 ram, its kinda slow, so u wait alittle while, like go watch tv while its formating or something, and besure to do fast format, not the full, cuz full one takes forever

jdhogg · 07-13-2003, 06:24 PM

the windows 98 disk wont recognize the linux partitions, so it cant format them. i need a way to delete ALL partitions, format my hdd back to fat32, and install windows 98.

ionstorm · 07-13-2003, 06:57 PM

you need to boot from a rescue disc of some description, (c)fdisk will crash if you try to run it on a filesystem that is already mounted. Then just delete all, and create new fat16 partition. The windows installer will do the rest.

Ion

michaelk · 07-13-2003, 10:09 PM

You can use the windows 98 fdisk to delete linux partitions. When selecting delete from the menu you should have the option of selecting non-dos partitions.

Otherwise boot to rescue mode using the install CD and run fdisk or cfdisk. If you create the partition using linux select win95 lba filesystem type instead of fat16.

ranger12002 · 07-15-2003, 05:45 AM

if you have another computer that is windows get partition magic and stick the hard drive on the windows comp as a slave and use partition magic it will pick up any kind of partition on the drive and format

mad_ady · 07-15-2003, 07:55 AM

Use a win95/98/me boot floppy to boot up your system and use fdisk to delete the linux paritions. Then you can create new partitions for your system.

If you are new to dos, ranger12002's solution is the easyest.