Preparing a Hard Drive for Use

Reader Please Note: To the best of my knowledge the information in this document is accurate. If you find any errors, have any comments, additions, or just have questions, please feel free to contact me at billetter@networktechnologist.com.

Introduction

This article describes the process used to prepare a hard drive for use in a pc. The process is normally used to prepare a brand new hard drive for use, but can just as easily be used to prepare a used hard drive for use in another computer - by erasing it's data. This is an exercise that I use in my A+ classes. It is not easy to find complete documentation on this process, so this article serves the basis for "field notes".

How to create a Windows 98 Startup Diskette

One of the most useful diskettes that you can make is the Windows 98 startup diskette. This is a useful diskette to carry with you if you support pcs. This diskette can easily be made from Windows 98. To do this you must go to the Add/Remove programs applet in the Control Panel.

Start -> Settings -> Control Panel -> Add/Remove Programs

Once in the applet, select the Startup Disk tab and press the create disk button. When asked, put a blank diskette in the floppy disk drive. In a short time you will have created a very useful diskette.

Step 1 - Erasing the Contents of the Hard Disk

Note: This step is NOT required for brand new hard drives.

The easiest way to erase the contents of the hard disk is to remove all of it's drive letters (partitions). This article will use the fdisk.exe utility that comes with Windows 9.X (it also comes with DOS, and Windows 3.X). This utility along with many other useful utility programs is on the Windows 98 boot disk.

After you have started your computer with the Windows 98 startup diskette you will be using the command line interface (CLI). The mouse will not work here, instead you must type in commands like "fdisk" and "format". The CLI will leave you at a command prompt, which will appear on your screen as "a:\>". This is very often called the "a prompt".

To use fdisk to erase the contents of the hard drive you must boot the computer from your Windows 98 startup diskette and type "fdisk" at the command prompt. This should launch the fdisk program and give you 4 menu items. If it instead gives you a page of text talking about enabling large hard disk support, answer yes to question - then the menu should be displayed.

From the main menu choose option 4, display partition information. This will let you know how many partitions or drive letters you have. Normally you should expect 1 drive letter called "C:", but it is possible that some computers may have more than one drive letter. Write down the results, so you know how many drive letters you have and what type they are, such as dos primary, non-dos, etc.

Hit the <Esc> key to return to the main menu. Then choose option 3 to delete partitions. You will then be given the option of deleting dos primary partitions, logical drives in extended partitions, extended partitions and non-dos parititions. It is best to delete non-dos partitions first, then logical drives, then extended partitions and finally the dos primary partition.

When you are done you must hit the <Esc> key several times to completely exit fdisk. Then reboot the computer so that the changes will be registered.

There is a potential problem that you might run into with this procedure. It is possible that fdisk is not capable of removing all of the partitions. This is likely if Windows NT or 2000 was installed with NTFS type partitions (non-dos). If you should run into this problem, there are two things that you can try. First you can use the Windows NT or 2000 installation program. During the installation of Windows NT/2000 you are given the opportunity to remove all partitions. Do this, and when done exit the installation process (do not install Windows NT/2000).

The other option is to use a third party partition deletion utility. There are many of these available. One that I like to use is called "delpart.exe" and is available off of the Internet. This program is like rotorooter for your hard drive. Other companies also offer similar products.

Step 2 - Create a drive letter

To create a drive letter we also use fdisk.exe. From the main menu of fdisk, select option 1, create partititions. For this article I will assume that we will be making 1 drive letter, C:. From the next menu select create a primary partition. Next you will be given the opportunity to choose the size of the drive letter (most of the time we select the default of use the maximum size). When you are done, again exit out of fdisk using the <Esc> key. Again reboot the computer using your Windows 98 diskette.

When you create the drive letter, fdisk will automatically make the drive letter active if you choose the default drive letter size. This means that the drive letter can be bootable. If you did not choose the default size then you may see an error message stating that no drive letter is active. To fix this problem, from the main menu of fdisk choose the second option to make the drive letter active.

Step 3 - Preparing the disk surface for use

Now that the C: drive letter has been created, it must be prepared for use. We do this with the format.com program. At the command prompt type "format c: /s" after you have rebooted with the Windows 98 boot diskette (at the completion of Step 2). This will prepare the disk surface for use and make it bootable.

Step - 4 Installing the Operating System

Note: If you are installing the hard drive as a second drive in the computer this step is probably not necessary.

Today the most common way to install the operating system is from cdrom. You must verify that the computer is configured to boot from the cdrom. This can be done by running the cmos setup program (usually this is an option when the computer is first booting up). You need to set the boot sequence so that the cdrom is booted before the hard drive. Usually I choose the boot sequence of floppy disk first, cdrom second and hard drive third.

At this point all that is required is to put the operating system cd into the drive and turn on the computer. The operating installation procedure should automatically step you through the process of installing and configuring the operating system.

Note: Some operating system installation procedures will automatically complete one or more of the above steps. For instance the Windows 2000 installation program will automatically perform all of the above steps.

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