Reformatting simply means clearing off your harddisk entirely and reinstall with an operating system. The result will look as if you had just bought a new computer, because there will be nothing in your reformatted computer. You will also need to reinstall all your software then, since all was cleanned in the formatting process. Reformatting ensures that viruses or error scripts gets cleared off your harddisk.

Do take note that reformatting may not be as easy as you think. There are steps to do it. You will need to prepare certain tools before hand. A boot disk with reformat program will be needed. Also, the boot disk needs to ensure that it can enable your CD ROM drive to install your copy of Windows XP from a CD. Otherwise, you can also boot directly from the CD itself if you are using an original copy.

 

 

 

Reply

well my computer still doesnt work..what im thinkning of trying to do now is changing the way the computer boots up...instead of booting throught the hard disk i make it boot from the CD ROM..so the disk i have for the computer the Windows Xp software i tried puttin in that in..and when it loaded up it didnt seem to read it i guess..it didnt work...there was some error...i guess it wasnt the right boot disk cause i figure that the cd that comes with the computer should also work as a boot disk and install the files i need becuase everytime i let the computer load up it says "NTLDR is missing, press ALT+CTRL+DEL to restart" so i do that and the same thing happens...so im trying to find someone with the right boot disk i guess to see if it would work with my computer...

Reply

You meant you've tried reformatting and still doesn't work? If that's the case, you could have deep trouble.

Here's the cause of the error message "NTLDR is missing".

You can read up the solutions here.
http://www.computerhope.com/issues/ch000465.htm
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?...kb;en-us;318728

 

 

 

Reply

comptuers are funny sometimes and hard to know what the deal is. first think i usually did what system restore and yes, sometimes i had to do it through dos when my computer wouldn't boot fully to get to system restore gui format. then if that didn't work, i did scan disk and defragmented the hard drive. but just defragment the hard drive because if your disk has errors, that program can't defragment and will tell you to use scan disk first, but i usually run scan disk first anyway. now if THAT doesn't work bud, you need a bootable disk that takes you in to dos directly. you want to check if it's your hardrive or something else like a bad power supply. don't assume to have a good power supply if your fan is working. i like doing things the easy way without getting too technical and trying to figure the source so if i can get in to dos at this point, i would back up any files you wanted and reformat and reinstall your operating system. don't just reinstall your operating system. if your going to do that, might as well go that extra step in ensuring everything runs properly. now if that didn't work, which if you go to those legths, you've usually fixed the problem, you need to have someone test your hd, power supply, motherbord. it's rarely the motherboard or hard drive though. i've had problems with power supplies before where they seemed to work and thought that wasn't the problem, then a week or two or a month later, the fan gives out....and replacing the power supply woulda fixed my problems. but anyway, doesn't sound like your hard drive to me but that's easily tested if when you reformat and reinstall the operating system since you can't boot your computer fully. sometimes scan disk can't fix all the errors a reformat can if sectors are bad so keep that in mind too. stick with it. and follow the steps you were told about and be patient. don't throw your comptuer out a closed window like i always felt like doing sometimes

Reply

hello guys!! we'll i'm not actually familiar with computers but would it be possible if i just replace the bios so that i won't have to buy a new computer?

Reply

Usually when such computer problems occur, or for most computer problems, there isn't a need to replace your BIOS. For most cases, reformatting of computer will solve the problem. Unless it's a physical hardware problem, a replacement for the particular hardware is then needed. BIOS seldom need to change because hardly it can be affected with a virus. Note that I didn't conclude that all virus will never hurt the BIOS, just that it's unlikely that viruses spread to it..

Reply

just find a bootable disk that lets you go directly in to dos first. i'm not talking about the windows disk that came with the computer. once you find one, then you will be set to have someone take you through some steps to backup your files and reformat, and then reinstall your os. it doesn't even have to be a cd. it can be a floppy. it also doesn't even have to be the os installed on your hd. any windows os will do. don't get frustrated. you learn by doing. keep in mind that if you do this once, you'll know what to do if you have problems in the future, but i don't suggest reformatting everytime you don't know what a problem is....but you get my point.

i'm sorta curious what this program you were trying to install before you started having these problems....but i doubt that's the problem why your computer isn't booting. don't feed in to this virus crap either. it's over rated and over mediatized(if that's a word. if not, they should add it to websters ) so programers can make money

Reply

well lemme just ensure to everyone that my computer finally works....i had to reinstall everything my drivers or whatever i had to lose everything i had but that ok i dont care much as long as i got my computer back...i got my friends father to fix the problem and he said i had a bad memory stick....becuase when he took one of them off the computer was actually able to load up but then i had no drivers so i called the hp company to send me a rrestore disk with all the drivers i need and now everything seems to be good the only thing is that i just dont have as much memory as i used to =( hah

Reply

That's a good news to you finding out that it isn't the hard disk problem. Unfortunately however you've lost all your precious data by formatting it. Anyway if you would like to get more memory to replace the damaged one, remember to check out the model number and it's specifications before buying. A wrongly fitted memory module may cause permanent damage to the motherboard and BIOS. If that really happens, it's time to get a new computer.

The most important thing to look out for in RAM is the clock speed. Make sure it's compatible with your motherboard. It's best and recommended to follow exactly the same specification with the damaged memory and it will sure to work. The amount of memory does not affect on compatibility, hence you can get a 512MB, 1024MB or whatever amount you like. Also remember to slot back the same memory slot that used to house the damaged memory module. Reconfiguration to the BIOS may be necessary. Work with your father since he fixed the computer for you.

Reply