I need to know how to format my hard drive on Mandrake Linux. Appreciate the help.

A general question deserves a general answer:

On a serious note something like mkfs -t ext3 /dev/hda2 should do the trick.

Yeah I keep forgetting theres not a big red button like in windows to do anything. this is the message i got when i entered that command.

*edit*
Would this work?
http://linux.tucows.com/preview/326423.html

You don't need any special tools---you already have everything you need. So, what you do is this:

1. df -h (this will list all mounted drives, take note of the drive you want, e.g., /dev/hdb2)
2. Now, just mkfs -t ext3 /dev/hdb2

That's it. I don't remember if you have to unmount the drive first, so if it doesn't work try:

umount /dev/hdb2

If you want ResierFS, then you have to have some reiser tools installed (at least I had to install some on my Debian box).

Edit: If you are trying to format the drive that Linux resides on, then you could do the above after booting up a live CD like Knoppix.

Ok I did that using the Move! cd that came with Mandrake and I did something but it doesn't seem formatted. It still opens up like it is going to start linux and then gives me this meesage at the end: "Kernel panic: No init found. Try passing init= option to kernel." I am trying to put windows back on, where do i go from here?

If you want to put Windows back on just put in the Windows install CD and follow the instructions--you shouldn't have to format anything as Windows will do it for you.

Looks to me like you've only formatted one partition...probably the root partition. I think you've left /boot intact which is why the kernel is found. Your bootloader (grub/lilo) would be unaffected as it isn't on a normal part of the harddisk, it's on the master boot record which isn't affected by a format.

I tried putting in the windows disk but it didn't open it up automatically.

Komakino, how do I get rid of /boot? If I can't format the MBR then how do I alter it?

If the CD did not boot, then either (1) the disk isn't bootable or (2) your Bios settings need to be changed. To change the Bios hit F2 or whatever it says to enter Setup when you first start the computer then look for a Boot sequence section make it something like Floppy, then CD, then Hard Disk. That way you will try to boot from floppy first, if there is no floppy, then you will try to boot from the CD rom, and as a last resort you will boot from the MBR on the hard disk.

got it. appreciate it guys