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Resolved Question

Unable to format using RUN

Jan 11, 2012 5:23AM PST

I have encountered a formating problem. Whe using the Run program the balck screen would come up for a split second and disappears. Anyone know what created this problem and how to fix it. Appreciate your help. Thanks

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tino20033 has chosen the best answer to their question. View answer

Best Answer

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Can we recap
Jan 17, 2012 4:00AM PST

Yes connection to a TV' is part of the setup when we first posted. I thought maybe you had some knowledge on this tv/pc set up. Your thoughts on this is appreciated. I will go back to a regular monitor? You can close forum as I have concluded pc problems and appreciate your priceless time and help. Thanks Mark.

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Answer
Formatting what?
Jan 11, 2012 5:24AM PST

What are you trying to format?

Mark

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Formatting
Jan 11, 2012 8:41AM PST

Cannot believe I did not include that info. Previously had several errors using my comuter. I tried to format the hard drive and was unable to do it. I fix 99% of the errors but I cannot format cd's using RUN. The black window would show for a split second and disappear. No error messag followed the disappearing black formatting window. Hope this helps. Thanks.

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See the answer below
Jan 11, 2012 8:48AM PST

about using the Command prompt.

But in any case I am still confused.

You cannot reformat the drive or partition that the OS is installed on whilst Windows is running. That's like asking Windows to commit suicide. It won't. If you want to start over, use the CD or DVD that Windows was installed from to delete the partition and then reformat, prior to reinstalling Windows.

And why do you want to format CDs? You cannot format normal CDs or CD-Rs and CDR/RW can simply be overwritten.

Mark

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Formatting
Jan 11, 2012 12:32PM PST

I am new with these trypdes of CD's and trying to rip to CD-R is not recognized by Win Media Player so I thought I needed to format the CD's.

I do not have a partition but I will try your suggestion..

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Answer
That's normal . . .
Jan 11, 2012 8:35AM PST

You cannot run a COMMAND from the Run prompt. You have to open a Command prompt. In the Run box type cmd When the "black screen" opens, type in your format command with the variables and press Enter.

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Run Command
Jan 11, 2012 8:45AM PST

I did open a command prompt. Format c: and other drive as needed. What else can I try? Thanks.

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I agree with Mark . . .
Jan 11, 2012 10:06AM PST

You cannot format a running copy of Windows, and optical media does not need to be formatted.

You can format a floppy, a slave hard drive, and an external hard drive. But not the running copy of Windows. Care to tell us a little more about what you are trying to do and why? And, what are these errors you are referring to?

Now.

If you have the XP CD you can boot from it and do what you are trying to do. But I wonder if you realize that you will loose EVERYTHING on the hard drive. And I mean everything. An alternative is to use the computer's recovery media (CDs, DVDs, or hidden partition on the hard drive) which will put the PC back to day one out of the box.

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Answer
Losing everything
Jan 11, 2012 12:39PM PST

Yes I realize I will lose everything but I have a backup drive like Clickfree Backup drive if that will work? Thanks

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Depends
Jan 11, 2012 7:26PM PST

Let's spell this out;

1] Do you have the GENUINE Windows Setup CD (XP SP1 or later SP) or DVD (Vista or Win 7) to reinstall Windows? If not you cannot reinstall Windows.

2] Do you have the DRIVERS CD to install all the drivers for this Windows OS?

3] If this is Windows XP, (we still don't know which Windows), and the hard drive is a SATA drive, do you have the SATA drivers?

If you have a genuine Windows CD or DVD then you can use that, (insert the CD or DVD, reboot the computer) to delete the existing partition, format the drive, then install Windows. If this Windows is XP and if the drive is SATA, then you install the SATA drivers during this setup process. After the setup is complete, you then boot up into Windows and install all the drivers.

4] Does this Click Free backup drive hold just your data, (Personal Files), or does it hold an IMAGE of your Windows installation?

If it holds a complete image of your Windows OS then follow the guidance in it's manual or other documentation to restore that image to the hard drive.

Expect problems. There nearly always are problems. So make sure you know what you are doing and you have a plan.

Mark

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Lets spell it out.
Jan 12, 2012 8:07AM PST

1. Genuine Win XP Pro OEM
2.Unknown. Please see below.
Operating System System Model Windows XP Professional Service Pack 3 (build 2600) Install Language: English (United States) System Locale: English (United States) Compaq Presario 061 DW256A-ABA SR1030N NA510 0nB1411RE101KELUT10 System Serial Number: ********** Enclosure Type: Desktop Processor a Main Circuit Board b 2.15 gigahertz AMD Athlon XP 128 kilobyte primary memory cache 512 kilobyte secondary memory cache Not hyper-threaded Board: ASUSTek Computer INC. Kelut 2.02 Bus Clock: 167 megahertz BIOS: Phoenix Technologies, LTD 3.03 02/09/2004 Drives Memory Modules c,d 160.03 Gigabytes Usable Hard Drive Capacity 105.59 Gigabytes Hard Drive Free Space ASUS CD-S480/AH [Optical drive] Clikfree Backup Drive USB Device [Optical drive] HL-DT-ST DVD-RAM GH22LP21 [Optical drive] SanDisk U3 Cruzer Micro USB Device [Optical drive]
3. Do not know if it is SATA.
4Clikfree backs up data and personal files.

I did a format about 4 months ago. It keeps shutting down unexpectedly is the reason I want to do format. I think i tried everything possible including the Microsoft "Fix It" suggestions, downloads updates and the problem continues. I am only about 50% computer litrate. But I am proud of myself at times fixing my own problems. This is only the 2nd time I seek help from forums. I have probl;ems wiht abbreviations.

Hope you can determine if I have "SATA" from the above info. Look forward to your next clip.
Thanks again.

Note: This post was edited by a forum moderator to edit out serial number on 01/17/2012 at 9:17 AM PT

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IDE or SATA drive
Jan 12, 2012 7:20PM PST

The best way to find out if this is an IDE drive or a SATA drive is to look inside and see what data cable is connected to the drive.

An IDE drive has a ribbon cable, example here; http://www.wpclipart.com/computer/hardware/cables/ide_cable.png.html

A SATA drive has a thinner cable, as shown here; http://www.kenable.co.uk/product_info.php?products_id=3081

It's important because XP doesn't know what SATA is and when you install XP onto a system with a SATA drive, the install is likely to fail unless you install the SATA drivers, during the XP Setup procedure.

However, you say you did a format 4 months ago. I assume you mean a reformat and reinstall of XP so if that worked then it is likely your hard drive is an IDE drive.

Another consideration is this. Windows XP (with no Service Packs), does not recognise hard drives larger than 127GB. This was fixed when Microsoft released SP1. But with XP (no SP) you will see an unused partition in the Disk Management console after the install.

You need drivers for XP to install correctly. You say this is an XP Pro OEM disk so presumably the disk came with the computer which had XP Pro OEM pre-installed. If so, the vendor should have supplied you with a Drivers CD as well. You need those drivers so that, after XP Setup has installed XP, you then remove the setup disk, boot into Windows insert the Drivers CD then install the motherboard/chipset drivers, ethernet drivers, sound card drivers, video card drivers, and any others the system needs.

Do you still have the manual that came with this system? If so that should tell you how to reinstall XP. If not, visit the Compaq/HP web site to find the manual for your model, and at the same time to find the drivers this model needs.

Mark

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IDE or SATA drive
Jan 13, 2012 5:26AM PST

Did check from the links you sent me and now I kow I have IDE drive. Yes it was a re-format.

Win 98 was preinstalled when I bought it in 2004. It works great until I did somethin wrong whe I installed Win XP Home. Then I upgraded to Win XP Pro and id not create a partition which I think was a mistake. I did no know how. When I bought the XP Pro I got one disk, the installation disk. I will download the drivers if I can find a link.

The motherboard/chipset drivers, ethernet drivers, sound card drivers, video card drivers, or any other drivers the system needs would be a problem. It is something I have no knowledge of.

I will be working on this in the meantime and let you know my progress. Since I cannot format the C: drive and everthing else works my analysis from the information you sent has minimize the problems and that is the formatting of CD's and DVD's. I would like to set the dives for CD, DVD, USB to the default which I have no knowledge of. What you think about setting to the default.

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Problems diminished
Jan 13, 2012 8:01AM PST

Hi Mark, Everthing is woking fine. I was confusing CD'c and 3 1/2 disk that must be formated at times. Therefore my only problem is the pc sudden shutdown. It is not a virus or trojan becase I have two securty programs, Norton and AVG anti-virus. I can deal with the sudden shutdown and continue to send error reports to Microsoft.

I was made to understand that I only need SP3 and could delete SP1 and SP2. Is that a procedure I should consider? Thaks again.

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Ahh, a BIG clue there
Jan 13, 2012 8:48PM PST

Hi again tino.

Could be a big clue there. Both Norton and AVG running at the same time.

There's a general recommendation we give in these forums, Only one anti-virus to be installed and running at the same time.

Our experience is that having two or more anti-virus running in the background can cause conflict as they each fight to scan files and data at the same time. This can cause freezes and other performance issues.

I think it's time to decide which one to keep and which one to discard. Personally I would uninstall the Norton suite as it is noted to have other effects, such as turning off the Windows System Restore feature. They don't tell you that.

That said, you do still need protection against malware, (not just viruses), and we often recommend the two free versions of Malwarebytes Anti-malware and SUPERAntiSpyware and simply use them as free standing, once a week manual scanners.

As to SP3 it incorporates all of SP1 and SP2 so there is no easy way to remove those earlier Service Pack updates. I would leave it alone.

Mark

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Sudden shutdown
Jan 16, 2012 5:03AM PST

I only added AVG after listening to a discussion on TV. The host stated it is good to have two antivirus programs. However I trust your judgement and will monitor closely the computer performance while these programs are active. I will try to borrow a monitor from someone and check if the startup problem continue. If it does not I will wait until the expiration and use the programs you mention. After all they are free. FREE is better. LOL. If the problems continue I will definately remove both antivirus programs.

The sudden shutdown started after I replaced the monitor with a TV capable of running the computer on the VGA port. The TV is a iSymphony LC24if56 1080 p. The computer was shutting down before I added the AVG anti-virus therefore maybe it is not the anti-virus programs. The AVG anti-virus was added because I thought Norton was not efficient to recognize all viruses or trojans. What is your thoughts on this?

These are currently the only three problems.

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Can we recap?
Jan 16, 2012 7:45PM PST

I'm not sure where we are now.

What works and what doesn't work?

What are your goals and what have you tried so far?

Was this, 'connection to a TV' part of the setup when you first posted, or is that change from monitor to TV something you have tried since you posted? If it is a change, go back to what worked as changing things like this only complicates the problem.

Do not try out two anti-virus scanners, even if they are both free. Use one only.

You purchased the XP Pro setup CD so that came without any drivers CD. However, XP Pro is only marginally different to XP Home and so if you have the drivers CD for the original XP Home installation they might work.

For a Compaq Presario 061, visit this HP web page;
http://h10025.www1.hp.com/ewfrf/wc/softwareCategory?cc=us&dlc=en&lang=en&lc=en&os=228&product=3239113#N148

And then ensure Windows XP is selected, then download all the drivers "Original (6)", copy them to a CD then use them.

If that is the incorrect Compaq model, search that web site for the correct one.

Mark

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Answer
Coryphaeus
Jan 13, 2012 8:04AM PST

Good advice I but did not need to do it after all. I commit this info to memory. Thanks for you help.;