Format Hard Drive Problem

Question

I want to completely erase my hard drive and get my computer back to how it was when I purchased it. I did this before and now forget how I did it. I did not use system restore. I tried formatting it again as I heard that would do it. When I tried to format it, I got a message saying it cannot be formatted as something is using the drive. Also, I cannot open the control panel because it says something is already using it. Does anyone know what could be causing this?

fudgieguys · Answer

See if this link helps.

http://support.dell.com/support/topics/global.aspx/support/dsn/en/document?docid=DC493DC313321A9BE030A68F27281E82&c=us&l=en&s=dhs

Your system has to fall into this category in order for this to work.

If you have deleted the partitions, then you will not be able to restore to factory settings.

shesagordie · Answer

cinemodus   It would help to post the computer model and version of windows.   Bev.

jahtl · Answer

Try reinstalling XP by making the computer boot from the CD drive. Go the BIOS to make the changes. After that put the operating CD containing XP into the CD drive & restart the computer.

Storage, Drives & Media

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